There's a word which appears to have become more and more common in the world of football.
It's a word which can answer one question and yet pose several more at the same time. This word also has the power to suggest something is more exciting than it actually is. It might even be the most used word in football's vocabulary at this time of year. ?Undisclosed…?
Is it just me or are more players than ever before moving to their new clubs for an 'undisclosed' fee?
Football is a sport which suffers from an image problem when it comes to transfers. Very few of us probably understand exactly what happens when a player moves from Club A to Club B.
Mike Newell has attempted to blow the whistle, Panorama's poked it's nose in and even Lord Stevens has had a pop at blowing the lid on what's perceived to be the 'murky' world of the transfer market.
Despite all the apparent scrutiny, the summer transfer window has been flung open with the usual gay abandon by those managers who have had cash burning a hole in their suit or tracksuit – depending on whether you're Jose Mourinho or Peter Grant – pockets since the sweetie shop closed back at the end of January.
The much-maligned agents have also been making full use of the free minutes on offer from their mobile phone provider as football's financial muscles have been collectively flexed in a bid to hit the ground running at the start of the new campaign.
The presence of the word 'undisclosed' alongside a new recruit will have had many football fans wondering: 'So what aren't they telling us?'
Perhaps the undisclosed fee is something invented to protect players from either the pressure of performing with a seven-figure price tag attached or the embarrassment of knowing that they're now cheaper than the average two bedroom semi.
As a BBC man who quite enjoys his job, I should point out that clubs aren't actually doing anything wrong by not telling us exactly how much they've splashed out on new talent. But as both a journalist and a football fan I feel I should know…
Using two of Norwich City's 'undiscloseds' as an example, I'd love to know what the difference was between the fee we paid for Darel Russell and got for Youssef Safri.
Football already suffers from a less-than-squeaky-clean image when it comes to the movement of talent, so a more transparent transfer market has to be the way to go.
If fans were told exactly how much had been paid out for each player perhaps boards wouldn't be left to answer the 'Where's the money gone?' and 'Why don't you dig deeper?' questions that are football's hardy perennials quite so often.
There's a constant worry and paranoia among fans about what happens to the cash they eagerly send off at this time of the year with their season ticket application or spend on the brand new away kit.
Talk of transfers brings me neatly onto Norwich City's hectic summer of change at Carrow Road.
So many new signings, of course, makes it difficult to assess, but one thing I am sure of is that Peter Grant is now master of a much better squad than was the case at the end of last season.
The formula of having two players for each position has all but been achieved leaving us with deeper pool to draw on from the very start.
Hopefully, this will mean that the Academy boys are left to swim at their own pace without being thrown into The Championship's deep end and that any further loan signings will enhance quality rather than paper over the cracks. The reverse has been true too often in recent seasons.
It's difficult to maintain any criticism of the players who've left the club over the summer. Of course Rob Earnshaw was a snip for Derby County at ?3.5 million, a price made all the more painful this week when I saw the very same Derby manager Billy Davies being linked with a ?5 million (yes FIVE million pound) move for Southampton striker Kenwyne Jones. Conclusive proof that life's not fair.
Dickson Etuhu is rather lucky to be a Premiership player. OK so on his day last season he was one of our better players, but if Roy Keane can't work out how to make it Etuhu's day on a more regular basis I can't see him being consistent enough to take the Premiership by storm.
The less said about Safri's departure the better. It's not that I haven't got an opinion on that particular move – just that whatever I say will never match up to Grant's outburst after the West Ham friendly. Nothing more needs to be said on that.
There's the usual excited anticipation about the summer arrivals at Carrow Road. David Marshall, Darel Russell and Jamie Cureton are all well known to us anyway but it perhaps two other players are about to sneak upon the blindside to catch the early season eye.
I know it's dangerous to read too much into pre-season friendlies, but that's all I've got to go on for now so excuse me while I read too much into the pre-season friendlies I've seen…
Luke Chadwick and Chris Brown have been two of the star performers throughout the warm up games. They're no longer new faces around the club, particularly not in the treatment room, but would probably not have featured in too many Canary fans first choice eleven at the end of the last campaign.
But with a full pre-season behind them and points to prove in front of them perhaps Chadwick and Brown could rise from forgotten men to Carrow Road heroes.
Whatever happens this promises to be one of the toughest Championship seasons to call. Anything really could happen to Norwich City with such a changed squad. So while Canary fans all nervously ask each other what they reckon for the new season I'm going to borrow that much used word from the game off football to get me out of having to make a prediction.
Where do I think the Canaries will finish come May? Undisclosed…
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