In a situation like this it’s tempting to hang on, and on, and on, until a Done Deal materialises. You just know that’s going to happen the moment I shut this blog down and shuffle out of the door. But even a Guardian liveblogger has places to go, so I think a rundown of how today has panned out will wrap things up:
- Mario Suarez is having a medical at Watford and should sign shortly
- Alberto Paloschi has agreed terms with Swansea and that one is imminent too
- Swansea are also making a play for Dwight Gayle
- Emmanuel Emenike could well be joining West Ham on loan
- Spurs are close to a deal for Fulham’s Moussa Dembele, the ripples of which have basically kept this blog going all day
- Chelsea should confirm Alexandre Pato’s arrival before long – until which time that deal is definitely a figment of everyone’s imagination
- Sebastian Coates has joined Sporting Lisbon on loan
- Gerhard Tremmel has joined Werder Bremen on loan
- Robert Earnshaw and Darius Vassell have both retired
We’ll do this all again tomorrow (stop laughing at me). Thanks for your emails, tweets, Dembele-naming ideas and all the rest – and sorry I haven’t been able to use them all. See you back here at 09:00 GMT. Have a good evening.
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Here’s Andros Townsend on his move to Newcastle – courtesy, once more, of Louise Taylor.
“I’ve got a massive point to prove now and hopefully Newcastle will benefit from that,” said the 24-year-old winger. “I think my last full 90 minutes in the Premier League was just under two years ago so I have not played consistently in a long time.
“But the last time I played nine or 10 Premier League games in a row I was playing for England and kind of setting the world alight. I can’t wait to get a run of games and consistency going and hopefully get back to that level I was at a few years ago.”
The Fiver, written today by Paul Doyle, is now up. Read on...
Plenty of you have been in touch to remember the days when Fulham had John Collins and Collins John on their books, by the way. I wasn’t going to mention it but we really need to pull through to 5pm.
“I’d have thought the obvious solution would be to include in Dembele’s new contract a clause stating that when on club business he must at all times wear a pirate hat, and then we can all just call him The Pirate. Confusion - gone,” says Nathan Fisher.
Sounds like the sort of thing Emmanuel Eboue would willingly have done in his Arsenal days, to be fair.
Can’t be held responsible for the soundtrack (hey, I gave you a Ting Tings song earlier), but here are some goals Paloschi has scored – and quite a few he ... errr ... hasn’t:
Some news coming through on the wires that Swansea’s move for Alberto Paloschi is virtually complete, after the Chievo striker agreed personal terms. Can we squeeze in our first proper Done Deal of the day before hometime?
Here’s Alan Pardew, talking this afternoon about Emmanuel Adebayor. He says the signing is not a gamble:
“We’ve incentivised his contract to do that, in terms of him being a success,” said Pardew, who accepts the striker remains too short of match fitness to start against Stoke in the FA Cup fourth round on Saturday.
“I see in him a desire to get his career back on track, and I think I can help him. I’m hoping that’s a win-win situation for him and for us. You cannot underestimate the quality he has. I’ve tried to sign him twice before, once at West Ham, when I came that close, and at Newcastle we talked long and hard about him.
“It has to be ‘Big Moussa’ and ‘Little Mousa’,” opines Daniel Makeham. “When you have two friends with the same name (Dave for instance), it’s always Big Dave and Little Dave. There’s no other option, it’s the go-to solution. Whether they can have the prefix Big/Little on their shirts is another matter altogether.”
Something I’ve always wondered actually: is there anyone out there who does *not* know someone called “Big Dave”? It’s a curiosity. Are more there more conspicuously-sized Daves than people of other names, or it is just a convenient word pairing?
More about names – this time club names! Paul Campbell, sitting next to me, has serendipitously concocted this excellent quiz. Give it a whirl:
A bit of news, but I think it confirms what we already knew. The Sampdoria striker Eder has told Leicester, who were sniffing around, that he’d rather stay in Italy and join Inter Milan.
Another high-profile retirement, now. We’ve lost Robert Earnshaw and now Darius Vassell has called it a day – although I’m not certain it needed announcing.
