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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Nick Miller (earlier), Tom Davies (for a bit) and Nick Ames (now)

Transfer window liveblog: Sanches, Aurier, Oxlade-Chamberlain latest – as it happened

Serge Aurier
Serge Aurier has his work permit. Photograph: Adam Davy/PA

Ok, that will do for today – we need to save our energy for this time tomorrow! I certainly do, anyway, as I’ll be back then. Here’s a quick rundown of today’s top lines:

More on those stories – and much, much more besides – from early morning until late at night tomorrow. It’ll be a wild ride. Thanks a lot for all your emails and tweets too, they’re hugely valued here. Goodnight!

Colton Richards on The Ox: “Liverpool fan here. Delighted with Oxlade-Chamberlain’s decision to a) come to Liverpool b) say no to Chelsea and c) apparently turn down a new deal at Arsenal worth more than what he’ll be getting at Liverpool. If true, credit to him, in this maniacal world. He cares about his potential (which there’s tons of), about getting the best out of himself. That hasn’t been happening for him at Arsenal, for any number of reasons, and he wants to kick on his career. He’s the perfect player for Klopp to help do that and I’ve no doubt the lure of the Normal One has been crucial to the decision. Just behind the prospect of Champions League football, of course...”

Has one of these ever actually called a transfer correctly?

It wouldn’t be deadline day without one.

Quite possibly Arsenal – this is one that could yet get interesting tomorrow ...

And we will let Tom Levesley have his moment in a sign that tonight’s fun is petering out a bit: “I haven’t got anything funny or enlightening to say, but if after Alan Davis and Richard Hooker I can be the third Baggie to get a mention tonight that’s surely a transfer blog record.”

Adam Griffiths gives us his hopes for tomorrow: “What I mainly want from the Deadline Day gods is for Jim White to get locked in his dressing room so we can have a teensy bit less hype and SHOUTING. Oh, and definitely no Sky reporters getting thwacked with, um, bedroom toys. Definitely not that. Perish the thought. Ahem.”

Mark Sumner says: “As a Chelsea fan, I can’t help feeling we’ve dodged a bullet with Ox going to Liverpool. He is a decent wide player but I can’t see what he would’ve brought to Chelsea’s central midfield other than a marginally stronger bench and injury cover. Which is what we want Drinkwater to provide. Chelsea’s biggest need is for another striker as Morata’s back-up, which is what we want Llorente for since Batshuayi’s first touch and hold-up play is lamentable.”

Yes, Llorente is one that may finally get done tomorrow.

He’s a better prospect than some of Arsenal’s recent signings, to be fair.

“Do you think Coutinho will join Barca? Or will Barca sign any player in this transfer window?” enquires Dev Vora. It’s a strange one, isn’t it, as Coutinho hasn’t been playing but Liverpool seem set on keeping him. Could The Ox’s arrival move things along a bit, though? The answer is that I don’t know on either count – but I expect Barcelona to keep trying. They need reinforcements.

You and everyone else, mate.

A journalist whose tweets I can’t share here – so I should name him, it’s Alan Nixon – says a big step forward has been made in Man City’s pursuit of Jonny Evans. Suspect we’ll hear plenty more tomorrow ...

And more on Sanchez here from Mr Hytner himself:

What excites you about tomorrow, then? Tell us what your gut says. Do you think Sanchez will go to City, for example? It always seemed like one that would run to the wire, this, whatever anyone protested. And if you support Arsenal, would you take Lemar – currently preparing to face Holland with France – as a sort-of replacement?

“As a Baggies fan, I’m delighted that we’ve completed the loan deal for Grzegorz Krychowiak. I now look forward to us re-signing Tomasz Kuszczak and Dick Kryziwicki,” laughs Alan Davis. I had to look Kryziwicki up, I must admit, but wow, what a triumvirate!

Updated

Think it might depend on who goes, Nick. The main interest seems to lie up top with Mitrovic and, most plausibly, Gayle mooted to depart ... but presumably that relies on Rafa getting some of his targets in and, as you know, that doesn’t happen too easily.

More reading matter for you from Dave Hytner – it’s about Serge Aurier, who has been granted his work permit to play for Tottenham by the Home Office:

Nothing much, and it would have to a big one to change that. Unless Gareth Bale comes available suddenly, I think Mourinho will sit tight. He’d like a wide forward, though, and Mahrez was mentioned vaguely earlier today.

Another missive from Konstantin Sauer: “Do you have further information on the Sanches transfer to Swansea? German media suggest a loan deal + buy option of around €30m. However, at the same time the reports claim, Bayern ensured a first team-guarantee for the player.”

Nothing beyond what Stuart’s written below, Konstantin, although most of this sounds plausible. I don’t think this deal will have come cheap for Swansea and they may well have agreed to a condition or two that aren’t ideal – loaning clubs don’t like making agreements to give players a certain amount of action – in order to push a move this big through.

Hey, Arsenal fans! Richard Hooker says you are the “rich man’s WBA”!

