At the end of January in the UK and in other parts of Europe, many people are glued to news and football related websites trying to find information on who will be moving clubs and for how much money. As January faded into February, the transfer window closed (it always seems to 'slam shut') and football clubs will have to make do with the squad they have for the rest of the season. Whilst the January transfer window may not be popular with clubs, managers and some players, it does mean that there has to be a transfer deadline day (TDD) and as such the excitement amongst fans can be at fever pitch.

Sports news websites, social networks, club websites and those of players themselves are potential sources of information about a breaking deal but there are also many other sources. People seem to have friends and relatives working in clubs, hotels, as taxi drivers, at airports and so on, who contribute to the excitement of the day. Many is the time that 'my mate's dad's best friend is a taxi driver around Liverpool airport and has just taken X to the Liverpool training ground' is communicated through some channel raising expectations that player X may be on his way to club Y.

Alongside all this information will be the opportunity for bookmakers to create a market. Yesterday (Monday) was a particularly lively TDD and the bookmakers were also active in setting odds that player X would go to Club Y or Z. What is interesting about this is the odds throughout the day and how they change. Markets react to information and information surrounding the potential transfer of a player from one club to the next is a good example of markets in action.

One of the players at the centre of TDD yesterday was Blackpool's Charlie Adam. Odds were available on Adam moving from Blackpool to another club. For some weeks now, Liverpool had been touted as the main suitor and so punters would have got fairly short odds at the start of the day on him being signed by the club by the end of the day. However, as the day went on it was clear that Liverpool were looking to do business elsewhere with Fernando Torres moving to Chelsea, and Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll coming onto the club. However, given that Torres' fee was reportedly £50 million the club seemed to have a bit of loose cash to spare so a bid for Adam did not look impossible.

However, in the afternoon the rumour mill reported that Manchester United had entered the fray and had made an offer for Adam. At this point the market reacted and the odds of his move to Liverpool drifted whilst the odds of a move to Manchester United shortened considerably. Early in the day the odds of Adam moving to Manchester United were quoted as 4/1 and then drifted out to 8/1. As the news of the possible move by Manchester United filtered through the news media, the odds dramatically shortened. Did the market know something? By early evening you could have got odds of 11/8 on of a move to Manchester United whilst the odds of a move to Liverpool had drifted out.

Then news came that Manchester United had not made an offer after all and so the odds drifted back to a move to Liverpool. The point of this is that the market was operating just like any other. One the one side, bookmakers were setting odds on the possibility of a move and punters were deciding whether to take those odds. The key to the success of both sides is information; in any market, the more information is available the more efficient the market. In the end Adam moved nowhere despite a last minute bid by Tottenham Hotspur to sign the player. At one stage there were not even any odds on that move so the information cannot have been that good!