It is, though, an excuse to remind ourselves of this:
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“And then there’s the Old Trafford Mouse Dembélé,” guffaws Tom Harp.
Derby’s Ryan Shotton is having a medical at Birmingham ahead of a loan move there. That and any Bent departure should gnaw into the wage bill accompanying the £26m+ spend that the Championship’s fifth-placed side have lavished this season.
West Ham manager Slaven Bilic holding talks with Emmanuel Emenike this afternoon. Deal looks close now but others interested as well #whufc
— Ed Aarons (@ed_aarons) January 28, 2016
This won’t please Onder Susam, but it seems the Emenike deal has legs ... as long as none of his other shady suitors hijack it.
Football Weekly Extra is here (click below) – with Michael Cox, Paul Doyle, Nick Miller and ... of course ... AC Jimbo. If they don’t have a go at verbally differentiating between the Dembeles, feel free to cancel your iTunes subscription.
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“While I can’t help you with your naming conundrum (surely that’s what you lot get the Pulitzers for),” writes Tanay Padhi, “I’m surprised that no one has yet thought of Mousa and Moussa as the clumsy Interpol detectives in supporting roles in a 20th century comic about a young investigative journalist and his dog.”
I swear that if anything was happening today we’d have some halfway decent “content” on this blog for you, I really do.
John Bevan takes us back to a better time:
“In the early sixties, at Argyle we had two John Williams’s. One was known as “Cardiff” Williams, after the club we got him from (I was about to say bought, but I doubt if any money changed hands). I realise that this is not very helpful in the case at hand.
“I am surprised that no-one has mentioned the great chant, ‘Two Gary Stevens, there’s only two Gary Stevens’, but those were the heady days when ambiguity was acceptable, even cherished, in football.”
Sunderland and Aston Villa are both being linked with Bordeaux striker Wahbi Khazri by the French press. In Villa’s case, you’d really think it is better to build sensibly for next season rather than sling in a bunch more maybes and maybe nots on a fair whack.
It is 15:35 in the UK. And I have just received today’s first email about Arsenal. That is, by some stretch, a record I think. Giles Morris gamely takes it away:
“Here’s the thing with The Arsenal. Everyone knows we need a holding midfielder who’s not slow and a center half who’s not slow. Then we play Chelsea and lose because we’ve got a holding midfielder who’s slow and a center half who’s slow. So it makes me think Arsene Wenger should be in the market for a holding midfielder who’s not slow (hope Elneny is better than Ramires) and a central defender who’s not slow (how fast is Mammanna?). Am I crazy?” #GoonersForPogba
I was on your side until the hashtag.
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“It seems there’s a third Moussa Dembelé, a Senegalese hurdler,” says Ben Jones, as the transfer blog slumps further into its desk. “My guess is that Levy is planning to pick him up too and convert him to a centre-back. Then he can play all three, start building houses and hotels on them, and Spurs will be quids in. Heard it here first.”
“For vocal commentary at least, might an idea be to exaggerate the extra ‘s’ in the potential signings name? “Mousa Dembele passes to Mousssssssssssssssa Dembele?” asks Mark Burroughs.
I think that can probably be done successfully in some languages, with subtler ranges of inflection. But not English.
It’s a day for names, isn’t it? New York City FC have just signed nominative determinism’s (well, they’ll hope so) Frederic Brillant!
Welcome to the Club, Frédéric Brillant (@mexes008)! #WeAreOne https://t.co/0KbUNMWnCm pic.twitter.com/yRO7dTUQht
— New York City FC (@NYCFC) January 28, 2016
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And what an afternoon it has become for centre forwards who have played for Ipswich. The Suffolk club have just bade a fond farewell to one James Alabi, who has ended his contract by mutual consent.
This is more like it! Charles Robinson tells me that Derby’s Darren Bent is being eyed by Trabzonspor – and a glance around some Turkish media yields a bit of smoke to this, at least.
Hold on though – surely Derby wouldn’t need to get anyone off the wage bill?
@NickAmes82 Re Dembélés, I don't know what their heights are, but I remember Hamilton Accies once had 'Big' Ally Graham & 'Wee' Ally Graham.