“Pulis has been courting Krychowiak for years. Besides, you have to be kind of deluded to think that North London represents a meaningfully more interesting place for a footballer to be than Smethwick. Arsenal are the rich man’s WBA. Despite their fans believing in better days ahead, the best days of both clubs are behind them; their respective management/ownership are thoroughly committed to treading water - Arsenal tread water somewhere between 4th and 8th in the table and WBA between 10th and 15th. The psychosis at Arsenal is way worse though because they are the B student who thinks he’s an A student. We Baggies are D students delighted to be getting solid Cs.”

True. Can’t believe I didn’t make that link myself

Not a lot, I’m afraid. Drinkwater may well still go through, though I had the impression Leicester were fairly keen on Krychowiak to replace him. Conte won’t be happy at missing out on Oxlade-Chamberlain; what a frustrating window so him so far ...

Another nice, and broadly transfer-related, piece for you by Ed Aarons on how Premier League youngsters are furthering their careers overseas:

Yes, yes it was. My mistake. Who could forget that?

And more here on that Krychowiak deal – including actual quotes that don’t derive from Twitter “banter”:

“I see that Krychowiak is at (gasp!) West Brom. Y’all know more about these players than I do, but he looked very much like someone Arsenal could put to work on day one. Do you have any thoughts? Also, I can’t remember the last time Arsenal took a player on loan. Can you?”

That’s from Sam Hankins. Off the top of my head I *think* Arsenal’s last first-team loanee was Yossi Benayoun – from Chelsea. I also agree Krychowiak could have done well there, and it’s funny how one iffy season can make a very good player’s star fall so far. That said, Arsenal probably think Xhaka can do his job ...

Updated

Here’s a longer take on Liverpool, The Ox and more from our own Andy Hunter:

I toured the Altiplano last year with a wonderful Czech-descended guide who I’d highly recommend. If Foyth is half as good as he was, Spurs have a fine addition.

“Why didn’t Wenger sell him to them three weeks ago?” asks John Keselica of Oxlade-Chamberlain and Liverpool. “If he then started the match on Sunday, based on how he did play in that game, Arsenal might have gotten a result.”

He was terrible but I really, really wouldn’t go that far.

Done deal! Krychowiak to West Brom!

On loan from PSG, as trailed a minute ago. Get your head round that, as I certainly can’t.

“In the 4-4 draw against Arsenal in the 2009 title run-in Benitez turned to the bench & brought on Nabil El Zhar,” shudders Niall Mullen. “A repeat this season might have a bench with some or all of Lallana, Ox, Sturridge, Coutinho, Solanke, Ings, Milner. We probably won’t win anything but hopefully not for the lack of depth.”

“I think the Ox deal opens the door for Coutinho to leave,” posits Anerudh Athrey. “Liverpool are just making sure their bases are covered. And as one of Arsenals few positives from last season, he would be a good addition to the squad. I think Ox will be used as a super sub of sorts, but that remains to be seen.”

Updated

We live in the most confusing of times.

City confident of landing Alexis Sanchez ... but it might hinge on Lemar

Alexis Sanchez latest. The more this goes on, the more confident Manchester City are looking. It is unclear, at present, whether they have submitted a second bid for the Arsenal striker, to follow yesterday’s £50m – which was rejected. But they certainly will make another offer. Pep Guardiola really wants Sanchez, who he managed, previously, at Barcelona and – as City showed with Kyle Walker, for example, earlier in the summer – they have the financial means to break through any impasse.

Arsenal’s stance has softened to the point where they would consider a bid for a player who is out of contract next summer and wants to leave now. But the sticking point will be whether they can bring in a new face to offset the potential loss of their best player. Arsene Wenger said last week that the move for Monaco’s Thomas Lemar was “dead.” He said that the French club had “closed the door.” If Arsenal could reopen it, they could allow Sanchez to leave. Do Arsenal have other options? Lemar is rated at £75m. Arsenal would want at least something similar for Sanchez.

Done deal!

Jordy Clasie will be a Club Brugge player on loan for the rest of the season, from Southampton. Thought things might go rather better for him a year or two back.

“Didn’t Klopp watch the game on Sunday? Why on earth would he buy such dross at any price?” asks Peter Skeggs.

Many sources saying it’s a six-year deal for The Ox – which would presumably take him up to the cusp of his 30th birthday.

“A lot of people struggling with the concept of a squad,” growls Rich Powell. “Liverpool limped over the line in 4th without European football. We need numbers.”

Latest on The Ox!

Liverpool have agreed a fee with Arsenal for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. He is due to have a medical tonight at St George’s Park, where he is on England duty.

“Is there any inside info on the Mustafi transfer, i.e. whether it’s him wanting out or the other way around, or a bit of both?” asks Nick Archard. “Seems strange to me if it’s Wenger’s choice: before the weekend, Arsenal had been picking him ahead of what they have (and look how that turned out!). On the other hand, if it’s Mustafi’s choice that makes him, Sanchez, Özil and the Ox giving Wenger a fairly damning vote of no-confidence.”

I think it was Wenger wanting him out, Nick – but the last I heard, the move to Inter didn’t seem to be going through. It’s a strange one, I agree, although by the by I’ve never really had him as a top, top class player.

Would recommend keeping a close eye on this ...

One of the many players who, to be blunt, I think need to get out of there and play some football.

Updated

Burnley news

Burnley are confident of wrapping up the signing of the Huddersfield striker Nakhi Wells on Thursday. The fee is likely to be in region of £5m for the former Bradford player - and City will get a cut. Wells has not played for Town this season and is probably going to be just back-up at Burnley.

