Another farcical situation developing at Blackpool. Local media are reporting that they want to terminate the loan of Joe Lewis because they might have to pay Cardiff a fee after a set amount of appearances.
The goalkeeper has been one of few bright lights at Bloomfield Road so far this season but now they want to send him back to Wales. He was dropped for what the Tangerines’ manager, Lee Clark, termed “tactical reasons” in that incredible 7-2 defeat at Watford at Saturday, where they led 2-0 at half-time.
Having ascended the Championship table since his arrival to now reside in the top half, Birmingham City manager Gary Rowett has told the club’s official website that he hopes to make a few signings between now and Monday.
We’re hoping to get a couple of bodies in this week. Maybe another midfielder and another centre-back in an ideal world might help give us that extra competition in those positions, but it’s got to be the right ones. But if I don’t get them I’m not going to be too worried or concerned.
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Crystal Palace update from our man Ed Aarons
#cpfc asked to be kept informed over Nantes winger Serge #Gakpe but only want him in summer when contract expires. Nantes want to sell now
— Ed Aarons (@ed_aarons) January 27, 2015
Torino are only club to have made a bid for Gakpe so far but Genoa also interested
— Ed Aarons (@ed_aarons) January 27, 2015
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So much for Chelsea trying to sign Raheem Sterling. Here’s José Mourinho on the Liverpool and England attacker’s performance in the first leg of the League Cup semi-final:
He scored a fantastic goal but I didn’t see too much more than that. I think Chelsea played very well defensively. In that action [of scoring] he was fantastic and we made a couple of mistakes the way we approached that situation.
Manchester United will attempt to sell Nani in the summer but his £100,000-a-week pay packet may see them struggle to offload the Portugal winger, according to the Manchester Evening News. One hundred grand a week! A hundred thousand every seven days! World’s gone mad.
He still has three and a bit years remaining on that lucrative contract but Louis van Gaal does not rate him highly and will be surplus to requirements when he comes traipsing back from his loan spell at Sporting Lisbon.
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Some news from the Football League. Portsmouth striker Ricky Holmes is expected to make his loan move at Northampton permanent later today; Cardiff’s Russell Slade is eager to bring in Robert Huth; and Oxford United are waiting to hear back from Tyrone Barnett after they submitted a “substantial” bid for the Peterborough striker, who scored six times in 12 game when on loan at the Kassam Stadium earlier in the season.
Not transfer news but a great story nonetheless: meet Lutz Pfannenstiel, the journeyman who has played on six continents and for 25 clubs.
From Malaysia and South Africa to Namibia and Norway via Brazil and Armenia, Pfannenstiel is the only person to have played professionally in every Fifa confederation. It is a career that spanned 21 years, 25 clubs and six continents and included stealing a penguin in New Zealand to chasing down burglars and living in an igloo.
An email from Raydeen Ramjee:
Hi Alan
Arsenal have signed Bielik and Paulista looks set to join.
Are arsenal looking at signing Kevin Grosskreutz and Morgan Schneiderlin? Will it happen?
Regards,
Ray
The Gabriel move is expected to be confirmed today and he will likely be available this weekend but that should be the end of Arsenal’s business for this window. Both Großkreutz and Schneiderlin would be good additions, of course, and who knows what will happen in the summer – especially with the latter eager to depart Southampton.
Better late than never, here is today’s rumour mill!
Some Chelsea news but it’s not about Juan Cuadrado’s potential move from Fiorentina. It’s about André Schürrle’s transfer to Wolfsburg. It will happen if they pay around£22m and the World Cup winner is keen on moving back to Germany but no official bid has been made yet. Chelsea remain tight-lipped.
West Ham’s hopes of bringing Darren Fletcher in on a free from Manchester United may face a complication with news that West Bromwich Albion are also keen on the Scottish midfielder. Tony Pulis wants to sign four players according to the Birmingham Mail, including the completion of that McManaman deal we mentioned earlier.
Another email from Robbie Borowczyk, referring to the above photo:
Judging by his shocked expression Gabriel has just found out who the other members of Arsenal’s terror inspiring defensive squad are. You can see the terror in his eyes already.
Here is a highlights reel of the centre-half in action against Real Madrid for Villarreal earlier this season. He likes a rash challenge and as plenty have been keen to point out, is unable to get into one of Brazil’s weakest ever teams. But Arsène Wenger clearly rates him, so who are we to judge …
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Steve McClaren’s Derby have had loan approaches for QPR’s Matt Phillips and/or Junior Hoilett turned down according to local radio reports in the east midlands.
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Tenuous link to transfer news seeing as Wilfried Bony has not made his debut for Manchester City yet … Sky are reporting that City will have a plane waiting in Equatorial Guinea to whisk both Bony and Yaya Touré back if Ivory Coast are knocked out of the Africa Cup of Nations tomorrow. They would then be available for Saturday evening’s crucial trip to Stamford Bridge.
West Bromwich Albion’s move for Callum McManaman is nearing completion. He is likely to have a medical later today and Wigan, who are struggling to stay afloat in the Championship, will receive £5m in return.
More on Adnan Januzaj from our Manchester correspondent Jamie Jackson right here.
