THE January transfer window is now CLOSED!
But don’t go anywhere, as clubs may have submitted deal sheets and transfers could still be announced over the next few hours.
Stay up to date with the latest transfer news with our live blog below…
RAISE THE BAAH
Manchester City starlet Kwadwo Baah is hungry like the Wilf as he looks to tear apart Premier League defences.
The 18-year-old forward, also courted by Bayern Munich, signed from Rochdale after a stellar start to life in League One.
He will join and summer and he will be doing somersaults over his move to the Etihad.
Baah struck his first goal for Dale against Wigan last year and celebrated acrobatically. He followed it up with two against Charlton last month.
He will spend the rest of the season on loan at Rochdale and join City in the summer.
Kwadwo Baah celebrated his first senior goal in styleCredit: Rex Features
DEADLINE DAY RECAP
A bit quiet out there so time for a quick recap – here’s the pick of the storylines from deadline day…
- Liverpool signed two centre-backs – Ozan Kabak and Ben Davies
- Dele Alli stayed at Tottenham despite interest from PSG
- Joe Willock (Newcastle) and Ainsley Maitland-Niles (West Brom) both left Arsenal on loan
- No movement at Chelsea or Manchester United
- Bournemouth’s Josh King joined Everton in a deal announced at 1am
- Southampton signed Takumi Minamino on loan from Liverpool in a late swoop
TEST BOOST
Premier League Covid positives have finally dropped back to pre-Christmas levels in a further boost to football chiefs.
Last week’s 2,957 tests across the 20 Prem clubs brought just seven new positive cases.
That is slightly down from the eight recorded in the seven days up to January 24, although this time there were positive cases in both sampling rounds.
Four of the positives came in the first batch of tests, of 1,713 players and staff, between Monday and Thursday.
There were then three positives out of 1,244 samples between Friday and Sunday.
The seven positives is the lowest total since the week of December 20, when the same number was recorded from only 1,569 tests.
There were just seven recorded coronavirus cases in the latest round of Premier League testingCredit: Getty Images – Getty
JAB STAND
FIFA President Gianni Infantino has insisted that footballers cannot be allowed to jump the Covid-19 jabs queue.
There have been calls for elite athletes to be moved up the priority list to ensure they can play inside secure bubbles.
But Infantino, speaking at an appearance at the World Health Organisation, dismissed that idea – but also pledged he expected full houses at the 2022 World Cup Finals.
Infantino said: “The priority for the vaccine is of course for the people at risk and health workers.
“That is very sure in our minds and we don’t consider football players as a priority in this respect.
“Of course, in the months to come and in the context of international competition and travel, vaccination might be recommended at some point.
“The Olympic Games are only in the summer but this will happen respecting established order of distribution. The people at risk should have priority.”
Infantino has confirmed that footballers are not a vaccination priority at the momentCredit: Reuters
TRAVEL PROBLEMS
Prem clubs have been left up in the air over whether they will be forced to release players for next month’s World Cup qualifiers, Martin Lipton reports.
Last week’s new UK border rules mean that South American and Portuguese players will be forced to spend 10 days in strict hotel quarantine when they return to British soil.
SunSport revealed how it could deprive Liverpool of Alisson, Fabinho and Roberto Firmino for three games at the start of April.
And it would bring similar issues for Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes, Edinson Cavani and Alex Telles and Ederson, Ruben Dias and Gabriel Jesus at Manchester City.
Bruno Fernandes is among the stars who could be affected by going away on international dutyCredit: Getty Images – Getty
HURRY REDKNAPP
Harry Redknapp was in a hurry after he got LOST on his way to the Sky Sports studios in a hilarious transfer deadline day gaffe.
Redknapp was given an ovation as he finally joined Jim White on set, more than 40 minutes after he was supposed to following his ordeal to get from his Bournemouth home to West London.
Explaining the palaver, the former Spurs boss said: “I was on the M3, plenty of time and it’s taken my three-and-a-quarter hours it took me from Bournemouth.
“I was going along lovely and then suddenly a sign flashed up saying ‘accident J4 to J2’. Closed. Whatever.
“So I had to divert all the way back and Jim, I didn’t have a clue. I’ve ended up coming up the M4, cutting across to Reading.”
Asked if he has a sat nav, Redknapp added: “We do Jim but I have to be truthful, I’ve changed my car and I’ve not been anywhere since because we’re in lockdown.
“I know my way here easy enough. I ain’t got a clue how to work the sat nav. I can’t work it. It’s too complicated.”
Harry Redknapp had a nightmare journey from Bournemouth to West London on deadline dayCredit: Sky Sports News
UP IN THE AIR
Dayot Upamecano’s agent has confirmed the sought-after centre-back is deciding on his future with two top Premier League clubs vying for the RB Leipzig star.
