Transfer deadline day is a serious affair for managers, players and supporters as clubs scramble around to complete last-minute deals.

The day itself has become a fixture on most footballing calendars as reporters up and down the country talk to sources and fans take to social media en masse to either praise or deride their club’s business.

But there is a lighter side to a day when the futures of players can often be decided in last-minute transfers and here’s a look at this year’s highlights away from the deals.

ONLY FOOLS AND HORSES

West Ham striker Diafra Sakho’s deadline day antics will live long in the memory.

The 27-year-old is so desperate to leave the London Stadium that he took himself to France on Wednesday for a medical at Rennes, despite no agreement being in place.

He then returned to England to thrash out his future with West Ham’s hierarchy but not before stopping off at Cheltenham races to watch his agent’s horse win the 3:20 – a race where ‘The Happy Hammer’ was a non-runner, much like Sakho’s transfer to Ligue 1.

DON’T PUT YOUR SHIRT ON SANCHES

Swansea pulled off one of the biggest coups of the transfer window as they landed Bayern Munich ace Renato Sanches on loan.

The 20-year-old helped Portugal to win the European Championship last year and will now spend a season at the Liberty Stadium plying his trade in Paul Clement’s side.

It was not all plain sailing for the club, though, as their big reveal of Sanches’ squad number – a remarkable choice of no.85 – was not sanctioned by the Premier League and he was instead left with no.35.

SHAMBLES AT ARSENAL NOT QUITE AS IT SEEMS

Arsenal fans have been left deflated in the closing days of the window as a number of their squad have been sold.

Alexis Sanchez now looks set to remain at the club but Kieran Gibbs and Alex Oxlade-chamberlain were allowed to leave.

Aaron Ramsey sent Arsenal supporters into a social media storm as he posted an Instagram message alongside a picture of himself with Oxlade-chamberlain.

Signing off the message with ‘#shaaambles’ may not have been a smart move – even if the Wales international was merely referencing Oxlade-chamberlain’s nickname bestowed on him for his poor timekeeping.

MAHREZ LEAVES LEICESTER CONDUCTING A FOX HUNT

The day started with news coming out of the Algeria international camp that they had allowed Leicester winger Riyad Mahrez to leave and complete a move away from the King Power Stadium.

This was news to the Foxes who insisted no bid had been received, let alone accepted, for the 2016 PFA Player of the Year.

Sightings of Mahrez have come in from Manchester, London and Barcelona but he remains a Leicester player.

THINGS CANNON-LY GET BETTER FOR GUNNERS

Former Arsenal striker Ian Wright was one of many suffering supporters to post a picture on social media of a sombre-looking Gunnersaurus as their deadline day debacle unfolded.

Wright even went as far as to set the artwork, showing the Arsenal mascot in a melancholy pose, as his Twitter profile picture.

The image was quickly shared, along with several other memes of the oversized dino-mascot including plenty of suggestions Gunnersaurus himself had handed in a transfer request.

Provided by Press Association Sport