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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Alan Smith (now) Nick Miller (earlier)

Transfer deadline day: Imbula, Rhodes, Berahino – as it happened!

How to create the perfect transfer rumour.

And on that high note I am off! Thanks and goodnight!

Young midfielder linked with Liverpool, signs with different club in January only to be loaned back to the League One side he was signed from. It’s Dele Alli all over again!

Maddison, who has signed a three-and-a-half-year contract but will be loaned back to Coventry for the rest of this season, has Alex Neil, the Norwich manager, excited: “We’re delighted to sign James as he is a fantastic prospect who has already made a mark at Coventry at such a young age. He has real potential to develop, making this deal one we’re really pleased to get over the line. James will return to on loan Coventry for the rest of the season to continue his development before joining up with us on a full-time basis in the summer.”

Updated

DONE DEAL!

Hold on … there is one more deal to come. Norwich have signed the highly-rated midfielder James Maddison from Coventry. The 19-year-old was being watched by Liverpool, who were apparently told they had to wait until the summer. But now Maddison is off to Carrow Road.

Updated

So who has had the best window? Stoke signed Giannelli Imbula for a club-record £18.3m fee and that was the biggest move across Europe in this window. Everton have added some firepower with the signing of Oumar Niasse in a £13.5m move. Earlier in the window Southampton did well to sign Charlie Austin for £4m and also held on to their star players despite continued interest. Watford had a busy window, signing five players. Newcastle have added considerable strength but could not add a goalscorer and in the Championship Middlesbrough have brought in Jordan Rhodes and Ritchie de Laet to bolster their promotion hopes.

The biggest news of all, however, on a dishwater dull deadline day was not a transfer. Pep Guardiola will become Manchester City manager in the summer after Manuel Pellegrini confirmed his exit at the end of the season. Thanks for sticking around all evening. And, more importantly, enjoy the midweek fixtures. Bye!

Updated

Aston Villa had a desperate window and Rémi Garde is not very happy. Might he consider his future? They take on West Ham at Upton Park tomorrow night and there are echoes of Harry Redknapp last season.

Updated

The window is closed!

That’s your lot. And there isn’t even a paperwork issue to keep us going.

Even Sky have conceded Saido Berahino will remain at West Brom. It’s over, you can go to sleep!

Three minutes to go and the good news is there are actual games to talk about tomorrow! This is kinda like counting down on New Year’s Eve, a massive anti-climax.

Here is Imbula in action to a soundtrack of hard dance music. He looks the part – are Stoke fans happy?

Leicester’s Yohan Benalouane has signed for Fiorentina on loan.

And on the back of that club record transfer:

DONE DEAL!

Stoke have completed the signing of Giannelli Imbula from Porto for £18.3m. He has signed a five-and-a-half-year contract – and that is the biggest signing of the window! Mark Hughes says: “Giannelli is a good young player. He has great power, good ability on the ball and a great range of passing and there’s no doubt he will add to the quality that we already have at the club.”

Charles N’Zogbia will now be staying put at Aston Villa it seems – Sunderland have rubbished the rumours saying he was about to sign.

Jay Emmanuel-Thomas has joined MK Dons on loan from QPR.

Stoke should complete their £18m signing of Imbula before the deadline but it still has not been confirmed.

Undoubted star of this transfer window: Andy Townsend, who has made for some very good radio on 5Live this evening. No hyperbole, some good tales of old – it’s been a sweet antidote to the overblown silliness to be found elsewhere.

Updated

Sunderland have confirmed Jordi Gomez’s temporary switch to Blackburn.

Some Scottish news.

Saido speaks!

One deal on, two deals off. Alex McCarthy’s loan to Fulham has collapsed because Crystal Palace have not been able to bring in Rob Green from QPR. Rangers have, however, left Leroy Fer go to Swansea on loan for the remainder of the campaign.

Updated

An hour to go! Will there be a late move? (No)

DONE DEAL!

The 34-year-old right-back certainly brings a lot of experience.

Updated

The last-minute transfer of this window is not quite a mouth-watering one: the rarely-spotted Charles N’Zogbia is in Sunderland to finalise a move from Aston Villa.

Updated

Marseille’s official website on Steven Fletcher: “He will not leave you unmoved. It will not go unnoticed. Neither at the Velodrome stadium nor on other stages in France. OM has a Scotsman with an engine. Knowing the mindset of the fans, it is already good news.”

And as mentioned earlier, Yaya Sanogo’s loan to Charlton for the rest of the campaign has been confirmed.

Everton have loaned the striker Conor McAleny to Wigan until the end of the season.

Here’s our story on Fletcher joining Marseille

Updated

And Loïc Rémy will be staying at Chelsea despite interest from Leicester.

More from Louise Taylor in the north-east

What took you so long? After seemingly decades of endless, agonising, speculation Jordan Rhodes is finally a Smoggy, the Blackburn striker joining Middlesbrough for £11m following an 11th hour volte face. And, another striker, Steven Fletcher has joined Marseille on loan until he end of the season. Yes, it is perhaps the day’s oddest deal. He will, incidentally be receiving crosses from Rémy Cabella and Florian Thauvin, late of Newcastle United.

All praise Everton for disclosing a transfer fee! Niasse told the club website: “It’s a great day for me, a big dream to play in the Premier League and a big dream to play for Everton. Everton is one of the best teams in the Premier League and the Premier League is one of the best leagues in the world.” Dreams can come true, as Gabrielle sang in 1993.

