Key events
David Hytner
Update on Tottenham’s interest in Marc Guehi: Basically, the Crystal Palace centre-half is going nowhere today. Spurs like him and they made an offer to Palace, but if anything happens, it will not be until the summer.
Jamie Jackson
Manchester City are pursuing Porto’s Nico Gonzalez but no deal agreed for the Porto midfielder. Translation from this humble hack: the champions don’t wish to meet the circa £50m release clause. Yet!!!
Jamie Jackson
However serious the injury Lisandro Martinez suffered in Sunday’s 2-0 defeat to Crystal Palace at Old Trafford, Manchester United are not expected to move sign cover today.
The information is that as Ruben Amorim has the centre-backs Harry Maguire, Matthijs de Ligt, Leny Yoro, Victor Lindelof, Jonny Evans, and now Ayden Heaven plus Noussair Mazraoui, Diogo Dalot and Luke Shaw who also operate in a can all play in a back three, there is cover enough.
Amorim expressed concern that Martinez’s injury is serious and there is to be no update from the club on Monday.
Regarding Alejandro Garnacho to Chelsea and Christoper Nkunku going the other way to United, those in the know at Old Trafford believe this is unlikely.
Crystal Palace reject Spurs bid for Guehi
Jacob Steinberg has the latest!
“Why are you censoring the news from Craven Cottage?” asks Richard Hirst. “We must surely by now have signed cover at goalkeeper, right back and right wing, and a centre forward. Come on Mr Khan, we need to push on for Europe.”
Blame the MSM.
Rick Harris emails: “Fascinated as I am by the Stretfordenders soap opera whose daily episodes grip millions either in horror / pain / shame / delight / righteous vindication, the loans of Antony and Marcus Rashford do throw up the tantalising potential of massive egg on the face of Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his beleaguered prematurely appointed Ten Hag replacement, if either or even both suddenly outscore the supposedly superior forwards left at the Club at the Crossroads Motel.”
Norwich sign Brighton’s McConville
Norwich have completed a permanent deal for Ruairi McConville from Brighton on a five-and-a-half year deal.
The young centre-back was on the bench for the Seagull’s thrashing at Forest on Saturday but has now been allowed to move on.
Chelsea to loan Chukwuemeka to Dortmund, O’Reilly bid rejected
Jacob Steinberg
Carney Chukwuemeka is in Germany ahead of a loan move to Borussia Dortmund, who will have an option to buy the Chelsea midfielder for roughly £40m. Other Chelsea outgoings are expected to include Ben Chilwell, who is heading to Crystal Palace on loan, but Aaron Anselmino’s loan to Marseille looks to be off. Axel Disasi, as previously reported, is wanted by Aston Villa and Joao Felix is a possibility for Milan, although their funds are limited after the arrival of Santiago Gimenez from Feyenoord.
Chelsea have had an approach for 19-year-old midfielder Nico O’Reilly knocked back by Man City. Enzo Maresca would like a midfielder to sign but time is running out. Chelsea have also been looking for a left winger and a striker. Will they pull something out of the bag?
Jacob Steinberg
West Ham’s move for Lorient striker Eli Junior Kroupi looks dead in the water. They held talks over a £35m deal for the 18-year-old, who has impressed in Ligue 2, but he is unlikely to be going anywhere today. Lorient, who are pushing for promotion, are part owned by the Bournemouth owner Bill Foley. There is a strong possibility that Kroupi will join Andoni Iraola’s side in the summer.
Samuel Iling-Jr heads to Middlesbrough
As earlier reported, Samuel Iling-Jr has cut short his spell with Bologna in order to join Championship side Middlesbrough on loan for the rest of the campaign from Aston Villa.
Carlisle sack Williamson
Mike Williamson has been sacked by Carlisle, leaving the Football League’s bottom club looking for a third manager of the season.
Williamson signed 11 new players in January but has been unable to arrest a desperate run of form that has seen the Cumbrians plummet to the foot of the League Two table.
A 5-1 defeat at home to Swindon on Saturday was the final straw, taking his side’s run to five losses in their last six games. Overall, the former Newcastle defender oversaw just four league wins since being appointed in September to replace Paul Simpson.
Williamson’s relationship with the club’s fans had already soured and there were chants calling for him to go at the end of the match.
Jacob Steinberg
Tottenham have been trying to pull off an audacious swoop for the Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi. It is thought that Spurs made a bid not far off Palace’s valuation of £60m. A deal seems unlikely at the moment but it is not being definitively ruled out by sources. Spurs have cooled their interest in a loan for Chelsea centre-back Axel Disasi, who has agreed terms with Aston Villa, who, er, have not agreed terms with Chelsea.
Ed Aarons
Brighton have had a busy deadline day already, having confirmed the signing of Stefanos Tzimas from Nuremburg and announced the departure of Benicio Baker-Boaitey to Millwall. It is understood that the fee for Tzimas – who will return to Germany on loan until the end of the season – could rise to €25m including add-ons.