— Richard Johnstone (@richardjpf) January 28, 2016
1.83m and 1.85m, apparently – whatever that is in English money. You’d need fine eyesight.
Alan Pardew says Emmanuel Adebayor may not be the last addition at Palace: “We’ll see – there’s one or two things we’re looking at. One or two may have some fruition, we’ll have to wait and see.”
Benjamin Harris writes to us about some football:
“Jeremy Peace is hilarious. Berahino - a small tricky striker who is of no interest to his long ball manager. Pulis wants him gone, the player wants out, the fans want him gone, but Peace is on some bizarre ego trip trying to get his name in the papers. That £25M Spurs offered in the summer seems a very long time ago now - by the time Berahino enters the final year of his contract and inevitably leaves after playing no part in WBA’s season, Peace will have cost his club in excess of £15M just to look like he’s getting one over on Daniel Levy.”
Daniel Moore sets down a roadblock on Giulio Ongaro’s Sentimenti Journey:
“All well and good Giulio, I appreciate the Sentiment(i), however not sure that rule of Roman numerals would be as applicable in this case as they’re not in fact from the same family? Anyway keep them coming because this name game is far more interesting than actual work!”
The problem comes when it *passes for* work.
It’s always worth recapping on a day’s intensive transfer window action before events start overtaking you, so if you’re just joining us these are the big deals so far: Sebastian Coates has joined Sporting Lisbon on loan from Sunderland and Gerhard Tremmel has joined Werder Bremen on loan from Swansea.
That’s right.
@NickAmes82 Stevenage have released 2 centre backs - there's some crap news for you
— Bruce Camembert (@BWCalculator) January 28, 2016
I’m only interested if they both had the same name.
Giulio Ongaro tells of an Italian solution to the Dembele problem:
“In the 1940s there was a family of Italian players, the Sentimenti, and in order to distinguish the five siblings newspapers started adding a Roman numeral to their name. So Lucidio Sentimenti was Sentimenti IV (goalkeeper, played also with the national team), Arnaldo Sentimenti was Sentimenti II, etc.”
“Given that this is the Guardian I’m shocked that no one has thrown the Dembele the Younger / Dembele the Elder into the mix yet. Please consider this my official submission to the Dembele name debate,” says Alex Simmons.
I’m just not sure we can continue with this for another two and a quarter hours.
Here’s an update on Saido Berahino – who will not be leaving West Brom.
“Relax Nick, Dembele II would be cup tied for Saturday, it’s someone else’s problem,” says Simon Joyce, thus reviving my hopes of extending a career in journalism into next week.
Longford AFC are apparently the “worst team in the UK”. They’ve scored once and conceded 179 times in their 18 defeats.
Longford AFC, from Gloucestershire, have signed a 53-year-old Stuart Pearce. Heartwarming stuff! I think it actually has something to do with Direct Line; let’s never say the game has gone.
A deadline day signing to send non-league football psycho, @LongfordAFC's morale-boosting #directfix: Stuart Pearce pic.twitter.com/qZVLHGi4dr
— Direct Line (@DirectLine_UK) January 28, 2016
Gustav Bjorklund asks: “I offer no solution, but just have a question re: Dembele name debate. If there was a game held today with two players with identical first and last names, and one of them scored, what would you do if you were writing the live match blog? Would you simply add “(the younger of the two)“ after or something like that? Then what if the two link up, and one assists the other in scoring?”
If it were me (and perhaps it will be in two days’ time), I’d probably just talk about Mousa passing to Moussa. If the names were spelt *exactly* the same, then perhaps I’d differentiate by position. “It was the midfielder who made the headlines, seizing onto the centre-forward’s flick...”. Sound reasonable?
@NickAmes82 gutted about Baldock recall from #oufc. Wonder how he feels about leaving L2 club on the up for relegation contenders in Champ?
— Michael Chilcott (@isibuko) January 28, 2016
This refers to George Baldock, of whom we spoke earlier. Yes, it probably wouldn’t have been a bad thing for him to experience the buzz of a promotion chase. Then again, if he’s going to get a game in MK’s own high-stakes battle then it hopefully won’t do him any harm.