Rhodes, meanwhile, has signed a four-and-a-half year contract. That fee is undisclosed.

Updated

DONE DEAL!

And another!

Updated

DONE DEAL!

Jordan Rhodes has been confirmed as a Middlesbrough player! More to follow.

Manchester United news! Nick Powell has joined Hull on loan until the end of the season.

Mathieu Debuchy’s loan move to Bordeaux has been completed.

Watford have signed Adalberto Penaranda … from Udinese, but he has been on loan at Granada. The 18-year-old has signed a four-and-a-half-year contract.

Updated

Steven Fletcher’s loan move from Sunderland to Marseille has been completed. That could actually be a very good move for the Scotland striker. He is out of contract in the summer and if he impresses, the Ligue 1 club might just offer him a permanent deal. And the weather is a tad nicer in the south of France compared to Wearside.

Or if he wanted to get the train, he would still have time to stop off to browse the papers and buy a cup of coffee before boarding the 8.55pm from St Pancras. He would get to Leicester at 10pm and still have an hour to spare. It’s quite a simple journey and a first class ticket is £86.50, probably cheaper than the cost of flying a chopper.

Just on time, Sky says Loïc Rémy might not be able to join Leicester on loan from Chelsea because it is too windy to fly there. Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but three hours remain and a coach only takes 2hrs 30min.

There are three hours to go!

Chelsea’s Marco van Ginkel is ending his loan spell at Stoke and going on a six-month loan to PSV Eindhoven, which makes sense with Imbula close to signing for Mark Hughes’ team.

An email from Ian Burch in reference to Barry Fry chomping down some fried chicken. “Barry Fry must wonder what all the fuss is about today. He signed 80 players during his time at Birmingham, an average of 3 signings a month. I remember his chairman David Sullivan telling a story about going to the training ground to speak to all the players. Barry called all the players in and they came running from everywhere, apparently “It was like a scene from Zulu”. Still at least he didn’t compare it to a scene from one of his own films.

This transfer window really needs a helicopter trip and images of a flight tracker.

Here is some more information on Doucouré joining Watford but heading straight to Granada.

On Sky they are discussing computer game statistics relevant to Watford’s new signing, Abdoulaye Doucouré, including his pass completion rate of 87% this season. Does it really matter when he will be straight off to Spain to help Granada out of the La Liga relegation places?

This will go down well with QPR supporters.

Updated

The Celtic chief executive, Peter Lawwell has been quoted on Sky as saying Colin Kazim-Richards “is a character”. Yep.

Behind the scenes at Peterborough United …

Blackburn have watched Jordan Rhodes head off to the north-east this afternoon, but they are getting a player from another club in that area.

Sunderland’s Jordi Gomez is having a medical at Blackburn ahead of a loan move until the end of the season, and Jordan Rhodes is now at Rockliffe Park, Boro’s training ground just south of Darlington and the deal – possibly closer to £11m than £9m – is very close to completion.

Updated

DONE DEAL!

The Turkey international Colin Kazim-Richards has signed for Celtic, joining from Feyenoord.

QPR’s Leroy Fer is reportedly on his way to Swansea, signing on loan until the end of the season.

The latest on Crystal Palace, Fulham and Chelsea from our London correspondent, Dominic Fifield:

Looks like the latest twist to the Palace reserve goalkeeper transfer “saga” is Alex McCarthy now joining Fulham on loan for three months. It would presumably signal Rob Green’s arrival on a free transfer from QPR. And, on the Falcao returning to Atlético Madrid suggestion, it is worth pointing out Jorge Mendes is about the only person on the planet who could sort that out. An agent who has significant influence at Monaco and Atlético moving his client out of Chelsea. It makes sense for the Premier League club and the Ligue 1 club. Remains to be seen whether it does to Atlético.

Updated

DONE DEAL!

Watford have signed Abdoulaye Doucouré from Stade Rennais. It is a four-and-a-half-year contract and while the fee is undisclosed, it is reportedly around £8m and he will join the Pozzo’s Spanish club Granada on loan for the rest of the season.

Updated

Arsenal’s Yaya Sanogo is set to end his loan at Ajax early and join Championship strugglers Charlton.

We’ve known about Middlesbrough’s attempt to sign Jordan Rhodes for quite a while now, but Scottish football correspondent, Ewan Murray, has news of another who might end up at the Riverside

Obviously not content to pursue one Scottish international, Middlesbrough are attempting to buy another: Jordan McGhee from Hearts. McGhee, who can play centre or right back, hasn’t represented Scotland at full level yet but has captained the Under 21 side and featured in more than 50 first-team games for his club at the age of 19. Ipswich Town had a bid for the player thrown out by Hearts in August.

Updated

DONE DEAL!

James Tarkowski has finally left Brentford, joining Burnley for an undisclosed fee. The Clarets manager, Sean Dyche, told the club’s official website: “James is a player I have known for a couple of seasons and I’ve monitored his progress from Oldham, right the way through to now. He is at a good age and has gained a lot of experience over the last couple of seasons and I feel he can be a big part of us going forwards in the future. We want competition in all areas and we have been a little bit light in that area all season, so we feel he’s a very good player and an excellent signing for the club, both now and for the future.” Tarkowskihas signed a three-and-a-half-year contract.

