Marvin’s relief at Burnley FC transfer

A misbehaving fax machine at the Burnley end put his dream move in doubt, ahead of the 11 p.m. deadline.

And after leaving Bournemouth not exactly on the best of terms, it was an awkward few hours for the 23-year-old midfielder.

After agreeing a fee with Bournemouth, believed to be in the region of £350,000, personal terms were also sorted, but a problem with the fax machine at Burnley meant things got a bit hairy for the youngster.

And with Cherries chairman Eddie Mitchell claiming Bartley had said he would find it hard to play for Bournemouth if they blocked his move, it might have led to a tense situation on the south coast.

Mitchell was reluctant to let him rejoin Eddie Howe, and said: “We are disappointed the player seems to have played such a big part in the negotiations.

“When you’ve got a player who says he doesn’t know whether he could come back from this to play for us again, there isn’t very much you can do.”

But Bartley feels it would have been unfair to stand in his way: “How would he feel if he was put in the same aituation as me?

“Obviously I enjoyed my time there and I helped the lads as much as I could, and when I was there I always gave 100%, but when this opportunity came, I couldn’t turn it down.

“I’m not going to go into it tit for tat with him, and whatever he wants to say is entirely up to him.”

And he explained the hold up in his transfer being completed: “Deadline day was crazy, I signed my contract at 10-59 p.m. and then the fax machine broke.

“It started jamming at this end, and I was sitting there thinking ‘please go through’.

“It wasn’t the best thing, and I didn’t find out until the following day that it had actually went through, so I was delighted and very happy to be here.

“I had a sleepless night, definitely, I was thinking maybe I would have to go back to Bournemouth, and with what the chairman said, it would have been difficult.”

He joked: “I would probably have needed an armed vehicle!

“But it’s alright, it went through.

“Luckilly the FA said it was fine, they realised the machine had jammed.”

Bartley, who has signed a three and a half year deal with the club, started his career at Reading, before joining Burnham, Hayes, Didcot Town and then Hampton and Richmond Borough - working part-time as a window fitter - before moving to Bournemouth in the summer of 2007.

He was linked with Leeds, Cardiff and Leicester during the transfer window, but again links up with Howe, almost three weeks after he left to take the reins at Turf Moor.