Deadline pressure can influence both buyers and sellers, so the real “winners” on transfer deadline day are those who go into the negotiations feeling in the strongest state of mind.

1. Give yourself the option to walk away from a deal

If you are feeling as though you can walk away from deals (either as a buyer or a seller) then that will stand you in good stead, and the approaching deadline will not affect you too much. If you are feeling anxious or desperate then the looming deadline will only make things worse, as your available options narrow. Moreover, your anxiety will communicate itself to the other side and encourage them to take a more assertive position against you.

2. Don’t put pressure on yourself by leaving a deal to the last possible minute

Arsene Wenger can’t have enjoyed deadline day at all, with the whole world knowing that he needed players in the wake of the departure of Fabregas and Nasri, and that awful result at Man Utd. Although he picked up some players, none of them are world beaters, and he would not even have got Arteta had the player himself not agitated for a transfer. Wenger would have been much better off selling Fabregas and Nasri earlier in the summer when he would have had far more options by way of replacement and far less time-pressure to find replacements. That would have put him and Arsenal in a much stronger negotiating state.

3. If someone wants to leave a deal, it’s probably best to let them

Was Moyes right to let Arteta go? Probably. There is no point keeping players who are miserable. Arsenal did not get a great season out of Fabregas by keeping him for an extra year and Spurs will get no value from Modric having turned down a £40 million bid from Chelsea. If someone doesn’t want to be in a deal with you anymore and the relationship is one where they are providing a personal service, then it’s best to accept that and move on rather than try to keep the deal alive. I remember many years ago giving a pay rise to an employee who had said he wanted to leave for another job. I upset other staff by favouring him, succeeded in keeping him for only a few months more, and then he took another job offer from someone else anyway.

So, Moyes probably did the right thing in letting Arteta go. The only criticism to be made is of the timing, as he left himself with no time to get a replacement before the window shut. If he thought Arteta wanted to move and he was prepared to let him go he could have done it earlier in the window. That way he could have avoided all that deadline pressure….