Updated

DONE DEAL!

Rhoys Wiggins has joined Bournemouth for a third time, having spent two loan spells at the club in 2009 and 2010. And this time it’s permanent! The Welsh left-back has joined from Sheffield Wednesday, becoming Eddie Howe’s fifth signing of the month.

The Bournemouth goalkeeper Ryan Allsop has joined Wycombe on loan until the end of the season.

DONE DEAL!

QPR have confirmed the signing of Abdenasser El Khayati from Burton Albion. He of course worked with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink at the League One club.

Denis Cheryshev had been linked earlier in the month with a loan move to Liverpool, but he has ended up at Gary Neville’s Valencia instead.

Following on from Louise Taylor’s recent update from Newcastle, our Merseyside correspondent adds:

Updated

Brighton’s Elvis Manu has joined Huddersfield on loan for 93 days.

Jordan Rhodes has not yet arrived at Middlesbrough’s training ground but he is understood to be one his way. One man who has made it to his new club’s training ground is Giannelli Imbula. He is finalising personal terms.

Pep Guardiola in numbers

He had a medical over the weekend but the deal has appeared to collapse over an issue with him being loaned back to Fulham for the remainder of the season.

And our very own Transfer News King, Ed Aarons has arrived at Guardian Towers.

Pep Guardiola’s final transfer at Bayern Munich looks like being Serdar Tasci, who has joined on loan from Spartak Moscow until the end of the season to provide defensive cover. Here is a vine of him signing his contract.

Serdar Tasci is tasked with signing some paper.

Updated

And another snippet from Louise Taylor in the north-east.

Looks like Newcastle are backing away from the idea of bringing their old left back Jose Enrique back to Tyneside from Liverpool.

Aldershot have confirmed Alfie Pavey has extended his loan from Millwall for another month.

In far more exciting news than any transfers, Football Weekly is here!

Updated

Look away Aston Villa, fans. An email from Adam Griffiths – “Stat of the day: Cardiff, currently under a transfer embargo, have signed more players this transfer window than Villa. If Villa were a racehorse, the vet would have put them down by now.

Yes, they have. Aitor Karanka has signed the 29-year-old defender on loan from Leicester until the end of the season. The Rhodes deal is close, too, and word from Teeside is that it will make it over the line.

Swansea’s Éder has joined Lille on loan until the end of the season

And this gives me an opportunity to try out my French (I’ve been trying to re-teach myself having hated it in school but years later coming to the conclusion that speaking more than English and Gaelige – which is utterly pointless – might be beneficial)

“Éder est un bon joueur, il a des qualités athlétiques au-dessus de la moyenne,” said the manager, Frédéric Antonetti. It translates to, I think: Éder is a good player with above average athletic qualities.

Updated

Alfred Finnbogason, who scored for Olympiakos against Arsenal in the Champions League this season, is close to joining the Bundesliga’s Augsburg from Real Sociedad. (He was on loan with the Greek club)

Updated

Norwich have signed the midfielder Ebou Adams on an 18-month deal for an undisclosed fee from Dartford.

Hello. Yes, you’ve had you Miller. Now it’s time for Filler right up until midnight – because you can be sure there will be an hour of wondering whether paperwork has gone through or not when the window shuts at 11pm.

And that’s all from me. Now Alan Smith has arrived to take this transfer blog, home, home, home. Direct your correspondence to alan.smith@guardian.co.uk, or tweet @AlanSmith90

Updated

Kevin Nolan has signed Nicky Hunt at Leyton Orient, from Mansfield. Big Kev getting the old 2003 Bolton band back together - Gudni Bergsson and Mike Whitlow to follow.

Small bits of news from Charlton, who have terminated the contracts of Frank Moussa and Ricardo Vaz Te, but perhaps more significantly are reportedly on the verge of signing young prospect Ademola Lookman to a new contract. Given that their business plan involves cultivating young talent then selling it on they probably don’t have much hope of actually keeping him at the Valley, but at least this way they have a chance of getting some decent coin when he does go.

A quick dip below the line, where doncobaino writes:

Said it last week but Man United’s lack of business in this window must be an indication that the board no longer trust LVG.

That, or they think the squad is fine as it is....

DONE DEAL!

We are largely dealing in loans out from the Premier League to the Football League at the moment, but it’s all good fun, yeah?

Fabio Quagliarella seems to have played for pretty much every club in Serie A - now he’s going to play for one of them twice, as he’s heading back to Sampdoria from Torino (with whom he is spending his second spell), initially on loan.

Claudio Ranieri is hopeful of signing someone, probably a forward, before the end of the day. He know this because he said so, here:

Always I am positive but now, believe me, I am very focused on the next match. There are other people involved in the negotiations. Everything is done [identifying players] and now it is their job. My job is thinking about the team.

“It [the squad] is enough because my team is so strong, so it doesn’t matter. If a player arrives or doesn’t arrive, it’s the same. If someone arrives I’m happy because these kind of players can help us. That’s it. I am always confident.”

CSKA Moscow’s Ahmed Musa, Crystal Palace’s Dwight Gayle and Chelsea’s Loïc Remy have all been mentioned as potentials.

Oh, well, this is interesting, from our boy Andy Hunter...

Newcastle United are trying to re-sign Jose Enrique from Liverpool. The defender is considering a short-term deal, he’s out of contract in the summer, and it’s likely to be the only deal done at Anfield today if he accepts.