One story that keeps nibbling away is a tale in the Ukrainian media that Arsenal have signed a pre-contract agreement for Dynamo Kyiv’s Andriy Yarmolenko. That would be a great move – he is an exceptional player, and a more likely bet than Nolito, although he won’t come cheap wherever he ends up.
Rumours in Albania that Betim Halimi, a 19-year-old goalkeeper, will join Everton. He has also had a trial at Chelsea. Let’s see how that develops.
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Still waiting to see if Chelsea unveil Pato today. It’ll be next week before they complete the transfer of Vitesse Arnhem’s next big thing, Matt Miazga, from New York Red Bulls.
Continuing the Dembele debate:
Should definitely take note of the “Marouane” bit.
A loan move to tell you about. Portsmouth, who have an interesting-looking FA Cup tie with Bournemouth on Saturday, have snapped up the Sheffield United defender Kieron Freeman until the end of the season.
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Recommended reading here from Louise Taylor. She says Newcastle need to sign a striker to make all their other incomings worthwhile:
With a hat-tip to Julian Pearson for flagging it up, this is a very interesting Q&A with the Reading manager Brian McDermott. They’ve signed the Latvian forward Deniss Rakels and McDermott admits that his new addition was selected by scouts employed by the club’s owners.
Has your club – lower down the leagues, really – carried out a coup I’ve missed today? Let us know.
Done deal – Gerhard Tremmel from Swansea to Werder Bremen (loan)
And don’t judge us for shouting about it. The Swans’ third-choice ‘keeper ups sticks.
Think there could be a fairly interesting loan move going down soon. Reece Oxford, he of that excellent display for West Ham at Arsenal on the opening day of the season, is likely to join the Championship’s walking advert for stability, Charlton Athletic, for the next three months or so.
Sky’s very very reliable Sources say two things. They say that Fulham have rejected a transfer request from Ross McCormack, who I think might have his eye on a move to Middlesbrough, and that Mario Suarez is now at Watford’s training ground for his medical. Done Deal imminent?
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“So when Leicester play Spurs we could have a Mousa, a Moussa and a Musa on the pitch?” asks Robert Parry.
We could, we could, but I think we’ve had enough Leicester v Spurs for one season.
It’s not *quite* transfer news, but MK Dons have recalled right-back George Baldock from his loan at Oxford United. It’s no surprise really – Baldock was outstanding for Oxford, particularly in that FA Cup win over Swansea, and clearly has a big future ahead.
According to a report in Israeli media, Maccabi Tel Aviv FC are in negotiations with QPR attacking midfielder Tjaronn Chery
— Raphael Gellar (@Raphael_Gellar) January 28, 2016
They’ve already signed one Championship player in Reading’s Orlando Sa.
Jamie Fewery has a clever theory:
“A theory. The long delay between everyone knowing a transfer has completed and its announcement is to allow the buying club’s design team to create a ‘WELCOME TO [CLUB], [PLAYER NAME]’ meme. Thus shareable content bizarrely becomes the enemy of the live blog.”
The thing is, your second sentence is probably true.
Is Loic Remy going back to Newcastle on loan? That one has rumbled all week and won’t quite go away. Presumably they weren’t put off by Remy’s absolutely negligent substitute performance at Arsenal...
@NickAmes82 No escape for lunch today. The Internet will need to provide my nourishment. Lolkatsu curry it is.
— Steve Quirke (@flipflopfeeling) January 28, 2016
Please, please, please can something interesting happen soon.
All quiet on the Manchester United front – and Jamie Ranger writes in to ask why that is:
“Given that their Champion’s League hopes seem to be dwindling with each passing weekend, they have a stubborn yesterday’s man as a manager, have no fit senior full-backs, and offer no threat going forward, it seems a little odd that Manchester United have been quiet thus far. Is it a case of not being able to give Louis the funds to strengthen because Woodward’s in standby mode with the P45, or is it because Van Gaal thinks Depay can do a job at right back?”
I can only guess, but I think they’re caught between poles a bit and the dithering over – and by – Van Gaal is doing nobody any favours at all.
@NickAmes82 that katsu curry from the work canteen? My work canteen does a katsu on a Thursday, too.