Fabian Hurzeler’s side have also seen two bids for Sunderland’s Tommy Watson rejected, with the latest understood to have been worth up to £12m for the 18-year-old. Crystal Palace are also interested in Watson but Sunderland – who are trying to bring in striker Jayden Danns on loan from Liverpool – do not want to sell him unless they can find a replacement.
Meanwhile, Ben Chilwell is set for his medical at Palace today ahead of his anticipated loan from Chelsea but appear unlikely to follow up interest Serbia defender in Strahinja Pavlovic of Milan.
Jamie Jackson
The word from Sir Matt Busby Way is that it is very VERY unlikely Manchester United can/will revive any deal for Mathys Tel. Any more and this dutiful correspondent will Kiss and Te l…
Louise Taylor
It seems Sunderland have won the race for Jayden Danns. The 19-year-old Liverpool striker has been booked in for a medical on Wearside ahead of a loan move from Anfield and is expected to watch his new team play at Middlesbrough tonight.
Sunderland’s manager Regis Le Bris has been pursuing a new striker for the past month and will be delighted to have won a race for Danns also involving, among other teams, Blackburn and Hull.
Meanwhile many Newcastle fans are asking why Eddie Howe is unable to strengthen this month. The answer is that the club’s Saudi Arabian owners are determined to comply with Premier League profit and sustainability rules and believe that selling now will enable them to buy in the summer.
Nottingham Forest have agreed a deal with Reading for centre-back Tyler Bindon. He will undergo a medical today and most-likely remain at the Berkshire club for the remainder of the season.
Lewis O’Brien is on his way to Swansea before completing his loan move from Nottingham Forest.
Brighton sign Tzimas and loan him back to Nuremburg
Brighton have acquired Stefanos Tzimas from Nuremburg for an undisclosed fee and the Greek under-21 international will return to the Bundesliga 2 club for the remainder of the season. The winger has signed a deal running until June 2030 with the Seagulls.
Fabian Hurzeler said: “Stefanos is an exceptional young talent, an out-and-out centre-forward with a natural ability to score goals, and we are absolutely delighted to have signed him.
Edwards joins Burnley from Sporting
Marcus Edwards has completed his loan move to Burnley from Sporting CP until the end of the season.
“It feels amazing. Burnley is like a Premier League club,” Edwards said. “I’m really happy to be here.
“I know Scott [Parker] from my time at Spurs. I know what he’s like. He’s ambitious, he’s driven. We had a good relationship back then so when I knew he wanted me to come that was enough for me.”
“From knowing what he’s like and how he is and the fact that Burnley is such a big club in general. It made sense.
“The main thing now is to get promoted back to the Premier League. I’m coming here to try and get myself into the team. I hope we can make it over the line this season and I hope Burnley fans will enjoy watching me play too.”
“The cheekiest transfer bid of all time has to be Barcelona attempting to steal away Norwich City’s right-back Max Aarons on loan right in the middle of a promotion-chasing season,” claims Johny Bennett.
“Aarons may have agreed personal terms, but with no obligation to buy at the end of the deal and absolutely no incentive to accept the bid, Norwich rightly turned the deal down, with Daniel Farke assuring our outraged fans that he wouldn’t sell the full-back for £100 million.
“The story had a happy ending, though: Aarons went on to win the Championship that year with Norwich, before finally earning a transfer in 2023 to sit on the bench at Bournemouth. Sliding doors and all that.”
Good luck to Marcus at Burnley. I’ve seen plenty of the Clarets recently and it is not a fun place for wingers …
David Hytner
Watch out for an exciting move by Burnley later on today – they are set to take Marcus Edwards from Sporting on an initial loan until the end of the season. The one-time Tottenham youth prodigy has also had interest from Sunderland but he is ready to return to England with Burnley to help their promotion push from the Championship.
A potentially big move in the offing …
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Watford centre-back Ryan Porteous could be set to leave the club today. A number of Championship clubs are looking at signing him before the deadline, I am told.
David Hytner
Spurs will not be signing Axel Disasi on loan from Chelsea. This is not one to watch today.
Kári Tulinius suggests: “From today’s perspective, bids don’t come cheekier than Alex McLeish trying to sign wee Lionel Messi in 2003 on the recommendation of his son, who’d heard of the future all-time great on Championship Manager. When told no way, McLeish asked for Iniesta.”
If all this was not enough tittle-tattle, we have the Rumour Mill for your eyes to gaze at. Drink it in.
Villa’s Nedeljković heads to RB Leipzig
Aston Villa have confirmed that teenage defender Kosta Nedeljković has joined RB Leipzig on loan until the end of the season.
I am still waiting on my contract from Harrogate … will one come before 11pm?
Ewan Glenton gets in touch to say: “Jock Wallace nearly(?) bringing Johann Cruyff to struggling Leicester circa 1980 was pretty audacious/cheeky, I’d say.”
We are off (when it comes to cheekiest bid)!
“I’m sure you’re going to get a torrent of people emailing ‘Arsenal’s £40m plus £1 for Suarez’ in answer to what the cheekiest bid of all time is,” emails Billy Ward. “But Arsenal thought that anything over £40m was required to trigger a clause, so why the hell would they add more?! Turns out the clause was simply ‘Liverpool have to consider’ rather than ‘Liverpool have to accept’. So not cheeky, just stupid.”