Updated

If you can stand it, here’s more on Saido Berahino, from Mark Hughes. Summary: sounds like he’s going nowhere. Said Sparky:

It’s been mentioned that we might have been in the market for a certain West Brom player. I think it’s fair to say, West Brom have been quite insistent in their message that Berahino wasn’t available.

“We expressed an interest and we asked to be kept informed, but they have been consistent in their message so I don’t anticipate anything.”

Want a few details on the Seydou Doumbia to Newcastle deal? You got it, stud.

Ouch...

A lightly bubbling rumour throughout the day has been talk that Manchester United could be in for young Benfica midfielder Renato Sanches. Benfica, for their part, sound quite relaxed about the whole affair:

“Renato is mature beyond his age,” Benfica manager Rui Vitoria told Sport TV. “He is being protected by a group of players who support him and are giving him a lot of help.

“This situation is not difficult for us. If things happen, they happen. We all know that’s the way it is. There is no point in worrying over things that have yet to happen.

“There is no drama about all this. The team is very stable and that helps dealing with speculation like this.”

Benfica midfielder Renato Sanches.
Renato Sanches may, or may not, be making a move from Benfica to Old Trafford. Photograph: DPI/NurPhoto/Corbis

Updated

Saido Berahino missed training today at West Brom, but there’s nothing sinister going on there, according to Baggies assistant Dave Kemp. Saido is just a bit sore:

He’s been in this morning. He’s got a bit of a knock. But he’s in the squad for tomorrow’s game. I’m expecting him to be here. The chairman deals with that side. It was awkward today, he has a dead leg he picked up on Saturday. He came out, he’s a bit sore, and he’s gone home. With the media around that’s probably the best thing to do.”

Quick word from Dominic Fifield, who says there have still been no bids received by Chelsea for Loïc Remy. Surely someone should make a play for him...

The Press Association now report that Saido Berahino won’t be leaving West Brom today, but as far as we know Newcastle’s bid of around £25m - £25m! - is still on the table.

Busy day at Middlesbrough. More from Louise Taylor here...

Julien de Sart has arrived on Teesside and is undergoing a medical ahead of a loan switch from Standard Liege until the end of the season with a view to a permanent transfer. The highly rated 21-year-old defensive midfielder is a Belgium Under-21 international.

Not strictly transfer news, but Newcastle have announced that Ayoze Perez has signed a new five-and-a-half year contract at the club.

Shay Given might want to leave Stoke on loan, with the European Championships in mind. Although he’s not quite there yet, telling the Stoke Sentinel:

I’ve still got the European Championships to get right for and hopefully play some games for Stoke, but that’s not going to be easy because Jack has probably been our player of the season so far.

“I’ve got to get match fit first, which will probably take a few weeks, then take it from there. The summer is massive for me and it’s important I get match fit and play a few games to show them I’m ready to get on the plane to France.

“It might be here or it might be on loan for a couple of months. The important thing is to make sure the knee is right and then maybe have a chat with the gaffer. So at the moment it is a bit premature to be talking about loan spells.”

Some afternoon reading: Paolo Bandini on how Milan were inspired by Mark Hateley to beat Inter this weekend. Sort of.

Interesting...

No business at Liverpool, then...

More from Louise Taylor, on a player who looks like he won’t be leaving Newcastle, today at least...

Cheick Tiote is unlikely to leave Newcastle today but both the midfielder and the club hope he will be departing in the near future. This will be possible as the transfer window in the United Arab Emirates, China and Russia stays open a little longer than ours. Tiote has already turned down one mooted move to China and is believed to be holding out for a transfer to the UAE...

Here are some details on Stoke’s move for Giannelli Imbula, who in the opinion of me and plenty of other people who have watched him more and are thus much better qualified, is a good player.

Here’s some more stuff from Remi Garde, and it doesn’t exactly paint the best picture of life at Aston Villa, even though we did rather know that would be the case already.

On transfers in general:

The situation of the team at the bottom of the table was not something easy to deal with for new players but it’s not the only reason. It was also a financial problem but it’s not my job to explain that again. Probably the club realise mistakes have been made in the past and they didn’t want to do it again.”

On Seydou Doumbia, off to Newcastle instead of Villa:

I spoke a long time with the player and I spent a lot of energy to convince him but he chose another club, that’s life.”

And on disappointing the fans...

I am disappointed because I know I represent this big club. I am not coming in front of the fans with good news. I always said I will not run away. I feel the way I am working, and the way I see the club, I feel the support.”

Another City kid out on loan - Enes Ünal has done one to NAC Breda until the end of the season.

DONE DEAL

A few nice lines from Louise Taylor on today in the north-east...

Sunderland’s Steven Fletcher has flown to Marseille for talks over a transfer from the Stadium of Light to the Stade Velodrome.

Davide Santon has rejected a proposed return to Newcastle United on loan from Internazionale but the full back would be prepared to make a comeback if a permanent deal can be agreed. Right now though that looks a little unlikely - although Steve McClaren does need a left back.

Boro and Jordan Rhodes talking again but suggestions Watford might be set to attempt an 11th hour hi-jack.

DONE DEAL!

West Brom sign Stuart Broad’s younger brother...

Just official confirmation of something we basically knew earlier...

Here’s a bit of reading on the new manager of Manchester City, Josep Guardiola...