— Dominic Toms (@DominicToms) January 28, 2016
It certainly was – the transfer blog has a short leash. Nice crispy salad of pickles came with it, which cut through the richness of the sauce and the potential heaviness of the breadcrumbed fowl.
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Charles Richards on further Spurs name-based fun:
“We’re used to name weirdness at Spurs -- there are in fact already two Kyle Walkers at the club, both of whom play right-back. One is the (very occasional) England chappie, the other is a hugely promising prospect, full name Kyle Walker-Peters. Mousa and Moussa Dembele will fit right in.If only we had two Harry Kanes, and Daniel Levy could put his chequebook away for years.”
Want to know more about Liverpool’s top target, Alex Teixeira? Take a look at this excellent profile video:
Danny Michaux is not unimpressed by the situation at Spurs:
“So far this window Spurs have managed to shift on Townsend for a decent fee and convince Palace to take on part of Adebayor’s huge wage bill. If we can get Moussa the Second on a full transfer and finally get the council to come round and collect Fazio this could end up being a tidy January for us.”
Done deal – Sebastian Coates from Sunderland to Sporting Lisbon on loan
It’s our first of the day, and it’s a zinger.
Hearing that Robert Earnshaw has announced his retirement from football, so time to get this out again:
Jonny Mills furnishes us with some impressions of the below-mentioned Zielinski:
“He’s a young lad playing very well in a team that favours ball-playing midfielders. He’s got great control and can lay on a pass or score a goal. A bit like an east European Coutinho....”
Tell a lie, I have a chicken katsu carry. Always tastiest eaten al desko. It came down to that or the quinoa-stuffed tomato.
Give me five minutes, I’m going to grab a sandwich. If anything happens (don’t laugh), someone will jump on here and make sure you’re the first to know.
From our man in the north-west, Andy Hunter:
“Liverpool looking at Udinese’s Polish midfielder Piotr Zielinski (currently on loan at Empoli). Would be in the summer if anything happens.”
Any regulars at the Stadio Carlo Castellani able to tell us how he’s playing?
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Might get a bit more news on Leicester’s pursuit of the CSKA Moscow forward Ahmed Musa today. The Foxes’ last bid was rejected and Manchester United are said to be among those monitoring the situation.
@NickAmes82 simple solution for the Dembele naming issue call one Moussa and the other Moussb
— Daniel Di-Lieto (@dandilieto) January 28, 2016
It must be lunchtime soon, surely.
Mumblings of United loaning Gibbs. Would be surprised, but very pleased to see that come off. May have mentioned it once or twice BTL, but im not the biggest fan of Paul Dummett...
He means Newcastle, kids. Not sure I’ve heard those mumblings, but Gibbs has been in the Theo Walcott category of “breakthrough imminent” for perhaps a little too long now. Would a change do him good?
The clock has struck midday and we’re yet to see a Done Deal. Plenty bubbling under though. Probably (well, possibly) preferable for clubs to do their business today than on the eve of a match, even if the FA Cup might not be top of their priorities.
You know the story Dom Fifield broke especially for you about Dwight Gayle and Swansea? He’s now filed a longer take.
Pal Jorgensen, from the Norwegian newspaper Faedrelandsvennen, has very kindly written in to advise of a possible transfer for Celtic. They are bidding for the IK Start wonderkid Kristoffer Ajer, who impressed during a recent trial at Parkhead.
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Dan Moore says he’d love to see Chilwell play for his club:
“As an Arsenal fan, the thought of having a young English talent at left back really excites me. I think Chilwell and Bellerin on either flank would be an incredible combination, with unquantifiable potential going forward. I really liked the look of him against Spurs, admittedly he was caught out by Son’s screamer but nonetheless looked the real deal already. I think we should cash in on Gibbs whilst we still can and draft Chilwell in as replacement for Monreal with a view of promoting him to starter in the not too distant future.”
We asked for informed views on Ben Chilwell, the Leicester full-back linked with Arsenal and Spurs, so big thanks to James Chisem for this very insightful missive:
“Just a few points about Ben Chilwell, who I watched while he was on loan at Huddersfield. First off, it’s hard to believe he’s only 19. He’s got a good footballing brain and he looked as good as any experienced Championship full-back. Second, he fitted in very well to David Wagner’s gegenpressing system (Guardianista points in the bag), bombing up and down the wing like a maniac for the whole 90 minutes. If I had to pick a fault, I’d say that his final ball isn’t great, but I’m sure that’ll improve as he gets more playing time under his belt. If I was Ranieri, I’d be thinking about starting him, never mind selling him!”
