A Norwegian teenager, who has only just turned 16, generated the second highest volume of tweets during the January transfer window.
Which means either that Martin Odegaard, who joined European champions Real Madrid, is an even better footballer than is being touted, or the January transfer window was very, very quiet.
Juan Cuadrado’s move from Italian club Fiorentina to English Premier League team Chelsea was the most discussed on Twitter, with former Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes, who signed for Manchester United, the third most tweeted move.
The transfers of Cuadrado and Valdes had the knock on effect of boosting the Twitter following of both players, with the Colombian international adding 100,000 followers and Valdes gaining 145,000.
Odegaard has has only tweeted 80 times, but already he’s collected 102,000 followers. Watch this space.
Meanwhile a predicted flurry of late big-money deals failed to materialize as this January window saw spending remain at last year’s level, with £130 million ($195m) lavished, way down on the record, set in the 2010/11 season, of £225m ($338m).
Despite the relatively demure January figures, this has still been a record-breaking season in England’s top flight, as its 20 clubs flexed their financial muscles.
An estimated £950 million ($1.4 billion) has been spent on recruitment by Premier League’s clubs this term, according to the sports business group at Deloitte.
That is up on the previous benchmark, set last season, at £760 million ($1.1 bn) and is driven by the bumper revenue handed to each club thanks to the huge deals struck for domestic and overseas television rights.
The three-year deal, which began at the start of last season, is worth £6.2 billion ($9.4 bn) and played a large part in the record revenue delivered by Premier League clubs in the 2012-13 season, £2.7 billion ($4.19 bn).
This wealth was reflected in Deloitte’s annual list of the world’s richest clubs in which England had five in the top 10, eight in the top 20, and all 20 of its teams represented in the top 40.
Manchester United were second only to Real Madrid in the rich list, recording revenue of £399 million ($602m) while Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool also made the top 10.
A whopping £835 million ($1.25 bn) was spent in the Premier League before the summer transfer window closed on September 1, Manchester United accounting for about £150 million ($226m) of that themselves. Its purchase of Angel di Maria from Real Madrid cost £59.7 million ($90m) alone.
That was 30 per cent up on the previous high, set during the same period the season before as £630 million ($949 bn) was put down.
But while the final hours of August counted as a multi-million pound thrill ride for supporters, January was, in contrast, a snooze fest.
“Given the record level of spending seen in the summer, it is not entirely surprising that we haven’t seen a new record for the January window,” said Deloitte’s Dan Jones in statement.
“Given the record level of spending seen in the summer, it is not entirely surprising that we haven’t seen a new record for the January window. However, with all Premier League clubs recording record revenues, we might have expected one or two more major deals in a statement.
“However, with all Premier League clubs recording record revenues, we might have expected one or two more major deals in this window. Despite the relative restraint we have seen in the January window, 2014/15 is still a record season for Premier League spending.
“Last season saw Premier League spending surpass the £700m threshold for the first time, and the revenue growth at Premier League clubs is such that they have been able to record a combined transfer spend this season of over £950m.”