City youngster Bruno Zucolini has taken the news of Pellegrini’s departure so badly he’s left for Greece...

Away from the ‘big’ story for a second, here’s Andy Hunter...

A fraction below Guardiola-Pellegrini on the news scale, Aiden McGeady has completed his loan move from Everton to Sheffield Wednesday until the end of the season.

Here’s the full story on the Manchester City/Guardiola/Pellegrini hoo-ha....

Manuel seems all magnanimous and stuff, but was it really necessary for City to announce in their statement that he was (at best) second choice for the job when they appointed him in 2013?

Nick Miller back now from lunch. They had a selection of tuna pasties in the canteen, which I’ve never seen before. Didn’t have one, mind - I went for a roast beef sandwich.

So what are you lot talking about...?

Pep Guardiola will take over as Manchester City manager this summer

Manchester City have made it official, with a statement on their website.

Manchester City can confirm that in recent weeks it has commenced and finalized contractual negotiations with Pep Guardiola to become MCFC Head Coach for the 2016/17 EPL season onwards.

The contract is for three years. These negotiations were a re-commencement of discussions that were curtailed in 2012.

Out of respect for Manuel Pellegrini and the players, the Club wishes to make its decision public to remove the unnecessary burden of speculation.

Manuel, who is fully supportive of the decision to make this communication, is entirely focused on achieving his targets for the season ahead and retains the respect and commitment of all involved with the leadership of the Club.

Updated

Breaking news

It’s not strictly transfer deadline day related, but it’s a pretty big deal: Jamie Jackson is reporting that Pep Guardiola will take over from Manuel Pellegrini as Manchester City manager this summer.

The mysterious Prof Danglais loves to pour cold water on a hot transfer rumour. “Mathieu Debuchy has gone on loan to Bordeaux, according to L’Équipe” says the Prof, and he’s not wrong – nothing official yet, though.

DONE DEAL!

Speaking of Patrick Roberts – Celtic have now confirmed his arrival on loan from Manchester City. This one’s an 18-month deal too, keeping the winger at Celtic Park until the summer of 2017. Roberts joined City for around £11m in July, but has found first-team opportunities on the slim side.

Updated

No official confirmation yet, but Louise Taylor reckons Seydou Doumbia’s loan move to Newcastle has been completed. What that means for Saido Berahino remains to be seen.

Hello, Niall McVeigh here, taking over from Nick who has gone to thrash out a couple of deals in the canteen. Let’s start in Scotland, with Celtic on the cusp of signing Man City’s Patrick Roberts and Feyenoord’s Colin Kazim-Richards on loan. Elsewhere, Rangers are closing relentlessly on St. Johnstone’s Michael O’Halloran, and Aberdeen want to take Greg Tansey down the A96 from Inverness Caley Thistle.

A couple more lines from Louise Taylor now...

Berahino left West Brom training early but club say he has a knock…Any deal for Gomis in doubt over Swansea striker’s financial demands…

And on Teesside - Jordan Rhodes is apparently on the point of doing a U-turn. Steve Gibson, Boro’s owner walked away from deal to sign him from Blackburn for £9m due to the striker’s, apparently unrealistic, financial demands but now it seems Rhodes is ready to back down.

DONE DEAL!

Also leaving Spurs....

Not that they’ve used him very much/at all (one League Cup appearance so far) but Spurs are leaving themselves a little light at the back, with Jan Vertonghen’s injury and so forth. Guess Kevin Wimmer and Eric Dier filling in will do them for now.

Here’s a quick line from Dominic Fifield:

Julian Speroni is likely to join Reading on loan from Crystal Palace. They’ll take Rob Green from QPR until the end of the season, all being well.

Here’s our man Jamie Jackson on the Debuchy to Manchester United rumours...

The best way to characterise this is it’s not currently being killed by those who would know at Manchester United. Powell to Hull (or elsewhere) continues to be in the balance...

Any Arsenal fans want to jump in here...?

Serge Gnabry is heading out of Arsenal on loan, to one of two Championship clubs. But Arsene Wenger, the old tease, won’t tell us which one(s). Word is those two clubs are Brighton and Charlton.

Yeovil are either getting their excuses in early, or getting with the times, technologically speaking...

DONE DEAL!

Cardiff are cooking on loany gas today...

Some more odds and ends from up north, via Louise Taylor:

Boro: Aitor Karanka is desperate for a striker; either Jordan Rhodes for Ross McCormack would be ideal. Can the collapsed deal for Blackburn’s Rhodes be revived or will a late agreement with Fulham for McCormack be forced through?

Sunderland: Arsenal’s Mathieu Debuchy, Aston Villa’s Micah Richards and Swansea’ Bafetimbi Gomis are on Sam Allardyce’s last minute shopping list - but all appear long shots. Debuchy is the most wanted.

Meanwhile Sunderland are bracing themselves for a late £5m bid for Jermain Defoe from Bournemouth and could sell another striker, Steven Fletcher to Marseille.

Steven Fletcher
Steven Fletcher joins Peter Odemwingie in being linked to Marseille on an... interesting day for the French club. Photograph: Richard Lee/BPI/Rex/Shutterstock

Updated

You’ll like this. According to a correspondent for L’Equipe in France, Manchester United are one of the teams in for Mathieu Debuchy.

Just let that sink in.