Here’s the full rundown of the Dembele situation, courtesy of Mr Aarons.
That deal would see Dembélé move to White Hart Lane immediately despite Fulham’s attempt to loan him back until the end of the season in a similar arrangement to the one they negotiated last February with MK Dons for Dele Alli. Monaco have also been linked with an approach for him but it is understood that the player has no desire to return to his homeland at this stage of his career.
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@NickAmes82 Nick, why no chat about Mark Hughes for Man U? A great fit it seems to me...
— Gareth Wilson (@garethclwilson) January 28, 2016
If you want to make it happen then, like Pato’s agent, we can try to make it happen.
Onder Susam has an interesting take on Emmanuel Emenike:
“As a fan of both Fenerbahçe and West Ham United, I can’t fathom why Bilic wants to buy Emenike. In Bilic’s 1st year in Turkey Emenike was doing well but having seen his performance last year, I don’t think any coach would want to include him in their squad. Emenike was booed by fans constantly for his awful scoring rate and unwillingness to work hard. He once took his shirt off and wandered off-field during a match because of protests. He was subsequently dropped by Nigeria and we (Fenerbahçe, that is) struggled to find a club that would loan him. His one-year loan contract was prematurely ended by Al-Ain two weeks ago. The guy is moody, lacks discipline and quite frankly not very talented.”
Apart from that...
“Any news on whether Dembele II [there’s our new shorthand! - NA] will be loaned back to Fulham for the rest of the season?” asks Richard Coopey. “We really need cover for Kane while Clinton is injured.”
And, arguably, when he isn’t. I think the original idea was for a loan back but things might have changed – and with their current numbers I can’t see Tottenham sustaining what could be a genuine title challenge if Kane falls lame .
“Liverpool need to buy a striker. Discuss,” orders Stephen Bell. Well, yes, but not any old striker. Needs to be someone who can play pretty flexibly across the front, I think, and preferably someone who has the kind of energy required for Kloppball. Teixeira would probably work.
Did Real Madrid, a club not exactly short on brass neck, really bid three times for Lionel Messi? Yes, according to this.
“Surely the solution to the Dembele problem is to call one Moussa, the other Mou. Better than French and Belgian Dembele,” suggests Chris Jackson.
“Mou” is what everyone who thinks they went to school with Jose Mourinho calls Jose Mourinho, though.
Paul Doyle’s Rumour Mill is now up and it includes a few frosted gems not mentioned here.
@NickAmes82 Any thoughts on what having two Mous(s)a Dembélé's at Spurs might mean for the wellbeing of sports journalists and copy editors?
— Simon Ravenscroft (@S_R_Ravenscroft) January 28, 2016
That is, of course, a burning question. Guardian Towers is well above comedic screw-ups involving these two, of course (something I probably shouldn’t say given that I’m covering Spurs on Saturday), but it would be easily done. Even worse for radio commentators though, surely?
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Bit of a defender merry-go-round at Molineux, in fact, because Scott Golbourne has just left for Bristol City on a two-and-a-half year deal.
Slaven Bilic talks about West Ham’s proposed move for the Fenerbahce striker Emmanuel Emenike: “We are still waiting for that. It is a complicated situation. It’s going to be today or tomorrow, or not.”
News breaking that Wolves have agreed a fee with Newcastle for the centre-back Mike Williamson, who was on loan at Molineux earlier in the season.
More real news!
Told Tottenham are close to agreeing a deal for Fulham's Moussa Dembélé. Fee will be an initial £5m #thfc #ffc
— Ed Aarons (@ed_aarons) January 28, 2016
Dembele, a real livewire who has 11 goals this season and is still just 19, fits the Pochettino profile from where I’m standing.
@NickAmes82 Could you pull some strings to get Berahino out the door today?
