Wednesday 15 August 2018 17:48, UK
Everton's new director of football Marcel Brands says their Deadline Day deal for defender Yerry Mina almost fell through.
Brands told Sky Sports News that the club took a 'gamble' by refusing to budge on the fee and eventually managed to complete the signing just before the window closed.
The Dutchman joined Everton in June and oversaw a busy summer, culminating in a Deadline Day which saw the late arrivals of Barcelona duo Mina and Andre Gomes (on loan) plus Bernard from Shakhtar Donetsk.
Asked why the deals took a while to complete, Brands said: "That was mainly because of Mina of course, because there were a lot of rumours also about other clubs in the Premier League - so Barcelona waited.
"We didn't change the offer, so that was a little bit of a gamble, but it worked in the end.
"The boy was clear, he wanted to play for Everton, so that helps a lot, of course.
"From the other side, the new market was closing earlier and the other countries waited until the end, because they know what Premier League clubs can do - so that did not help me.
"In the end it went the right direction, but I was a little bit unsure what would happen in the last days."
Overall, Brands enjoyed the hectic pace of Deadine Day, his first as a Premier League director of football.
"For me (it was) special, my first time in the UK and a very special last day," he said.
"I was lucky that I had a lot of support on my side, people from legal, people from finance, the chairman of course.
"t was a quite a busy day. I was confident things would get done but the days before were a bit stressful!"