Word from our woman in the north-east Louise Taylor, on Newcastle who are on the verge of signing Seydou Doumbia, and also...

But Newcastle’s main target remains Saido Berahino and they have lodged an improved £25m bid for the West Brom forward after a £21m offer was rejected. West Brom’s resolve that Berahino will not be sold this month - and particularly not to a relegation rival appears about to be tested.

Steve McClaren’s board do have a Plan B though - and Chelsea’s Loïc Remy and Swansea’s Bafetimbi Gomis are two strikers who remain very much on the St James’ Park radar.

Updated

Quick translation: Fiorentina coach Paoulo Sousa wants a defender, and he’s keen on Yohan Benalouane...who we all knew was at Leicester, right...?

Tim Jones takes us away from the business at hand for a second: “Question for you, seeing as there’s minimal actual transfers going on. Have you seen the new Dad’s Army film? Is it any good? Based on my analysis of the trailer I’m going for ‘no its terrible’.”

Actually I thought the trailer seemed funnier than I thought it was going to be, but I haven’t seen the film. Peter Bradshaw has though, so he’s rather more qualified to comment...

Here’s word from Mr Diogo Silva, on the emails: “Portuguese sports newspaper O Jogo (traditionally accurate when it comes to Porto news) are reporting Gianelli Imbula missed practice today. He didn’t play on Saturday and he’s not injured, so those Stoke transfer rumours might actually be true.”

Oh, hello...

According to ESPN, Peter Odemwingie is on his way to Marseille. And apparently they are aware he’s coming.

Updated

The Guardian’s man on Merseyside Andy Hunter writes:

Oumar Niasse is edging closer to a £13.5m move to Everton. The Lokomotiv Moscow striker has arrived on Merseyside for his medical.

Updated

Sky Sports News have been encouraging people to send in tales of how they’re enjoying deadline day. Presenter Rachel Wyse just noted that many of their correspondents seem to be at school or college.

No comment.

Sounds like St Mary’s is closed for business today, for the most part. Here’s Ronald Koeman, speaking at his press conference earlier:

Maybe one of our young players like Jack Stephens or Harrison Reed, to let them play on loan, maybe that will happen today but not other big business.

“We did our job and I think if you have to do your job, or any big business, today then in my opinion you are nervous or you do not know what you have to do, because in my opinion it is a little bit late.

“I mentioned several times, we did our job with Charlie Austin and nobody will leave the club in January.”

Just a little bit more on that Danish striker Cardiff have signed, Kenneth Zohore. The Bluebirds are currently under a transfer embargo that prevents them from signing players for a fee, and paying loanees more than £10,000-a-week. However, owner Vincent Tan then got creative, buying Zohore for the other club he owns, Belgian side Kortrijk, from Odense earlier today. Then he was loaned to Cardiff. Jus’ like that.

Andrew Vickers writes: “I’m sending this from my work email, a risk I’m willing to take as long as you can provide good news. LVG earlier this month spoke about possibly getting in a full back to cover long term injuries of Shaw, Young, Valencia and Rojo. Any little whispers in your ear? I can’t watch Borthwick-Jackson or Varela play anymore their crossing is worse than the collection of run over cats we have buried in the garden. Hoping for hope...”

Alas, the only word that’s really doing the rounds in reference to United is word they’re after Benfica child Renato Sanches, and that Nick Powell might be leaving on loan. Other than that...

Want to know why players are doing one to China rather than the Major League Soccer? John Duerden has some answers there, and it’s a little more expansive than ‘they’ve got loads and loads and loads of money’...

Stuart Pearce is on a couch at Sky Sports News, and he sits with his legs further apart than any man I’ve ever witnessed. Any body language experts out there have any theories about this particular brand of manspreading?

DONE DEAL!

That there is perpetual full-back/midfielder Kevin Constant, who has moved from Trabzonspor to Bologna on a free.

Brief line from Sky, who reckon Middlesbrough, having pulled out of the Jordan Rhodes deal, are instead keen on Ross McCormack, and are looking to snaffle Graham Dorrans from Norwich too.

Oooh, now, here’s juicy...

Philosophical stuff here. If a rumour is whispered in the forest, etc and so on...

It does sort of remind me of that film that came out a few years ago alleging McDonalds were being very naughty boys and girls, which McDs then took out a full-page advert in the paper to say ‘Don’t see this film’. And everyone said ‘What film? Oh, that film!’

“Debuchy [leaving on loan] is still a possibility, but at the moment it doesn’t look like it,” says Arséne Wenger, also reckoning that it’s ‘99%’ sure he won’t be signing anyone else. “If Messi knocks on my door I won’t say ‘go back to Barcelona’” he japed, the football transfer equivalent of ‘I wouldn’t kick him/her out of bed for farting.’

To lighten the mood a little, here’s a joke I heard the other day.

Pub landlord: “I had that Bond villain in here the other day, he made a right mess.”
Pub patron: “Oh, Javier Bardem?”
Pub landlord: “No, he’s allowed back in if he behaves himself.”

Works a bit better said out loud, that one. Got any jokes or amusing stories? Nick.Miller@theGuardian.com or @NickMiller79 is where to send ‘em, along with any transfer stuff of course.

In one of those ‘rumour denied before I’d actually heard the rumour’ situations, Sky Sports reckon there’s no chance of Kieran Gibbs moving on loan from Arsenal to Crystal Palace.