— Joshua Roberts (@GamingTraining) January 28, 2016
I’m not sure he’s operable along those lines: a shove would do the trick better. It’ll certainly be interesting to see where he is in four days’ time though – the current stand-off appears to help absolutely nobody involved.
Interesting about Gayle, no? What a curious player he is – a high-impact type and an instinctive finisher but not one who really fits in at Palace, who tend to prefer the kind of centre-forward who can make space for the likes of Zaha, Bolasie and Puncheon. In a system that suits him, he might thrive. Wonder what, if anything, that might mean for the Paloschi deal.
Some real transfer news from our very own Dom Fifield:
“Swansea have offered Palace £7.5m for Dwight Gayle, with a further £500,000 for each season Swansea remain in the Premier League and he plays a certain number of games. But the deal is complicated because there is a sell-on that would be due to Peterborough United.”
Wow. Dom also confirms the Musonda to Betis deal we mentioned earlier – he’s going on an 18-month loan.
Sam Allardyce says he’s looking for more signings: “Most of them from abroad as always ... in terms of what we’re looking at it would be from Europe I think.”
He shot down, in a slightly stumbly sort of way, suggestions that he’d like to sign Andre Ayew.
Sounds as if Sporting Lisbon are about to get their Coates. Sebastian, that is, who will leave Sunderland after only six months now that the Kone deal has been sorted.
Quique Sanchez Flores has just been on TV saying “Everything is possible until the last moment” where further deals for Watford are concerned. Suarez should be first through the door.
Sky Sports News are currently chatting about the – reported – plans of several top clubs to enhance their brands by forcing through guaranteed Champions League places for a select few. Football’s turning into a very pleasant sport, run by some delightful people, isn’t it?
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By the way, for those who (a) can multitask and (b) like tennis, the Australian Open semi-final between Federer and Djokovic is pretty stunning at the moment, regularly prompting chuckles of disbelief from Jacob Steinberg to my left. Read his GBG here.
@NickAmes82 Is there any chance that Nolito come to Arsenal?
— りょりょ (@RyoRyo_AFC) January 28, 2016
I can’t see it personally, RyoRyo. Not sure where the need is for an extra forward – especially with Alexis Sanchez now fit and well.
One or two mutterings that Leicester’s interest in Graziano Pelle, first suggested yesterday, is a Thing – if we can get any more on that, we will. Could they use a strapping centre-forward to take the weight off Vardy and company, and perhaps free up space in matches where the counterattack isn’t able to function as well?
Today’s taking a while to crank into gear, as you’d expect. It’s at times like this when you almost miss Harry Redknapp. I said “almost”. I’m sure there are clandestine meetings taking place up and down the country, though – and far beyond.
Correspondence from “George” following up my earlier musings as to where the Premier League’s all-consuming reach might end up:
“I guess the logical endgame of the PL buying up all of the available not quite World Class talent in every other league is that it will serve to prop up the Big Club monopolies over all of those leagues. If CL hopeful in other leagues can’t compete with the wages on offer by relegation strugglers in the PL then it’s bound to undercut the quality of opposition to the Real Madrids and Bayern Munichs of the world.
“Weirdly, I don’t think the end result will manifest in the PL getting any better in comparison to the rest of Europe. As I think the competitiveness of the league is actually a drag on European ambitions.”
Want to read something that isn’t this blog? This is good, as ever, from Jonathan Wilson about why we might just have to get used to the rise of the Premier League’s middle class.
“Hello Nick Ames Casual (if that is your real name),” starts Tim Jones. “Off to watch Torino v Chievo in 10 days or so time, whats the latest on the Paloschi deal. Any Torino news? Come on it’s not all about the Premier League right?”
I’ll get onto my red hot contacts in Turin, Tim. In the meantime, we’ll have a dig around on Paloschi but it’s looking promising and Swansea’s clear need for a striker can’t do much harm to the deal’s chances of getting done.
“Here’s a hand reaching out in the dark!!” offers Mark O’Dwyer, to whom we cling desperately as he continues: “Do ya think that the ‘Disneyland’ comment from Klopp goes back as far as that 35 million quid for Andy Carroll and then 32 million on Benteke etc. etc. Has Liverpool’s reputation been damaged as an easy club to get a few quid out of? Does he think that I wonder?”
