The former Holland international midfielder Edgar Davids has tonight reluctantly joined the Championship club Crystal Palace on a pay-as-you-play deal, but he's not particularly happy about it.
Davids, 37, left Ajax in 2008, and has been without a club since then. He told me earlier:
"I'm desperate. You'd have to be to join a downtrodden outfit like this, wouldn't you? Their heydays are well in the past. It's a bit of a ramshackle squad they've got assembled - Don Rogers, Geoff Thomas, Kenny Sansom, Attilio Lombardo and Jim Cannon aren't here anymore, but, as I said, I'm desperate, and nobody else will have me."
Palace's transfer embargo was lifted earlier, when they confirmed that they were out of administration, and with that, the signature of Davids - who will receive £50-per-game, with a £10 bonus if he scores - was secured soon after.
Palace manager George Burley told the club's website:
"We know he's a bit of a lame duck, but he should add a few onto the crowd, what with his stupid dreadlocks and those Safety Glasses!"