Gokul Kannan muses: “Am I the only one baffled at Liverpool buying or trying to buy Ox? Where will he play in a Liverpool team which has Lallana, Milner and Coutinho yet to fit in. What will be his role? Why is Klopp ready to shell out 40 million to buy a squad player? Why not buy someone similar to Solanke if all you want is a squad player who can develop into a first team player in 2 years. Why Ox?”

And with Keita coming in next year, too. I agree, it’s a hard one to work out and you still suspect he’ll end up on the right.

“So it looks like The Ox was a backup plan when the Lemar deal fell through. I would dearly love to know if there is a backup with the VVD deal looking increasingly unlikely. Liverpool have quality cover in every position in midfield and attack, but really, really need a quality centre back who would put Lovren on the subs bench. Any word of a CB going to Anfield?” asks Patrick Crumlish.

Not at the moment – but Andy Hunter is in the building and as soon as he knows anything concrete, you will.

But Nelson is just 17 and surely more of a forward – although natural positions appear to have gone out of the window at Arsenal.

Who could fill The Ox’s position at Arsenal? Maybe The Jeff?

Looks like “The Ox” is off then, Gooners. Absolutely baffling that he played against Liverpool on Sunday, no? What on earth was going on there?

These people manage Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain ...

Konstantin Sauer gamely answers the call for Sanches chatter:

“I’m not sure if a loan move to Swansea is the right choice for Sanches, especially if he sees his future at Bayern Munich. In my opinion, part of his problems is that since his arrival he’s been struggling to adapt to playing in a foreign league and living in a foreign country. Moving to yet another league might get him some more playing time, as Swansea’s midfield isn’t as crowded as Bayern’s, but after one or two years he’ll still have to get used to Bundesliga football. And his German won’t have improved either during that time. I’d rather see him move to a mid-table team within Bundesliga, preferable with a coach who’s skilled at working with young players (Nagelsmann at Hoffenheim, Nouri at Bremen or Herrlich at Leverkusen).

“Apart from that, I still believe he’s up to great deeds. In some of the pre-season displays (e.g. against Chelsea) he proved that he can be a dominant force in midfield. With more playing time, he’ll hopefully better understand when to pass and when he start a run towards goal.”

That’s a nice, measured take. Worth pointing out that Clement does have a good reputation for working with young players, too.

Updated

Brighton are apparently pushing for Deportivo’s very good Romania international striker Florin Andone – but a €16m bid has been turned down.

Here's that Sanches update

Swansea City are on the verge of pulling off one of the signings of the summer by taking Renato Sanches, the prodigiously talented Portugal international, on a season-long loan from Bayern Munich. Talks between Swansea and Bayern Munich, who paid €35m for Sanches last summer, are at an advanced stage and the Welsh club are quietly confident that an agreement is imminent. It would be an incredible coup for Swansea to sign the 19-year-old and owes much to Paul Clement’s contacts at Bayern Munich, where he worked as Carlo Ancelotti’s No2 before taking over at the Liberty Stadium.

By all means pass on your Renato Sanches/Swansea thoughts. Will this be a developmental loan or do Bayern want rid? Is Sanches as good as the hype of a year ago? How might he fit into the Swans’ engine room?

According to Sky, Hull are in talks to sign Ahmed Musa – a flop at Leicester but still a very threatening forward – on loan. How would be fare in tier two?

But first, a big Liverpool update from Andy Hunter

Wolfsburg have emerged as favourites to sign Divock Origi from Liverpool as the Anfield club close in on a £40m-rated deal for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Origi was not included in the last two Liverpool matchday squads, for victories over Hoffenheim in the Champions League play-off second leg and Arsenal in the Premier League, and would have been allowed to join Monaco as a makeweight in a deal for Thomas Lemar.

However, with Monaco refusing to sell the France international and Liverpool focusing their efforts on signing Oxlade-Chamberlain from Arsenal, Origi has been made available on loan to several European clubs and a move to Wolfsburg is now expected. The Bundesliga club are prepared to pay a sizeable loan fee to take the 22-year-old on a season-long deal.

The Belgium international has also been linked with transfers to Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United but Liverpool prefer a loan deal with a European club. They would not consider a loan deal for Origi with a Premier League rival such as Spurs.

Anfield officials have opened talks with Arsenal over Oxlade-Chamberlain and are expected to beat Chelsea to the England international’s signature, providing they match the offer on the table from Stamford Bridge. Arsenal accepted an offer of £35m plus £5m in add-ons from Chelsea for the 24-year-old, but he was reluctant to join the Premier League champions and favours a move to Merseyside to work with Jurgen Klopp.

Hold on to your hats, an update from Stuart James on that Renato Sanches situation is coming right up ...

Another one to watch closely. Burnley have also been linked strongly with Nakhi Wells today, you’ll recall.

“Adam Griffiths is at least the Foyth person to make that joke,” quips Steve in Chicago. What a buzzkill.

What a move that would be! Presumably involving a whacking loan fee, but has the Clement factor (he’s worked with Sanches at Bayern) swung it? We’re on the case.

A long night? Not necessarily, if this one is true!