Glory days.
Louise Taylor
Lloyd Kelly is in Turin and set to join Juventus on an initial loan from Newcastle that will automatically turn into a £20m transfer in the summer. The left sided centre-half or left-back joined Eddie Howe’s team from Bournemouth on a free transfer last summer but has struggled to break into the first team.
At Middlesbrough Michael Carrick is close to securing two potentially key attacking loans. With Emmanuel Latte Lath in the United States finalising a £22.5m move to Atlanta, Boro have lined up a central striking replacement in Kelechi Iheanacho. The former Leicester forward is currently at Sevilla but has struggled for game time, hence the loan to Teesside.
Boro are also set to borrow Samuel Iling-Junior from Aston Villa. The England Under-21 winger has spent the first half of the season on loan at Bologna but now seems Championship bound.
Andy Hunter
A couple of outgoing loans are likely to be the only business for Liverpool today. Jayden Danns has interest from several clubs in the Championship and Sunderland are currently leading the way on that one, while Kaide Gordon is expected to join Portsmouth on loan. James McConnell may have also have gone out on loan but, as Arne Slot said after the Champions League game at PSV, the midfielder’s impressive display in Eindhoven has kept him in the Liverpool head coach’s plans.
Arsenal remain in talks over a potential move for Mathys Tel, although Bayern Munich are digging their heels in over the France Under-21 forward. Having rejected two bids from Manchester United over the weekend, the German side are pushing for a permanent sale or for an obligation to buy to be included in any loan until the end of the season.
It remains to be seen whether Arsenal are willing to make that commitment as they attempt to provide Mikel Arteta with attacking reinforcements to cover the injuries to Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus. They have targeted RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko in the summer and Arsenal are pushing Bayern for a loan with an option to buy.
Jorginho looks set to stay at Arsenal for now after they rejected an offer from Flamengo, although he is expected to join the Brazilians for their Club World Cup campaign in the summer at the end of his contract. Oleksandr Zinchenko could be allowed to leave today if Arsenal receive a suitable bid. Atletico Madrid and Borussia Dortmund have both held talks over the Ukraine defender, whose appearances have been restricted by the emergence of Myles Lewis-Skelly this season.
Off the back of Jamie Jackson’s contribution. I ask the question … what is the cheekiest bid of all time?
Jamie Jackson
Manchester United would not be surprised if Chelsea make a cheeky late bid for Alejandro Garnacho though the early signs are the west London club may not. For United, after letting both Marcus Rashford and Antony go on loan (to Aston Villa and Real Betis) there would surely be serious uproar if Sir Jim Ratcliffe allowed another wide forward, who Ruben Amorim talked up last week, to depart.
Ruben Amorim left more than £100m of striker on the bench in yesterday’s 2-0 defeat to Crystal Palace. Surely he wants the Manchester United hierarchy to invest in someone that guarantees goals. He also sanctioned the departures of Antony and Marcus Rashford, leaving them short of options in attack, not that either has done anything of note this season.
Where will Mathys Tel end the day?
I am told that Nottingham Forest are expecting a quiet day in the market. I doubt the Ward-Prowse news changes that as the weekend saw the return to Premier League action of Danilo and Ibrahim Sangaré to boost Nuno Espirito Santo’s central midfield options.
Does someone returning to their parent club from an unsuccessful loan count as the first official deal of deadline day?
Ward-Prowse returns to West Ham
Jacob Steinberg
West Ham are bringing James Ward-prowse back from his loan at Nottingham Forest. No recall option was included but a mutual agreement has been reached by the clubs and the midfielder will be back in east London soon. Meanwhile West Ham are set to confirm Evan Ferguson’s loan from Brighton. Their move for the Lorient forward Eli Junior Kroupi has stalled as he is looking to stay put until the summer. Celtic striker Daniel Cummings could join for £500,000 today.
As we wait for transfer to get into full swing, why not check out Premier League Talking Point after a fun weekend of action.
I have my own couple of transfer lines from yesterday and they are BIG!
Lewis O’Brien is set to join Swansea on loan from Nottingham Forest.
Ben Fox will leave Northampton for Harrogate.
Some of the latest transfer news from last night.
Marcus Rashford is now an Aston Villa player … until the end of the season at least.
Evan Ferguson and Ben Chilwell are on the move.
Manchester United sign Patrick Dorgu.
Preamble
This feels significant! The transfer window is set to SLAM shut at 11pm GMT and plenty of work needs to be done by clubs across the country. Agents and sporting directors will be working on their numerous phones and ensuring they always have a charger on hand to avoid missing out on the deal of the decade.
Spend in January is up on last year in the Premier League, although a lot of that can be put down to Manchester City opening the cheque book in an attempt to halt their slide down the table. Eyes today will be firmly across the road in Manchester to see if United can pull off something to help Ruben Amorim’s stuttering revolution, and at Tottenham, who need fresh bodies to help move them away from the relegation zone.
There are few guarantees on deadline day but I am sure it will be hectic. We will bring you the latest news from our correspondents and plenty of gossip to boot.
Article by:Source: Will Unwin