This is a bit easier to believe. Southampton’s Ronald Koeman is interested in bringing Feyenoord’s captain Jordy Clasie to St Mary’s. The 23-year-old central player was very upset – indeed the Daily Mirror are reporting he was ‘heartbroken’ – when Koeman left Feyenoord in the summer, meaning the two being re-united is quite a realistic possibility. Would it also pave the way for Morgan Schneiderlin to depart to the ‘big club’ he craves to play for?
Unrealistic rumour of the day or a facht? The Press & Journal are reporting that Roma and Rafa Benítez’s Napoli are fighting it out to lure Aberdeen’s Ryan Jack to Serie A. The 22-year-old midfielder has 18 months left on his contract with the Scottish Premier League side.
Adnan Januzaj, last season’s big hope at Manchester United, cannot seem to work his way into Louis van Gaal’s plans, though he did crop up for his first start since November in Friday’s 0-0 draw at Cambridge in the FA Cup.
His agent, Dirk de Vriese, has told Foot Mercato that PSG wanted to bring the Belgium international in on loan but Van Gaal jumped in the way, and blocked him from heading out the Carrington door.
“Yes, PSG have shown themselves to be interested this winter,” De Vries said. “They directly contacted Manchester United for information but Louis van Gaal announced that he cannot leave this winter. Not as a permanent transfer nor as a loan.
“The coach considered him as an important player for squad. He is counting on everyone. It seems like a definitive decision, I don’t think that it can change.”
There is plenty of disappointment below the line with this window so far and the general lack of anything happening.
Will the dawdling of clubs who certainly could do with strengthening their ranks mean a late flurry of action next Monday?
Is anyone else a bit disappointed by the lack of transfer activity of Premier League clubs in this window so far?
Has anyone actually signed anyone? This whole transfer window has been Mutch Adu Abou Naughton.
A dosage of Brazilian name etiquette via email from Charles Antaki:
Good that Gabriel Paulista is getting signed. The photos we’ve seen of him are promisingly daunting. The one good thing about the British media’s insistence on calling him Paulista is that we’ll be spared “Gunners Saved by the Angel Gabriel” headlines - against some stiff competition he’ll be the least angelic-looking footballer in the Premiership.
I can confirm that we will be calling him Gabriel at Guardian HQ because Paulista is not his surname. It is a reference to him being from São Paulo. Gabriel’s actual name is Gabriel Armando de Abreu.
Serious news coming from Fifpro this morning, as talks at trying to reform the transfer system have stalled at the first hurdle after clubs and league across Europe refused to accept proposals to protect unpaid players.
“These reforms would make the contract of a professional player a two-way street,” the Fifpro secretary general, Theo van Seggelen, said in a statement this morning.
“The situation can be contrasted to the rights of a club where a player breaches a contract, which would see him often responsible to pay his own transfer value and subject to a mandatory ban.
“Transfer values have, of course, spiralled out of control and can see players liable for the payment of millions of dollars, something no other employee would have to bear. The transfer system is failing football and its players.”
An email from Drew Gough
Good morning Alan,
Quick question(s) for you: with the Euro in tatters and the Queen’s Ol’ Pound being relatively strong, does it even make sense for English clubs to buy players from English clubs? Isn’t a bit of cross-Channel shopping more reasonable, like nipping off to Germany to stock up on bourbon instead of buying it from Sainsbury’s? Please advise.
Cheers!
Good point Drew. Like when your chain-smoking aunt makes a trip to Spain to stock up on what Jack Charlton called ‘dooty free’ cigarettes because they were cheaper. In that particular case, I’m told the quality of smokes was inferior to the more expensive packs bought from your local corner shop. Not that I’m suggesting there are better players available round the corner compared to on the continent or anything. Or advocating smoking for that matter – they are bad for you. Don’t do it. Please.
A promising start. One question can already be answered courtesy of Liverpool’s Brazilian midfielder Lucas Leiva.
He has told the Liverpool Echo he is unsure of his long-term future and whether it lies at Anfield or not, but will continue to give his all:
It is normal when you are out of the team and have been at a club for a long time. There are always rumours in the transfer window and it will be like that until February 2nd.
I just have to focus on what I can control at the moment and see what happens. I would be lying if I said I never thought about something new but I can’t tell you what is going to happen because it is football and we really don’t know. I just focus on today and leave the future to take care of itself.
Lucas has made 11 starts so far this season.
Good morning! So what does Tuesday have in store? Will we see one of the big hitters complete an actual transfer? Will we see money change hands? Will a defender we have forgotten about commit his future to a club languishing in mid-table? Who will be the next to say he is unsure about his long-term future? Who will manufacture a loan deal out of a club where they are no longer wanted?
So many questions, hopefully at least some answers over the next eight hours.
Alan will be here shortly, but while you wait here is Dominic Fifield on Arsenal-bound Gabriel Paulista:
Gabriel was undergoing medical tests at the club’s London Colney training complex on Monday afternoon with Arsenal hopeful the centre-half will be available for Sunday’s visit of Aston Villa to the Emirates Stadium. The 24-year-old has not been capped by Brazil at any level, meaning he did not qualify for a work permit to play in this country, but Arsenal successfully appealed on his behalf, arguing he was of sufficiently high calibre and would “contribute significantly to the development of the game” in England.
If you're a selling club you wait for Deadline Day as the buying club will panic and throw extra millions at a deal to get it done. The rest of January is just foreplay. Teasing.