Roundup: Dembélé forces Lyon move, Villa sign Abraham on loan
Celtic striker Moussa Dembélé provided the main drama on deadline day in Scotland, forcing through a €22m (£19.7m) move to Lyon before the window closed.
Brendan Rodgers had initially refused to let the forward leave, but the club performed a U-turn after Dembélé’s dissent on social media, and a row that led Rodgers to send him away from training on Friday.
The Scottish champions did keep hold of Dedryck Boyata and brought in two new signings – Filip Benkovic joined on loan from Leicester, and former West Brom midfielder Youssouf Mulumbu also arrived.
Aston Villa made the headline move among EFL clubs, signing Tammy Abraham from Chelsea on a season-long loan. Sheffield Wednesday brought in Spurs winger Josh Onomah on loan, Nottingham Forest signed Porto full-back Saidy Janko and Middlesbrough loaned Wolves defender Danny Batth and Millwall midfielder George Saville.
The window also closed in Spain, Germany and France, with Dembélé’s move to Ligue 1 the biggest of the day. Dutch winger Quincy Promes joined Sevilla for £15m from Spartak Moscow, and PSG signed versatile defender Juan Bernat from Bayern for £12.5m – and Stoke striker Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting on a free.
Arsenal prospect Reiss Nelson signed a new contract and joined Hoffenheim on loan for a season, and Manchester City midfielder Douglas Luíz returned to Girona. Eden Hazard didn’t go anywhere, but his younger brother Kylian left Chelsea for Cercle Brugge.
Updated
In the absence of any dramatic late moves, it’s time to call time on this blog, with the window closing imminently. You can keep up with all the last-minute deals with our interactive guide below, and stay tuned for a roundup of the day’s transfers.
Wolves winger Michal Zyro has returned to his native Poland, joining Pogon Szczecin on loan. In other news, Inter prospect Yann Karamoh has joined Bordeaux, where he will fire crosses at the head of Cornelius.
Great stuff, from Lars Bøgegaard: “Andreas Cornelius missed the final penalty in his new club Atalanta’s Europa League shootout against his old club, FC København, who went through to the group stage. Today, they were drawn against Bordeaux, who have signed Cornelius on loan.”
Lyon have now confirmed the signing of Moussa Dembélé, and have taken the unusual step of announcing the fee – a cool €22m. The Ligue 1 side, who lost 1-0 to Nice this evening, have also signed Lenny Pintor from Brest.
Staying in Spain, Real Betis have had a very decent window, landing William Carvalho on the cheap and signing Japan’s Takashi Inui before his World Cup breakout. Now they’ve added PSG’s Giovani Lo Celso on loan, with an option to buy:
📣 OFICIAL | El internacional argentino Giovani Lo Celso, nuevo futbolista del #RealBetis ✍
— Real Betis Balompié (@RealBetis) August 31, 2018
➡ https://t.co/O3Su49anAp#LoCelso2019 pic.twitter.com/WKieWrDldL
Sevilla have brought in Quincy Promes already today, but a move for Girona striker Portu looks to have broken down – although Sevilla can still pay a €20m buyout clause to get the deal done.
Deals are flying through in Europe now, although mainly loans. Andreas Cornelius has joined Bordeaux from Atalanta, Fenerbahce have signed Lille playmaker Yassine Benzia, and Jackson Martínez is off to Portugal’s Portimonense. No, me neither.
Celtic accept Lyon offer for Dembélé
Brendan Rodgers has said Moussa Dembélé will leave Celtic for Lyon, “in order to serve the best interests of the first-team squad, my coaching team and the culture and environment we have created in these last two seasons”. The fee is reported to be around £20m.
#CelticFC tonight can confirm that the club has accepted an offer from Lyon for the transfer of striker Moussa Dembele.
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) August 31, 2018
Full statement ⬇️ https://t.co/AX4a4FokJ4
Updated
From Dembélé to Yaya Touré, plenty of players have left a club under a cloud. Take Leigh Roose, who caused a stir in the Potteries back in 1910:
Our friends at Get French Football News are reporting that Moussa Dembélé will join Lyon tonight, in a deal worth around €22m (£19.7m).
