Jackson Irvine has revealed the stress and struggle behind his deadline day move from Burton Albion to Hull City while on international duty.
The Australia international signed for Leonid Slutsky's Tigers last week for a fee of around £3 million.
The deal was in the works for days but negotiations and paperwork held up its confirmation until after Irvine left for Japan with the national team.
And that's when it got stressful.
After some initial haggling on "smoothing out payments and bonuses," most details had been agreed on the 24-year-old's deal.
Irvine sailed through the medical and had even posed for the time-honoured photo with a handshake and new club shirt before leaving for Japan.
But then, a key person at Hull's end went missing.
Without the signature, Irvine was in limbo.
Irvine was doing all he could -- heading to reception of the Socceroos' Tokyo hotel to print out documents to read, sign and send back.
Then at the 11th hour, Hull's confirmation came through and Irvine was officially on the move.
"These are things that people probably don't see or think about," Irvine said.
"It was a move I was obviously very keen to get through because it's going to be a big step up for me.
"But when you're not getting information because you're overseas and time is kind of ticking away, it can be a little bit stressful.
"I've got a very good relationship with the people that I work with and I know that whenever there's any news they'll let me know straight away ... if I was stressed they were probably 10 times more stressed.
"Things never quite run as smoothly as they should, but I'm just delighted that it got done."
Despite staying in the same division -- the English second-tier -- with the move, Irvine said Hull represented a significant step up given the club's Premier League history and extra resources.
Irvine wasn't the only Socceroo on the move on deadline day, with a trio of goalkeepers switching clubs.
Mitchell Langerak, who didn't come into camp to complete a move, signed for Spanish side Levante having dropped down the pecking order at Stuttgart.
Adam Federici also found a new home at Nottingham Forest, while Swansea City reserve Mark Birighitti signed for NAC Breda -- the previous club of Graham Arnold, Ante Milicic and Tony Vidmar.