Taking a punt from the name and guessing this is word from Denmark...

The Press Association have been on the case at Newcastle, where according to them the club are ‘are awaiting the results of medical tests on Roma striker Seydou Doumbia.’ If that goes breasts up then they’ve still got a bid of £21m in on Saido Berahino and have yet to receive a ‘formal’ response from West Brom, while they’re still keeping tabs on Loïc Remy and Bafetimbi Gomis.

So, in summary, it’d probably be a surprise if they didn’t sign a striker at some point today.

Updated

Andy Hunter is literally on fire, Ruud. Here he is with an update from t’other side of Stanley Park:

At Everton, Lokomotiv Moscow striker Oumar Niasse is due for a medical ahead of a potential £13.5m deal - as David Hytner has revealed. Sheffield Wednesday are favourites to take Aiden McGeady on loan after the Republic of Ireland winger decided his first team prospects - and therefore European Championship prospects - would be better served in the Championship than trying to dislodge Yevhen Konoplyanka at Sevilla. Blackburn Rovers have not given up on trying to lure McGeady to Ewood Park though. Darron Gibson was also lined up for a loan move from Goodison Park for similar reasons to McGeady but, despite links with Sunderland and Aston Villa, is now expected to stay put.

Aiden McGeady looks set to pick Sheffield over Seville in a bid to boost his Euro 2016 chances.
Aiden McGeady looks set to pick Sheffield over Seville in a bid to boost his Euro 2016 chances. Photograph: Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty Images

Updated

DONE DEAL

It’s the first of the day on the blog, and it’s a colossal one: Cardiff have loaned striker Kenneth Zohore from KV Kortrijk.

Daniel Moore has emailed in: “Are you not hearing of one of the strangest transfer rumours being batted about at the moment? It looks like Marseille are in for ‘Super’ Steven Fletcher, failing that they’re looking at Peter ‘Satnav’ Odemwingie.”

I had heard a few whispers along those lines, but I’m now perfectly prepared to credit you as a rock-solid source, Daniel.

DONE DE...sort of
Milan have released Nigel de Jong from his contract in Italy, leaving him free to negotiate with LA Galaxy, continuing their bid to sign players who were great in the Premier League about five years ago.

Here’s an update from Merseyside, via our man Andy Hunter:

All quiet at Liverpool so far, and may well stay that way for the rest of the day. The move for Alex Teixeira is not officially dead but with Liverpool’s valuation still far removed from the €70m that Shakhtar Donetsk are seeking, it would take a major U-turn from one of the clubs to seal a deal at this late stage. Klopp is hosting his pre-Leicester City press conference this afternoon when, on past evidence, he will confirm: “I have nothing to say on this.”

Updated

Slaven Bilic has just been collared by Sky, and he says West Ham are done for the window, their signing of Nigerian striker Emmanuel Emenike and his studded cap the last bit of business they were going to do.

Updated

Slow day at Sunderland...

Oh, hang on, the deal Coates was talking about might actually be Porto midfielder Giannelli Imbula. I am all over this one.

Stoke chairman Peter Coates has just been on the wireless providing a piping hot update to the situation in the Midlands. He told BBC 5Live that they’re “trying to get a deal done but it’s not easy.” Presumably he’s talking about Saido Berahino, the difficulty presumably being that he’s dealing with the notoriously stubborn Jeremy Peace, who’s reportedly demanding £25m for the forward, plus perhaps trying to persuade the player himself that it’s a step up. It clearly is, but will Berahino think it’s a big enough one?

Quick one from Scotland, where Colin Kazim-Richards is in Glasgow in order to sign for Celtic. He’s been at Feyenoord since the summer.

Colin Kazim-Richards looks set to make Celtic his 11th club in 11 years.
Colin Kazim-Richards looks set to make Celtic his 11th club in 11 years. Photograph: Rex/Shutterstock

Updated

Here’s a quick word from the Guardian’s man in Manchester, Jamie Jackson:

Manchester United’s Nick Powell is wanted by Steve Bruce on loan at Hull City - be interesting if he goes there or anywhere as he’s actually started playing recently for LvG, including as a substitute in the 3-2 defeat at Wolfsburg that knocked United out of Champions League and started the club’s poorest December of its 138-year history.

Well that’s that one ruined. According to yer man from the Liverpool Echo, anyway...

Huge if true, from Darrien Bold on the emails: “I might be late to the party on this one but I’ve just spotted tenacious midfielder Vinny Samways tucking into a sandwich in the window of Pret a Manger in Liverpool city centre whilst rumours of a £2 million deal between Tottenham and Everton continue to do the rounds...”

Tottenham youngster Alex Pritchard has just rocked up at West Brom’s training ground to seal a loan move to the Hawthorns. Those of you who enjoy a two plus two calculation will conclude that this means Saido Berahino is off the other way. BUT ARE THEY RIGHT?

There was talk that Guilherme Siqueira could be moving to Newcastle from Atlético Madrid, but as you can see, he’s off somewhere else...

Interesting one from Italy where - and you’ll be surprised about this - Ravel Morrison has reportedly not settled. He’s only played 53 minutes in Serie A for Lazio this season, but assorted clubs are supposedly keen on taking him on loan. Sampdoria and Torino are the teams interested in Italy, while Swansea, Bournemouth and Aston Villa are all rumoured to have an interest too.