Both Manchester United and Chelsea have been linked with the highly-rated 22-year-old but the Prem sides will face competition from Bayern Munich.
Upamecano has a contract until 2023 at the German side but the player’s representative Volker Struth confirmed he has a £38million release clause, which is likely to be triggered this summer.
Struth told Sport1: “The release clause was agreed because the player decided to want to take the next step at some point. It is very likely in the summer.
“Nothing final has been decided yet. The tendency for him to leave the club in the summer is high.
DOUBLE MOVE
Deadline day is never over really, is it?
Thank god for those deal sheets to give us some late night drama and a bit of action into the early hours.
King and Minamino both done, that should be the end of the big business but we’ll see.
BREAKING
Josh King is official too. Everton have announced his signing from Bournemouth.
King and Minamino were the two we were expecting confirmation of in the early hours, and that’s exactly what we got.
BREAKING
Takumi Minamino has completed his loan move to Southampton on loan from Liverpool until the end of the season.
BREAKING
Southampton have confirmed that Shane Long has moved to Bournemouth on loan for the remainder of the season.
A striker with plenty of experience to help the Cherries in the Championship.
NORTH EAST ADVENTURE
Joe Willock has sent a video message to Newcastle fans after completing his loan move…
AMERICAN DREAM
Championship club Swansea have confirmed the signing of Paul Arriola on loan from DC United.
The 25-year-old American will slot into the Welsh club’s midfield after leaving the MLS.
FREE-FL
EFL clubs have not declared a PENNY in January transfer fees, Martin Lipton reports.
The astonishing lack of spending is the clearest sign yet of a collapse in the market due to coronavirus.
Across Europe, as expected, deals were down markedly from this time last year, when Premier League clubs alone spent £230million.
This year top-flight deals were worth less than £100m, with similar declines across Europe.
Derby signed Teden Mengi on loan from Manchester United in one of the most high-profile temporary deals in the EFLCredit: Rex Features
DEADLINE DAY RECAP
Here’s the pick of the storylines from deadline day…
- Liverpool signed two centre-backs – Ozan Kabak and Ben Davies
- Dele Alli stayed at Tottenham despite interest from PSG
- Joe Willock (Newcastle) and Ainsley Maitland-Niles (West Brom) both left Arsenal on loan
- No movement at Chelsea or Manchester United
- Bournemouth’s Josh King is on the brink of joining Everton
- Southampton are set to sign Takumi Minamino on loan from Liverpool
LATE DEAL
47 minutes after the deadline and still some moves coming through.
Everton have announced that Anthony Gordon has moved to Preston on loan.
I’ll bring you a wrap of what we’ve seen today at the top of the hour.
BREAKING
And an arrival for Fulham too.
They have brought in 22-year-old striker Josh Maja from Bordeaux on loan.
Speaking to fulhamfc.com, Maja said: “I’m really excited and proud to sign for Fulham on loan for the remainder of the season.
“This is a big opportunity and I look forward to meeting up with the team and working hard to achieve positive results.”
LOAN MOVE
The deals are still coming in…
Fulham have announced that Neeskens Kebano has joined Middlesbrough on loan.
SOUTH COAST MOVE
Southampton have announced that Yan Valery has joined Birmingham on loan.
DEAL ME IN
Sky Sports News report that two deal sheets were submitted to the Premier League in which transfers have not been confirmed by clubs.
We’d expect those to be Minamino to Southampton and King to Everton BUT we’ll monitor that through the night.
The deadline may have passed but the night is still young…
DEAL SHEETS
It’s that time of deadline day – What is a deal sheet? How do we know if a transfer has gone through? Etc etc.
Looks like the Premier League website have it covered…
BREAKING
Willock to Newcastle has been confirmed.
A loan until the end of the season for the Arsenal man.
WINDOW SHUT
That’s it… that’s the end of the January transfer window.
A quiet one by normal standards but there was at least some action and some signings.
We may still have some deals announced in the next few hours so long as deal sheets were submitted in time.
BREAKING
Arsenal and West Brom have confirmed Maitland-Niles’s loan move.
He joins Robert Snodgrass, Mbaye Diagne and Okay Yokuslu as the Baggies new arrivals.
LAST GASP
Takumi Minamino is set to join Southampton on loan from Liverpool.
The Athletic report that a deal sheet has been submitted and that’s all that needs to happen before 11pm.
We’ll keep an eye out for confirmation in the next few hours.
Another Liverpool loan departure, defender Sepp van den Berg has joined Preston.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