“Has anyone done ‘may the Foyth be with you’ yet, vis a vis Spurs’ new signing?” asks Adam Griffiths, which tells me we’re in for a long, hard night. Hello everyone, though!

And with that, I’m done. Nick Ames is here to take you through to the last knockings tonight. Email him on Nick.Ames.casual@theGuardian.com or tweet @NickAmes82

An assessment of Spurs, from Spencer Hutchinson: “With all that was made of Tottenham getting a slow start to the window again, you have to think if they end up with Sanchez, Aurier, Foyth and the final two that Poch wants coming in a midfield/attacking role like Barkley and/or Demarai Gray, that has to be considered a great window for them, right?

“Sanchez, Aurier and Barkley are all top-flight talent with plenty of room to improve still, and Foyth is a great long-term option with even more room to grow. And all this while being fiscally responsible as Levy always does. Haven’t spent much more than what’s come in from the Kyle Walker and Wimmer deals with Janssen and other sales still possible. Am I crazy to like the way the window is shaping up for them?”

Not entirely, from a footballing perspective. Again, if anyone gives a hoot about what I have to say then I wouldn’t still wouldn’t go anywhere near Aurier. And if they got rid of Janssen, they would again have literally no specialist cover for Harry Kane. Obviously it’s a tough sell for Spurs trying to sign a striker, given that they will inevitably be second choice for as long as Kane fancies playing, but it’s still not ideal. Dominic Solanke would have been a nice fit for them, you would’ve thought - maybe they did try for him, but were beaten by Liverpool.

Small line from Stoke, specifically from the Stoke Sentinel, who report that Alaves are currently at the head of the queue to sign Bojan Krkic on loan. The fun-sized forward was on loan at Mainz last season, but since arriving back at Stoke he’s become something of a peripheral figure, the poor little blighter.

DONE DEAL! Tottenham sign Juan Foyth

The Argentinean defender, described by some who have seen much more of him than I, as similar to John Stones, arrives at White Hart Lane Wembley and signs a five-year contract. So that’s one of the three/four new arrivals that Mauricio Pochettino wanted, with Serge Aurier being another when that goes through. Who might the other two be? If we’ve learned anything about Daniel Levy, we might be waiting until the very last minutes of the window.

Meanwhile, good to see the transfer window hasn’t driven some people insensible...

“Scraping the barrel of Malcom jokes- can he play as a number 10?” ponders Rich Harland. “If so, could they bring in roman numerals for the shirt numbers?”

And there is that other domino...

DONE DEAL! Middlesbrough sign Ryan Shotton

This could set off a minor domino effect, as Birmingham will supposedly sign Harlee Dean from Brentford to replace him. Not sure who Brentford will get to replace Dean, or whoever they buy that replacement from will get to replace the replacement, or who they w...

We generally try to avoid stories like “Odds slashed for X to sign for Y” on this blog, but an interesting one has just arrived, suggesting that a lot of money has been wagered on RB Leipzig centre-forward Timo Werner to join Everton. Given Leipzig probably wouldn’t have time to sign a replacement and they’re gearing up for a season in the Champions League, combined with their stance on Naby Keita, it would take one hell of a wedge to make that happen.

Here’s an interesting wee line about Kylian Mbappe’s move to PSG, which sounds like it should go through in short order. As you probably know the deal is initially a loan, Monaco for some reason helping their primary domestic rivals to get around FFP problems, with an obligation to pay €180m in a year. And according to Le Parisien, the only way to get out of paying that would be for them to get relegated. Which, if they were to do that just to spite Monaco, would be pretty funny, if ultimately self-defeating.

Updated

DONE DEAL! Norwich sign Hanley

That’s central defender Grant Hanley, from Newcastle. It must be a fairly dispiriting experience to work for a season to get your team promoted, then as soon as you actually do that you’re shipped off. Not that Grant Hanley is necessarily a Premier League defender, of course.

Hello again, Nick Miller back for a bit. And I return with a blockbuster: according to the Yorkshire Post, Burnley have agreed a fee with Huddersfield for striker Nakhi Wells. He’s currently injured so passing a medical could be an adventure, but it sounds like that deal will go through.

Right, before I hand you back to Nick, some news from Juventus on Benedikt Höwedes’s move:

And a zinger from Paul Hayton: “ If only Exeter City could find the funds to swoop in for that Bordeaux chap’s signature. Then he’d be Devon Malcom.”

And on that bombshell, here’s Nick to talk you through the rest of the afternoon’s shenanigans. Bye.

An email or two, during the current lull. Here’s Dave Williams: “Hi Tom, I’m interested in any insight into how clubs assess the value of a given transfer. A full analysis would I expect require an estimation of the marginal improvement Player X would make to a team’s probability of success in the various competitions, how this translates to direct additional financial rewards and any other additional income from merchandise and PR value. A heck of a lot of assumptions in that. Do you know if they even try to do this or more finger in the air? Assuming they do, how confident are clubs that the increased TV money is really sufficient to cover the massive transfer price inflation seen this summer?” Interesting, I think you’re making the words “assuming they do” put in a serious shift of hard work there. Other factors worth including might be “extent to which it would wind up rivals”, “manager under pressure panicking factor” and “number of column inches sought by megalomaniac owner”.

