Transfer window: 50 hours to go

A much quieter day than most of us would liked.

The news has not changed from late last night or even Thursday night. Pablo Zabaleta has still not been confirmed, even if everything points to it being a formality.

The only real development today was Mark Hughes giving the Manchester Evening News a few quotes concerning the two potential right back deals. On Zabaleta he said:

"Pablo's obviously here, and we're discussing his situation. We hope that it's going to be concluded. We've got time enough, barring any last-minute hitches. He's of the right quality that we're trying to attract."

This seems to confirm everything we already knew: almost inevitable, but not quite yet.

With regard to the man Zabaleta will be replacing, he said:

"Well, people shouldn't make assumptions. The thing with any team I've been involved in is that I don't allow players to leave unless I feel that the club will become stronger as a consequence. At the end of the day, it will be my decision whether anybody leaves.”

This seems to me an admission that Corluka will probably go. His main point is that the replacement of Corluka with Zabaleta is one based on footballing merit, rather than financial considerations, and as such marks Hughes' dominance over transfer activity rather than Garry Cook's. But if Corluka was to stay even with Zabaleta's arrival, he would surely have said exactly that.

The window was left open, however, to potential future arrivals before Monday night.

"We're in the market for a number of players in a number of positions. How many we're able to conclude before Monday, we'll have to wait and see."