Premier windfall proves an added incentive as Hull City, Middlesbrough and Sheffield Wednesday chase Premier League dream

A YEAR ago, Steve Bruce was so determined to make things happen for Hull City on the final day of the January transfer window that he flew to Paris to ensure a loan deal to sign Dame N’Doye was nudged over the line.

Last Friday, when asked by The Yorkshire Post if he had similar travel plans for deadline day this time around, the Tigers manager joked that his intention was to turn his ‘phone off to prevent any potential suitors for his players getting in touch.

Bruce didn’t do anything of the sort, of course. Like the vast majority of managers up and down the land, much of Monday was spent with mobile firmly glued to the ear as the final few hours of the window counted down. That is just how things are when the financial rewards for promotion or staying up, no matter what the division, are so vast.

Being part of the Premier League in 2016-17 will, thanks to the new television deal kicking in next year, be worth upwards of £120m to a club. It is a mind-boggling amount and one that must have the accountants at Hull, Middlesbrough and Sheffield Wednesday suffering palpitations at the prospect of such a windfall.

The sums in the Football League may not be quite so dramatic but Championship status as opposed to being in the third tier is worth around £3.1m extra in core sponsorship and TV payments this season, while the mark-up in income between the bottom two divisions is around £400,000. And these sums will increase further next term thanks to the solidarity payments from the cash-rich Premier League rising in accordance with the multi-billion TV contract.

No wonder, therefore, that January was seen as such a pivotal month for clubs across the White Rose county and why supporters of all our clubs spent hours Monday checking smart-phones and tablets for the latest transfer updates.

In many cases, pressing the ‘refresh’ button brought only more frustration as it became evident that the hoped-for centre forward would not, after all, materialise.

Not that this was the case everywhere within the Broad Acres, of course. Middlesbrough got their man in Jordan Rhodes, the type of signing that can make all the difference during a promotion run-in. Sheffield Wednesday were also pleased to get the loan capture of Aiden McGeady over the line, while Hull City had plenty to smile about come 11pm thanks to not only confirmation that Manchester United’s Nick Powell was on board but also that none of their big names had been lured away.

These late deals reflected the window as a whole for Yorkshire’s Championship contingent with Hull, Boro and the Owls all emerging in the rudest of healths.

For the Tigers, January was never going to be about splashing the cash. For a start, they don’t have any. Allowing Bruce to keep his squad together last summer was an expensive business, as can be seen by the 14 players on duty in the recent win at Fulham having cost in excess of £50m in transfers fees alone. Factor in the considerable wages paid by City this term and that represents a huge commitment, even allowing for the £24m banked in parachute payments.

Bruce made no secret towards the end of 2015 that keeping hold of his star names was the priority and Hull have done just that, meaning the club is well equipped for the final push.

In contrast to City, both Boro and the Owls have had money to spend thanks to the deep pockets of Steve Gibson and Dejphon Chansiri. For Boro, that has meant not only Rhodes’ arrival but also that of Gaston Ramirez. The Southampton winger can be very hit and miss in terms of performance, as Hull fans discovered last season, but he has undoubted quality and may well prove to be a good addition.

As for the Owls, Gary Hooper’s switch from Norwich City being made permanent for a little over £3m was a statement of intent along with the capture of Jack Hunt. Perhaps, though, the club’s best work was tieing down Barry Bannan, Sam Hutchinson, Glenn Loovens and Atdhe Nuhiu to long-term contracts.

Elsewhere, Leeds United lost yet another highly-regarded Academy product in Sam Byram, while Rotherham United and Huddersfield Town both had managers at the helm in a transfer window for the first time and ‘steady’ is probably the most apt assessment of how David Wagner and Neil Redfearn fared.

In the bottom two divisions, York City have been the busiest of our clubs. In fact, only Stevenage can match the number of new faces to arrive at Bootham Crescent this year as Jackie McNamara continued his raid on the Development squads of the Premier League and Championship in an attempt to keep the Minstermen afloat. Only time will tell if the Scot’s approach can pay off.

Yesterday may have brought a mere trickle of signings across Yorkshire but this may well prove to be the calm before the storm thanks to next season seeing the emergency window disappear altogether from the Football League.

No longer will clubs in the Championship or Leagues One and Two be able to fall back on the loan market re-opening a week or so after both the summer and winter windows have closed, a FIFA-induced change that promises to turn the final day of August and January into a bun-fight of epic proportions.

Trying to plan for every eventuality, including injury and loss of form, will lead to an inevitable stock-piling of players, a dangerous turn of events in a game that, for all the money flowing in at the top end, remains perilously hand-to-mouth in terms of financial existence.

That, though, is a debate for another day. January was all about rectifying existing problems. Let’s hope our 11 clubs have done just that.