Lee Taylor, meanwhile, snaps back at the Liverpool conspiracy theories: “I cannot believe some of the FSG conspiracies that abound at the mo’. The main targets were a left back (done), Salah (done), Keita (done, but delayed) and VVD (club will not sell). Oxlade was mentioned as a target well before Lemar. The fact that FSG were willing to pay out £150M for VVD and Lemar shows that they are willing to accept a loss this summer. Coutinho will not leave in this window. Clearly the Klopp factor is a pull factor for LFC to attract players at the top end, as is being in the CL. Get over yerselves.”

Updated

A couple of actual done deals, meanwhile, in the Championship. Sheffield Wednesday have confirmed the signing of the Dutch central defender Joost van Aken from Heerenveen, while Nottingham Forest defender Thomas Lam has joined FC Twente on loan for the rest of the season.

Some late-lunch reading from Paul Wilson, on Manchester City and Guardiola’s approach to transfers:

Some email activity: Liverpool fan Jake Lynch writes in with a theory, into which I’m not quite sure where the pursuit of Oxlade-Chamberlain fits: “How much money are FSG actually spending on the Liverpool squad? Didn’t they just-about break even last summer, and look set for a very modest net spend this? Certainly if they get 30m for Sakho, to add to the other few lesser lights who’ve moved on (such as Kevin Stewart to Hull City). Sure, they’ve just committed to a large fee for Keita next year, but by then they’ll have received 100m+ from Barca for Coutinho. There’s a well ventilated conspiracy theory that they’ve deliberately and very publicly pursued players who were not for sale (VvD, Lemar) to avoid having to shell out the cash. I don’t want to believe it, but still...”

While Luke Williams quips of the aforementioned Malcom: “If he’s wide on the right, coming from Bordeaux, he’d be Mal à droit, though …”

Updated

Burnley appear to be developing something of a penchant for nipping across the Pennines to West Yorkshire to plunder forwards who’ve excelled in the Championship. Huddersfield’s Nakhi Wells is close to securing a move to Turf Moor, according to the Huddersfield Examiner and the ubiquitous Sky Sources, among others.

Meanwhile, here’s the latest from the Press Association on the Oxlade-Chamberlain/Liverpool situation:

Liverpool have opened talks with Arsenal over a deal for midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Chelsea appeared to have moved ahead in the race to sign the England international after reportedly having a bid of £40m accepted.

However, Liverpool have been monitoring the situation of the 24-year-old, who is in the final year of his contract, for several months and Press Association Sport understands they made their move to start negotiations on Wednesday morning.

It is understood Oxlade-Chamberlain never got to the point of discussing personal terms at Stamford Bridge as his preferred destination is Anfield and he was holding out for the Reds to make their move.

Afternoon everyone. Tom Davies stepping in for Nick for a bit, with the huge breaking news that reports are circulating that José Mourinho has been spotted on the phone in London. Much, much more on this when we get it*. Anyway, referring back to Martin Laurence’s useful piece on under-the-radar players, it’s a bit disappointing that Bordeaux’s Malcom is a wide player, thus depriving us of ‘Malcom in the middle’ headline/caption opportunities. Ah well, it’s a slow(ish) news day…

* Or perhaps not.

Serge Aurier granted work permit

Serge Aurier, who suggested as such with his super-cryptic Twitter post earlier, has indeed received clearance for his work permit, so his €25m move from PSG to Tottenham will be completed shortly. Interestingly, the French courts have downgraded his previous two-month suspended jail sentence to a fine. Previously he would’ve had to wait five years to work in the UK, but now he’s been able to successfully submit a normal application.

Let’s hope that, if he has to come off the bench, he doesn’t take as long to get himself ready as he did while playing for PSG last season. A full eight minutes, that time.

Want a few under the radar players who could/should be attracting more attention? Martin Laurence from WhoScored has a few suggestions, including a Brazilian winger called Malcom. Lovely. Enjoy.

It’s been mentioned before, but the international break coming just around deadline time is going to make all of this good fun. Alexis Sanchez is in Chile, Philippe Coutinho in Brazil, Thomas Lemar in France, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will be in Burton. OK, so not all insurmountable logistical problems, but spicier than your average deadline day, for sure.

Quick line about a manager, rather than a player transfer, but it is relevant: Corriere dello Sport today reckons that Roberto Mancini is “in crisis” at Zenit St Petersburg because they failed to sign Aymen Abdennour from Valencia, who instead moved to Marseille. Seems...a bit of an overreaction, but of course we know not the ins and outs.

Social media secret message interpreters, get stuck in...

Adam Griffiths is stocking up on canned goods. “Biblical floods, total eclipses of the sun, Pulis signing a full-back? Clearly these are the End Times.”

Liverpool latest, from Andy Hunter

If Liverpool can agree a fee with Arsenal for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain - and has already been mentioned in this blog relations between the two clubs remained strained after the Suarez fiasco all those years ago - then the England international will be on his way to Anfield and, in all likelihood, Thomas Lemar will not.

The Monaco player may be the preference for Jurgen Klopp but his employers have not budged in their insistence the 21-year-old is not for sale. As a result, efforts are continuing to negotiate a fee with Arsenal for Oxlade-Chamberlain, although Liverpool may have to match Chelsea’s £35m-plus offer to land the midfielder before the deadline.