Updated

The Rumour Mill! Roll up, roll up, for the latest whiffle on Loïc Remy, Dwight Gayle, Michu, Andriy Yarmolenko and more, more, more, courtesy of your pal and mine Gregg Bakowski.

Oh, in case you missed it, John Terry will be leaving Chelsea in the summer. Probably. Unless whoever their new manager will be really wants him. Here’s Dominic Fifield with a reflection on the man that we’ll politely call ‘divisive’.

The deadlines

That’s right. Plural. Because we’re citizens of the world here at the Guardian, here are the actual times those transfer windows are carefully closed, making extra sure to fix the latch so as it doesn’t swing open after a heavy gust of breeze.

  • England - 23:00 GMT
  • Scotland - Midnight
  • Spain - 23:00 GMT
  • France - 23:00 GMT
  • Italy - 22:00 GMT
  • Germany - 17:00 GMT tomorrow, the mavericks

Watford’s goal to sign about a million midfielders continues apace...

Sounds like it’s going to be a quiet day at Bayern Munich, despite a couple of injuries to a couple of players, namely Javi Martinez and Jerome Boateng. “If the club want to sign a new player, that’s their thing, not mine,” Pep Guardiola said, which you can read as being pretty passive-aggressive if you’re that way inclined.

A quick dip below the line reveals one comment that simply reads ‘Tusk’. Can only assume that’s a request for this:

Now then. Will Liverpool get themselves an Alex Teixeira? Seems like a long-shot, particularly as they’ll have to pay some serious £ to get him. Apparently Shakhtar Donetsk have told Jürgen’s boys that they’ll have to shell out the Brazilian’s release clause, which stands at a whopping €70m, or £53m for those of you in Blighty. Here’s a quick introduction to the man himself anyway.

Bit of an odd one up the north-east yesterday. Jordan Rhodes looked to be on his way to Middlesbrough for something like £11m, but Boro pulled the plug late on, presumably because they baulked at paying that much for a player who’s an excellent finisher but slower than coastal erosion. He’d probably get them 10+ goals in the remainder of this season but they might well get promoted anyway, and Rhodes is absolutely not a Premier League striker. So if you’re paying that much for a forward you want someone for the future too.

Jordan Rhodes
Jordan Rhodes is (slowly) making his way back to Blackburn after Middlesbrough backed out of a big-money move for the striker. Photograph: John Marsh/Reuters

Updated

Here’s a move that should probably go through today: Everton are in for Lokomotiv Moscow striker Oumar Niasse, a fee of £13.5m agreed. More details from David Hytner on that one, here.

Sky Sports News are currently going around their reporters shivering outside assorted training grounds and stadia, desperately trying to keep themselves warm by pretending that something might happen on their respective patches. Poor whelps. At least they’re largely inside the gates these days, so there’s little chance of any special private alone time implements being brandished. Unless a kit man or something goes rogue.

Fancy making up a rumour? Here’s how. Anthony Richardson has put together an easy to follow guide that involves darts.

Updated

Doesn’t look like there will be much movement at West Ham, as son of David Sullivan, Jack, in his role as unofficial spokesboy for the club (weird, the world, isn’t it?) has confirmed on The Internet.

Sunderland have bagged Bordeaux midfielder Wahbi Khazri for a fee thought to be around £9million. “He is a quick, dynamic, attacking player,” quoth Large Samuel.

Watford sign Suarez! But not Luis Suarez! Ho! Got you there, didn’t we?!?!?!??!?! What scamps we are in transfer land! It’s Mario Suárez, the midfielder from Fiorentina who has arrived for around £4million.

Patrick Bamford, latterly of ‘being ignored at both Crystal Palace and Chelsea’ fame, has gone to Norwich for the remainder of the season. Let’s hope that Alex Neil actually wants him and will give him a few games, eh?

Let’s get going with some actual news. Some, like, stuff that’s already actually happened. Start as we mean to go on, eh?

Last night West Ham completed a loan for Nigerian striker Emmanuel Emenike from Fenerbahce, with presumably his rather fetching cap thrown in as part of the deal.

A few ‘lines’ that might dominate the day:

  • Saido Berahino could finally leave West Brom - Tottenham are keen, for Tottenham are always keen, while Newcastle and Stoke have also been mentioned.
  • If Newcastle don’t have any joy for Berahino, Seydou Doumbia could be an alternative.
  • Real Madrid’s Denis Cheryshev looks to be on the move, with Liverpool and Sevilla the clubs supposedly keen.
  • Tottenham’s move for Moussa Dembélé looks to have stalled over their reluctance to let him go back to Fulham on loan for the rest of the season. Could that be revived today?
  • Mathieu Debuchy will probably seal a loan move to Aston Villa, after hanging around for the entire window hoping that someone better will come in for him.
  • There’s talk in the Portuguese press that Manchester United are looking to do a deal for Benfica youngster Renato Sanches.
  • And there will be more too. Stay tuned. Please. If you like. Or just go off and do something else. It’s entirely up to you.

Morning everyone. Just under 15 hours to go, then. For all we complain about the transfer window and deadline day having become a ‘thing’ of great drama, in which drama frequently does not actually take place, it can be pretty entertaining. So leave one’s snobbery at the door as I, your host until 4pm, have done, and join in.

Join Nick Miller for the latest transfer news before the window slams shut at 11pm.

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