Every close season there seems to be one or two transfer sagas which drag on and on.

This year Manchester United’s attempts to sign Carlos Tevez from West Ham have dominated the headlines while AS Roma defender Cristian Chivu has finally wrapped up his move to Inter Milan after two months of talks.
 
But why does it often take so long for some moves to go through when on deadline day clubs snap up players inside five minutes?
 
The Tevez affair is unique because of the complex legal issue of whether West Ham or businessman Kia Joorabchian own the rights to the player. However in the case of Chivu, Inter and Roma agreed a deal which they could easily have reached in early June.
 
Players, agents and club officials being on holiday is one reason why close season transfers can take ages to go through. On the other hand, you would think transfers could be speeded up when there were no matches to play.
 
Economic factors are also key. A buying club has three months without a competitive game to be able to whittle down the price on a player, but by doing this they obviously risk losing him to someone else.
 
Inter nearly paid the price when Real Madrid came sniffing for Chivu and were only saved by Chivu’s rare rejection of Real because of his love for Italy.
 
Some lower division clubs also employ the interesting tactic of waiting until the August deadline to snap up players to avoid having to pay July wages. Many even hope that the pre-season training regime at the selling club is better than theirs, meaning they sign an extra-fit player.
 
Drawn-out transfers are not all bad though. At least they supporters and the media busy before the big kick-off. 

Mark Meadows, Milan