DONE DEAL! West Brom sign Kieran Gibbs from Arsenal

Something has happened! Lovely scenes. The fee is apparently around £7m, the contract is four years and here’s the obligatory screenshotted iPhone note message to the world. Particularly enjoyed the hashtag included on the picture, there.

Had we forgotten about Diego Costa? A little bit. So here’s Atletico Madrid president Enrique Cerezo, speaking to a Spanish radio station, about the big man:

He has a contract with another club so it’s naturally a complicated issue. We’re moving forward with confidence but until Chelsea agree to his transfer, then Costa will be a Chelsea player.

On holiday it is normal to get a little fat but we must understand that Costa is a professional and he knows what shape he should be in. Am I optimistic on his arrival? I’m always optimistic.”

As we seem to be in something of a lull, here are some thoughts from Uli Hoeness about transfer fees and whatnot. He told SportBild magazine:

In my opinion there is no player in the world worth 100 million euros. I do not want to buy a player for 100 million euros even if I had the money. That would be too much of a waste of money.

We have reached a point where we have to be damned careful. Because there is a point where maybe the fan has had enough. In all honesty, it is time to go back to proportionality. For a long time there was fear of agents, of players etc. Now we have to say ‘enough is enough’.”

He may well have a point. But you’d forgive anyone for politely declining any financial advice from Uli Hoeness.

With a day and a bit to go, who do the fans want their clubs to sign? We asked a few - 20, in fact - and they told us here. West Ham’s is particularly...bleak.

West Ham United

To be brutally honest, we need a new manager. In the entirety of Slaven Bilic’s reign I’ve not seen a single coherent plan of how he wants us to play. We sign players seemingly at random and then he just puts together a teamsheet of who he deems the best players and hopes they go out and do their thing on their own. It’s all a bit late 1990s Championship Manager. Our slapdash signing policy of past-it players and Ligue 2 hit and hopers has been found out. Chicharito has been our best summer signing so far. I would have said Marko Arnautovic for his pre-season displays but then he got all elbowy. Ash Howarth

A bit more Arsenal stuff here (sorry - will make this the last for a while unless something happens) from Sam Crow: “I’m an Arsenal fan and a deep lover of Arsene Wenger. I think Sanchez, Ozil and Oxlade should be sold because and I don’t think anyone should be brought in to replace them (though if Sterling is on offer then we’ll have him). Wenger would work better with a smaller squad. At the moment it’s too big; Wenger doesn’t seem to know who to play and doesn’t seem to get it right (until April). There’s enough goals in Giroud, Lacazatte and Walcott to be challenging near the top. Let’s give Iwobi a run and see what he’s capable of. Same with Welbeck, maybe he’d learn how to score if he wasn’t always in and out of the team. I think trimming it down and getting rid of the ‘stars’ would get the best out of Wenger, who is still a good manager and not the useless, senile berk he’s portrayed to be.”

Charles Antaki has some Oxlade-Chamberlain thoughts: “The more one thinks about it, the less a move by Oxlade-Chamberlain to either Chelsea or Liverpool looks purely a rational one; the midfields in both cases are well-equipped, and if, as rumoured, Conte only wants him to play where he does for Arsenal at the moment, Chelsea looks even less sensible. So the underlying motivation is even less appealing for Arsenal supporters: he’s run out of trust in Arsenal - or, more pointedly, with Wenger - and would rather ply his trade in a club that will be more likely to be in the Champions League next year. That is a depressing index of what is going on in at least some Arsenal players’ minds.”

DONE DEAL! Hull sign Jackson Irvine...

...an Australian midfielder from Burton Albion, who sounds like he should be an alt-country singer supporting the Fleet Foxes, and with his hair down, looks like that too.

Not related to a transfer that will happen today, but Robert Snodgrass has been talking about his brief time at West Ham, and it doesn’t exactly make great reading for Slaven Bilic. He’s quoted in the Scotsman as saying:

“There were a lot of broken promises, a lot of dishonesty and I thought this is not what I am about...I realised from the off that it wasn’t going to happen. I was coming on against Manchester City and he [Bilic] said, ‘Where do you want to play, on the left or right?’ I thought, ‘You’ve just signed me and I’ve played on the right or behind the striker at Hull City all season’. I found it very strange. That was my debut. And every time I played I was on the left. Alarm bells were ringing right away. I don’t know why he did it. I came in as [Dimitri] Payet left and maybe it was a case of ‘you can play there’ but I’d only filled in on the left a couple of times.

“I hate that position. When you’re Scottish, you’re brought up to play anywhere. It’s fine to play for one or two games, but you need to play in your right position, especially on the back of scoring nine goals for Hull City. At that stage nobody had scored more goals for Hull or West Ham. The manager was under a lot of pressure and I later said that, out of respect, I didn’t want to go in and see him during that period. But, when I did speak to him, I said I thought he’d have known I wasn’t a left midfielder and that he must have watched me after signing me for that type of money.