Klopp’s comment referred to an unwillingness to pay stupid money for Teixeira. And Mark’s point is a good one – Liverpool have been seen coming a few times in the past, haven’t they?
Just had a phone call from an unhappy #cpfc fan about Adebayor deal. What am I supposed to do about it? Just wanted to tell me, apparently.
— Mark Ritson (@MR_LWMedia) January 28, 2016
We, your humble media, are nothing if not a shoulder to cry on.
“Nolito for Arsenal?” queries Charles Antaki. “He’s about five down the pecking order of non-functioning strikers for the Spain national team. If he turns up in Arsenal colours, expect a Fran Jeffers-type experience.”
Ramires still in London. Chelsea preparing goodbye party for him today ahead of move to China. Chelsea fans will not forget this Brazilian.
— Joao Castelo-Branco (@j_castelobranco) January 28, 2016
What would you bring to a Ramires leaving party?
Wishful thinking aside, that Pato move – a grand example of something being talked into reality – should be finalised today so we’ll be on top of that, I expect.
@NickAmes82 Would love @SpursOfficial to hijack the Pato deal. Shades of Willian.
— Matthew Roberts (@Berts22) January 28, 2016
Indeed – that one’s not been rubber-stamped quite yet. And Spurs could do with striking reinforcements. Let’s make this into a rumour.
A nearly-done deal: Real Betis look certain to sign the young Chelsea midfielder Charly Musonda Jr. on loan. I know – a Chelsea player leaving on loan. Imagine that! Musonda is very highly-rated though so might even stand a chance of a League Cup appearance or two.
Oh, another deal that was done last night to remind you of. Sunderland signed the Lorient defender Lamine Kone. As ever, keen to hear expert opinions on any of these moves or their ramifications.
Watford beating Valencia to a player. Think on that! Suarez actually used to play for Quique Sanchez Flores at Atletico Madrid, which is a big part of this, but it still sounds odd when you say it out loud. The Premier League’s draw seems more and more irresistible but what is it going to do for the rest of Europe? Is there a logical endgame?
Among the other chat this morning is that Tottenham and Arsenal both have the hots for Leicester’s young left-back Ben Chilwell, who was on loan at Huddersfield earlier this season and has played in the FA Cup for the Foxes. It’s OK to say you don’t know, and I really don’t know much about his qualities – if you do, then write in.
It would be nice to hear from you today. Just for a human voice; a hand reaching out in the dark. It would be especially good to hear what you think of today’s hot transfer activity, or have a tip as to a move we’ve missed here. Any club, anywhere. Drop me a line on nick.ames.casual@theguardian.com or @NickAmes82
Updated
Looks like we might see a Done Deal involving Watford before long. They’re in for Mario Suarez, the Fiorentina midfielder, sneaking ahead of Valencia to get their man. We will keep you posted. In other news that might have escaped you yesterday night, Swansea have agreed a deal for the Chievo striker Alberto Paloschi.
“Why is Nolito mentioned in the headline?” I don’t hear any of you ask. Simple: there are murmurings in Spain that the Celta Vigo forward could be firmly in Arsenal’s sights now after a mooted move to Barcelona broke down ... and I’ve seen an outlandish claim or two that Liverpool are in for him as well. Perhaps he’d be an option if what looks a tricky deal for Teixeira doesn’t come off.
Morning
You’re back for more? So are we, for three more whole days – so let’s crack on with another day’s rumour, counter-rumour and ... I’ll level with you ... periods of crushing ennui. There might be a Done Deal or two, as well. So strap yourself in, make this that window you have to fumble to click off whenever your boss comes over, and we’ll see what we can rustle up...
Updated
Moussa, Mousa, Musa are just different spellings in Western alphabet of the same Arabic name (pron. MOO-sah), which is the Arabic version of Moses.
Same way Marwan and Marouane are just the conventional English and French ways respectively to write what is the same name in Arabic, pron. Mar-WAHN, never ever ever Mar-oo-anne. Hurts my ears to hear that, even if it is less frequently now with the apparent demise of both Fellaini and Chamakh!!!