I’m in a minority of one, I’m sure, but the football transfer season must be one of the silliest, most overrated rituals in all of sport.

News channels report breathlessly on the latest bloke poised to sign, reporters doorstep players and hysteria takes hold among fans who are in one of just two camps. They are either thrilled to bits or feel personally betrayed because their favourite player has upped sticks.

Never mind that loyalty is something only dogs fully embrace. Players chase the cash and to believe for a moment that they have some deep love for the badge is to be seriously deluded.

You can tell it’s the off-season because the media report so earnestly on the comings and goings, whether it be top-end clubs or the bottom feeders. They’re all fair game for the voracious news hounds, desperate for even a whiff of transfer news.

Granted, some of the moves are indeed significant, but it’s hard to justify the hysteria and embellishment that accompanies every transfer move. I even saw a kid on YouTube responding to Robin van Persie’s move by bursting into tears. His parents ought to get him out more.

The smarter clubs of course squeeze every bit of life out of the players, parading them before the media, getting them to run on treadmills before the cameras and other such nonsense.

Perspective? Pah.

This is football where crazy comes standard.