“That was the conversation. His answer was basically that, when people are confident, they can play anywhere. I’ve been at teams like Hull City and Norwich City and, when you’re signed for big money, they need to play you to get value. But West Ham are signing lads on double and treble what I signed for. They’re always looking to try and invest and get the best. But, when you’ve got too many and lads aren’t playing, it’s not a good environment. People can judge my time at West Ham whatever way they want. But I know myself that, when there is a manager who knows how to get the best out of you, then it’s different – and that’s why I chose Villa. I wanted to work with Steve Bruce again.

An update on Danny Drinkwater, from Stuart James

Danny Drinkwater’s determination to join Chelsea prompted him to submit a formal transfer request on Monday to try to force the move through. That is not to say that Drinkwater had not expressed a desire to leave Leicester, or even speak to Chelsea, before putting anything in writing. But a formal transfer request has ramifications, particularly financially, because it means a player forfeits loyalty bonuses and signing on fees that would otherwise be due to them even if they are sold.

In Drinkwater’s case that could be quite a significant sum of money given that he signed a five-year contract worth close to £100,000 a week only 12 months ago. Of course it would be naïve to think that any player ends up missing out in this scenario - in most cases the buying club would cover the shortfall. As for whether Drinkwater gets his wish, the bottom line is that Chelsea need to come up with an offer to match Leicester’s valuation - that means parting with around £35m.

Updated

“Re Ox to Liverpool,” writes Tim Woods. “We need a bigger squad, as last winter proved. Especially to compete with City and United, who have quality that can’t even make their benches. I think he’ll be back-up to the current midfield, but with four competitions we need more strength in depth. Plus Henderson injury-prone, Can possibly off in Jan...or maybe Klopp also realises he needs to have a crack at one of the two cups as well? Long time since we had a trophy.”

Something from David Hytner, on Arsenal

A few thoughts on Arsenal, in particular the Alexis Sanchez situation. The club were quick to dismiss Manchester City’s £50m bid for him yesterday – which did feel a little low, in the context of everything – and they reiterated their summer-long stance about him not being for sale. But when they entertained a discussion about taking Raheem Sterling from City, it clearly showed that the stance was no longer absolute. Sanchez does have a price and City would have taken encouragement from that.

I fully expect them to be back – possibly with Sterling included in the offer, however difficult player-plus-cash deals are to complete. If they were to offer about £70m, Arsenal would have a vexatious decision to make. The attraction of taking a player in part-exchange is obvious, given the difficulty of landing an A-list star from elsewhere at this late stage.

Moreover, the collapse of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s £40m move to Chelsea stands to have a knock-on effect on Sanchez – if Oxlade-Chamberlain now ends up staying at Arsenal. Liverpool want the England player and he believes that he would have a better chance of playing in his favoured midfield role at Anfield. But there remains bad blood between Arsenal and Liverpool from the notorious £40m + £1 Luis Suarez affair. Would Arsenal do business with Liverpool? They do not feel they can lose Sanchez, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Mesut Ozil as free agents next summer and they want to get a fee for one of them this summer. There are no offers for Ozil. So, if Oxlade-Chamberlain were to stay, Arsenal’s position over Sanchez would look increasingly vulnerable.

As an addendum to the Dortmund news earlier - as Jeremy Toljan comes in, Felix Passlack goes out: he’s made like a Chelsea player and signed a new four-year contract, before joining Hoffenheim on a two-year loan.

“Please please please tell me that West Ham aren’t about to sell Diafra Sakho to Rennes for €10m,” begs Hammer Oliver, “leaving us with only Chicharito and Andy ‘only one leg functional at a time’ Carroll as our striking options while we try and overcome the monstrosity that has been the start of the 17/18 season? West Ham have scored four goals this season and Sakho’s had a hand in three of them. The picture of him in a French airport is just him going on holiday, right? He’s just popped back to see his mum and dad and have some chicken soup or something. Surely...”

Perhaps he is just too injury-prone? He only played three times last season, and thus can’t really be relied upon. Of course that only properly makes sense if West Ham have an alternative lined up...

FYI, I committed a frightful boob earlier by misidentifying Serge Aurier as French - he’s not, he’s from the Ivory Coast, although he’s lived in France for most of his life. Cheers to Ludo for putting me right. Now corrected.

“Do you have your own personal countdown to when the transfer deadline is over because then you can have a nice, long nap? I know I would,” asks Drew Gough. Mercifully Drew, I’ll be finished on the blog at some point this afternoon, and that will be my last involvement. But onto other business...

“The real reason I write to you this morning is this: curious to know if anyone thinks Oxlade-Chamberlain would improve Liverpool’s midfield (I’m not sure he would get many games ahead of Henderson and Can on current form, of if he can play the same kind of roles, or that he’d play much once Lallana is healed up), or if this is just an opportunity for Liverpool to finally beat Chelsea to a player? It’s a huge morale boost for the club to be seen as a destination, surely, even if the player wouldn’t have a huge role.”

It does seem a bit odd that Liverpool might be keen: if he does play in central midfield, he’ll be a driving attacking type, or perhaps a box-to-box. Liverpool already have a few of those, and another is on the way next summer in Naby Keita. Seems that, if they do sign another midfielder, what they really need is a creative type, particularly if Philippe Coutinho goes, and with Adam Lallana injured too. But that’s just my opinion: world, what do you think?

