Window shuts out poor relations

Parker was a more curious purchase. He is a hugely gifted midfielder, but what remains perplexing is why Claudio Ranieri opted to strengthen an area of his squad already overpopulated with talent, and why Parker felt Stamford Bridge represented his best chance of sneaking into Sven Goran Eriksson's squad for Euro 2004.

Arsenal's midfield could have used someone like Parker, but Arsene Wenger did what many expected of Ranieri and signed a striker instead. In Jose Reyes, the sharp-shooter from Seville, Wenger hopes he has bought a player who will join Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira as one of the darlings of Highbury.

By spending more than his main rivals during the transfer window, Wenger certainly sprung something of a surprise. A net outlay of a fraction over £17million in seven years at Arsenal is a measure of Wenger's pragmatism. Nevertheless, spending a club record fee last week on a 20-year-old from Spain served to emphasise the boldness of the Frenchman's Highbury vision.

Tottenham finally responded to their closest rivals yesterday, the arrival of Jermain Defoe not only appeasing anxious fans but easing the disappointment of losing out on Leeds goalkeeper Paul Robinson. Defoe, one of the brightest young strikers in the country, is an excellent buy for a club sitting precariously in the bottom half of the table.

A frantic day of activity brought a close to a spending spree that certainly eclipsed the money being paid out abroad. The Reyes move represented Spanish football's biggest transfer story. The only other business of note was the loan deal that saw Edgar Davids move from Juventus to Barcelona. In Italy, too, it was relatively quiet.

In England the big three spent big and the rest, Tottenham aside, rummaged through European football's bargain basement.

'It was exactly as we predicted,' said Dan Jones of Deloitte and Touche Sport.

'The small deals are on the way out, because these days clubs are only prepared to spend the big money on players like Saha, Parker and Reyes. Why spend a couple of million on someone when you can probably get a player who's just as good on a free transfer at the end of the season?'

If anyone deserves real credit, it has to be Trevor Birch, the Leeds United chief executive who somehow managed to keep all his best players at a time when the club are fighting desperately to avoid administration.

The Robinson deal collapsed because Leeds fell foul of Premier League rules. Birch wanted £2m from Tottenham as well as the luxury of keeping his keeper at Elland Road on loan until the end of the season. Last night he told Sportsmail: 'It was vitally important-we kept all our best players. There has been interest in Robinson, Alan Smith, Mark Viduka and James Milner and we've resisted all the approaches. I said we wouldn't sell a key player and we haven't. It's now up to the lads to perform on the pitch.'

As a plethora of agents removed their mobile phones from their ears, just two questions remained unanswered last night.

Do Chelsea really want Ronaldo and why did nobody snap up the transfer-listed Nicky Butt? Surely he would have sat perfectly at the base of that Real Madrid midfield.