IT may not quite compare to the transfers of Gareth Bale or Mesut Ozil – but deadline day was just as exciting for Grimsby Town's newest recruit Alan Goodall.
The full-back only heard about the Mariners' interest in him yesterday afternoon after finishing training with parent club Fleetwood.
Goodall says he jumped at the chance to join Town and, after a whirlwind afternoon, he penned an initial one-month loan spell at Blundell Park, just hours before the window closed.
And the "surreal" experience of being involved in a deadline day deal was a new one for the 31-year-old, who has been drafted in to bolster Town's threadbare defensive ranks.
"It was all pretty quick to be honest with you," he told the Telegraph.
"I came in after training and the gaffer called me in and asked me if I'd fancy moving to Grimsby.
"I didn't think it would get done so fast to be honest, with the deadline approaching.
"I thought I'd have to wait, but thankfully it all got pushed through, which I'm delighted about.
"I've never been involved with a deal that got done and dusted on transfer deadline day, so it was quite surreal to be honest.
"I've got a family, so I had to think about them and have a chat with the wife to check she was okay with it, so once I'd done that, it all got sorted pretty quickly.
"I'm delighted to get something sorted," he added.
"I've played against Grimsby a lot in the past and it's always been a nice play to play.
"I'm looking forward to helping with the promotion push.
"I'm only here for a short period of time at the minute, but you never know after that.
"I've not been involved at Fleetwood, so for a club like Grimsby to come in for me is fantastic. They're a big club and so I'm more than happy to come down and join and see how it goes from there."
Goodall, who hails from Birkenhead, made over a century of appearances for Rochdale during two spells at the Spotland outfit.
He can also count Chesterfield, Newport, Stockport and Luton among his list of former clubs and could make his Town debut against the Hatters on Saturday (5.30pm).
Joint bosses Rob Scott and Paul Hurst have been forced to move quickly in order to draft in reinforcements following injuries to Clayton McDonald and Sam Hatton as well as the suspension of Aswad Thomas.
And after signing on the dotted line, Goodall has pledged to bring some consistency and stability during his time with Town.
He added: "I've always been a consistent and I'll bring stability – I'm a 'steady Eddie'.
"I'll put my head and foot in anywhere that needs be and I've never been one to shirk a tackle.
"I'll bring stability and 100 per cent commitment.
"I'm looking forward to getting started – especially because my first game is against my old club Luton so it's strange how things work out isn't it?!"