And here’s this morning’s Rumour Mill, lovingly crafted by your pal and mine Paul Doyle. Are Manchester United and Chelsea going to duke it out for Riyad Mahrez?

As ever with a Tony Pulis side, West Brom should be busy in the closing...what, 37 or so hours of the transfer window. Our boy Stuart James reckons they are confident of signing Grzegorz Krychowiak from PSG on a season-long loan. Plus there’s stuff about Kieran Gibbs, and the latest on who wants Jonny Evans.

Tottenham have been quiet, haven’t they? They want to sign PSG defender Serge Aurier, but there are issues over a work permit, as the Ivory Coast right-back was given a two-month suspended prison sentence over the assault of a police officer in a nightclub. Thus, the high-ups are carefully mulling over whether they want to allow him to play in England. There’s also the question of his vile homophobia too, but that’s more of a moral issue. If you’d like the two cents of this correspondent, I wouldn’t touch him with the longest of poles. Anyway, here’s David Hytner with the info there, as well as the latest on Tottenham’s move for Juan Foyth.

Updated

A few more bits from last night. Liverpool have rejected a £25m bid from Crystal Palace for Mamadou Sakho: they want closer to £30m. There’s some stuff in there about Virgil van Dijk, too.

DONE DEAL! Borussia Dortmund sign...

...right-back Jeremy Toljan from Hoffenheim. The reported fee is just €5million, apparently, and he’ll probably only be cover for Dortmund.

A separate little nugget at the end of that update from Mr Hytner deserves a wider airing:

City have a potential problem over Sergio Agüero, with the feeling within the club being that the Argentina striker might pursue a move away in January. He was dropped by Guardiola for the Premier League win at Bournemouth on Saturday and there has been tension between the player and manager. Agüero is determined to play regularly in World Cup year.

Here’s one you might have missed from last night: there was talk yesterday that Raheem Sterling could be included in any Manchester City bid for Alexis Sanchez, but it seems City’s initial offer was cash only - and Arsenal have rejected it. More from David Hytner here:

Not transfer talk, but take a look at this. Football really is a wonderful, wonderful thing.

Louise Taylor mentioned yesterday that Newcastle might be open to the prospect of selling Dwight Gayle, and it seems there is interest in the striker. The Press Association reports:

Fulham have tabled a £15million bid for Newcastle striker Dwight Gayle after it became clear the player could be available. The bid was received on Wednesday morning hours after reports of the London club’s interest in the 26-year-old emerged.

Press Association Sport understands that the Magpies value last season’s 23-goal leading scorer at closer to £20million, although may yet be prepared to settle for somewhere between the two figures. However, they will not consider doing business with Fulham or anyone else until they have a replacement lined up amid speculation that they have an interest in Liverpool’s Divock Origi.

Manager Rafael Benitez is prepared to sacrifice Gayle, who he bought for £10million from Crystal Palace last summer, after a recent drop in form. He has already drafted in Stoke’s Joselu in a £5million deal and has admitted he is looking for a different type of striker to complement the Spaniard.

Benitez has been forced to rebuild for the Premier League on a budget at a time when other clubs are investing heavily, and is having to free up resources - Emmanuel Riviere and Siem de Jong have left the club in the last week or so and Grant Hanley could soon join them - to open the door for further incomings.

The latest from Chelsea...

Chelsea’s frantic attempts to strengthen Antonio Conte’s squad this week are proving increasingly complicated with the Premier League champions fearful Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will not be convinced to move across the capital, and negotiations over Ross Barkley and Danny Drinkwater still some way from a positive conclusion.

A fee of around £35m was agreed with Arsenal for Oxlade-Chamberlain earlier this week and Chelsea had initially been confident they would deflect Liverpool’s interest to secure the England international. However, the 24-year-old is apparently uncertain he would be offered the opportunities he craves in central midfield and may, instead, find himself pinned on the flank in the wing-back role which has contributed to his sense of disillusion at Arsenal.

The player is understood to be keener to move to Anfield, where he feels his chances may be more forthcoming, although no deal has as yet been agreed between Liverpool and Arsenal for his services. Conte had, indeed, seen Oxlade-Chamberlain as direct competition for Victor Moses at right wing-back and may have to attempt a new sales pitch if he is to convince the player to move to Stamford Bridge ahead of Thursday’s cut-off.

Negotiations continue with Everton over Barkley – who is currently recovering from a torn hamstring – with an initial offer, believed to be worth around £25m, having been rejected by the Merseyside club for all that there is scope for compromise. Discussions are ongoing, at least, though Tottenham Hotspur retain their own interest in the player and could still enter the bidding to test Chelsea’s intent.

Leicester City, meanwhile, are still adamant Drinkwater will not be sold on the cheap despite the player having handed in a transfer request. As yet, Chelsea have yet to match his current club’s valuation, which is in excess of £30m. Indeed, at present, the deal the champions are likeliest to complete appears to be a £14m move for Swansea City’s Fernando Llorente, who would join as back-up to Alvaro Morata at Stamford Bridge. Again, talks continue between the clubs.

Updated

Morning all. We’re not mucking around today with any whimsical preambles: it’s straight into the juicy, meaty, oozing transfer stuff, with an update on Chelsea from Dom Fifield shortly...

Nick will be here soon enough.

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