Demba Papiss Cissé, once of Newcastle, has left China’s Shandon Luneng for Turkey’s Alanyaspor. At the press conference, they’ve got a picture of him in his Magpies kit:
Very pleased and grateful to be starting the next chapter of my career with @Alanyaspor pic.twitter.com/T4im7vxbXX
— Papiss Demba Cisse (@CissePapiss) August 31, 2018
There’s only room for one ex-Stoke striker at the Parc des Princes, so if Choupo-Moting arrives, Jesé may leave. That’s right, Jesé is still a PSG player – but perhaps not for long. Nantes are interested in a late loan move.
One player who isn’t going anywhere any time soon is Kasper Schmeichel – the Leicester goalkeeper has signed a new contract:
#Kasper2023 ✍️✅ pic.twitter.com/kFVKrbUmLB
— Leicester City (@LCFC) August 31, 2018
Away from the window, there’s a big old game on in Newport. Wales are playing England, with the winner set for a women’s World Cup final place. Join Ben Fisher:
In case you missed it earlier on, Reiss Nelson has become the latest English youngster to head for the Bundesliga – joining Hoffenheim on loan after agreeing a new Arsenal contract. He could line up against Manchester City in the Champions League group stages.
Another Premier League loan that’s just been announced – Polish playmaker Bartosz Kapustka is off to OH Leuven, the Belgian side managed by Nigel Pearson.
Still no further developments on Moussa Dembélé, after the striker was sent away from Celtic training earlier today. The striker is unhappy he has not been allowed to depart for Lyon.
“It was best for him to go inside and let the others work,” Rodgers said. “My job is to protect the best interests of the club, the players that are here. The money is in their bank every month, so you have to work, there is no getting away from it.”
Celtic remain determined to keep Dembélé beyond the window, and there’s only three more hours to go.
Remember Ganso? Well, the one time future of Brazilian football has joined Amiens on loan from Sevilla, where he’ll link up with fellow newbie Saman Ghoddos.
VAMOOOOOS !!!
— Amiens SC (@AmiensSC) August 31, 2018
La star brésilienne, Paulo Henrique Ganso, est un joueur de l’@AmiensSC.
L'international brésilien, qui a joué avec @neymarjr, @Robinho et @LucasMoura7 est prêté 1 saison avec option d'achat par le @SevillaFC.
Bem-vindo @phganso !
#8 pic.twitter.com/1kYXqOZNUd
Nottingham Forest have landed Porto full-back Saidy Janko on loan. The Swiss defender joined Porto from Saint-Étienne earlier this summer.
🤝 Janko arrives on loan#NFFC have completed the signing of Swiss defender Saidy Janko on a season-long loan from @FCPorto.#ThatLovingFeeling https://t.co/hcNgpyshad
— Nottingham Forest FC (@NFFC) August 31, 2018
Another Wolves outgoing, with striker Joe Mason joining Portsmouth on loan. Pompey also picked up Aston Villa prospect André Green on loan yesterday.
Hamilton Academicals have been busy north of the border, with Matt Kilgallon the latest of four deadline day signings:
✍️ Matthew Kilgallon has completed his move to #Accies subject to international clearance.
— Hamilton Accies FC (@acciesfc) August 31, 2018
Full story ➡️ https://t.co/TDeV16Vy67#WelcomeKilla #WAH 🔴⚪️ pic.twitter.com/Nuf64W1qR8
“Absolutely incredible that a club can stockpile so many talented footballers, with very few ever having a chance of first team football” tweets Tom Potter, in relation to Chelsea’s ever-growing collection of loanees. If Ruben Loftus-Cheek doesn’t get a chance, what hope for the rest of them?
A medium-sized move from France, where PSG have snapped up Bayern defender Juan Bernat for a reported £13m. The French champions are also apparently chasing Stoke reject Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting. Why, I do not know.
✍️ ¡Bienvenido @JuanBernat! 🇪🇸 pic.twitter.com/JaE2cVVMYC
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_inside) August 31, 2018
Stuart James gives his verdict on the summer business at Swansea – he’s not impressed:
A pathetic loan window for Swansea, following on from a shambolic transfer window. Owners sold everything they could, spent next to nothing. If the club’s in this bad a mess financially - not got a pot to piss in - it was being run irresponsibly in the Premier League (1/2)
— Stuart James (@StuartJamesGNM) August 31, 2018
Middlesbrough have made a couple of late moves, bringing in Wolves defender Danny Batth and Millwall midfielder George Saville on loan – although they will buy Saville outright in January. Tony Pulis’s side are at Elland Road tonight for a top-of-the-table clash with Leeds.
Real Madrid appear to have found an unlikely replacement for Cristiano Ronaldo in the form of Mariano Díaz. The forward, farmed out to Lyon last season, has been re-signed for €30m and handed the No7 shirt. No pressure...
Hazard leaves Chelsea, etc and so on:
One more Hazard left at Chelsea.
— Kristof Terreur 📰 (@HLNinEngeland) August 31, 2018
📝 Kylian Hazard has joined Cercle Brugge on loan from Chelsea.#cfc pic.twitter.com/JFtNRjhITa
While we wait for more news, here’s today’s Fiver on you-know-who:
It’s been a slow and steady deadline day in Europe so far, but the window is open until 11pm BST in Germany, Spain and France. The biggest move so far has seen Dutch winger Quincy Promes join Sevilla for £18m for Spartak Moscow, while Nuri Sahin (remember him?) has left Dortmund for Werder Bremen.
Some textbook deadline day banter from the boys at Ipswich Town, here:
Unfortunately, as the loan window has passed, there will be no more incomings at #itfc...
— Ipswich Town FC (@Official_ITFC) August 31, 2018
Only kidding 😉🚨
They’ve signed Matthew Pennington on loan from Everton to bolster their defence. Paul Hirst’s side are currently bottom of the Championship
The summer is ending much better than it started for Villa, then. They should be tasty on the counter-attack with Abraham alongside Yannick Bolasie and Anwar El Ghazi, a winger loaned in from Lille.
Here’s an unsurprising deal: Girona have signed Douglas Luíz from Manchester City on loan. The Brazilian returns to City’s Spanish cousins after struggling to make much of an impact last season and failing to get a work permit to play in England this term.
Speaking of Chelsea loanees... Aston Villa have completed the loan singing of Tammy Abraham!
We are delighted to confirm that @TammyAbraham has joined the club on a season-long loan from Chelsea ✍️#PartOfThePride #AVFC pic.twitter.com/i8JrGxIm7Q
— Aston Villa FC (@AVFCOfficial) August 31, 2018
Let’s kick things off with Chelsea’s 329th loan deal of the summer: defender Michael Hector has joined Sheffield Wednesday for the rest of the season. Wednesday, currently 14th in the Championship, have also brought in Spurs winger Josh Onomah today.
Hector is a Jamaican international centre-back with quite the club CV – he’s been at Millwall, Thurrock, Reading, Bracknell, Didcot, (Winnersh), Havant & Waterlooville, Oxford City, Horsham, Dundalk, Barnet, Shrewsbury, Aldershot, Cheltenham, Aberdeen, Chelsea, Reading again, Eintracht Frankfurt, Hull and now Wednesday.
Michael Hector has joined the Owls on loan from @ChelseaFC.
— Sheffield Wednesday (@swfc) August 31, 2018
More details here: 👉https://t.co/Zz3uraJsfc #swfc pic.twitter.com/q16cBTRQiC
A transfer window that began long ago, before the World Cup had even kicked off, is closing today – although of course, the Premier League slammed their window a few weeks ago. There’s still time for deals in Germany and the EFL, where the window officially shuts right about now, and in Spain, France and Scotland, where it’ll be open all evening. Aston Villa are chasing a late loan move for Tammy Abraham, and Moussa Dembélé is still hoping to nick off to Lyon from Celtic before 11pm. And there’s bound to be a few surprises along the way...
