With that I think the time has come to finish an underwhelming day of transfer news. Surely tomorrow will be better (although I said that last night too). At least we have got to the bottom of the Sigthorsson mystery...
Interactive is updated. Result! See you tomorrow.
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Ben Blatch-Hanion gets in touch, saying that Galatasaray have, indeed, terminated the contract with Sigthorsson.
I managed to find this on Galatasaray’s website, Ben says.
And, having checked with Emre at Turkish Football it does indeed say that his contract at Galatasaray has been terminated. “Galatasaray and Sigthorsson gave agreed to mutually terminate his contract. Sigthorsson will be paid €400,000 out of the €1.18m owed.”
Well done, everyone.
This is from PA on Scott Hogan, linked with West Ham United among other clubs.
Brentford head coach Dean Smith accepts top scorer Scott Hogan will leave if the Sky Bet Championship club’s valuation is met before Tuesday’s transfer deadline. Hogan has been omitted in recent weeks following speculation of a move to West Ham, who have so far fallen short of Brentford’s valuation, which is understood to be £15m.
And the 24-year-old could miss Saturday’s FA Cup fourth-round tie at Premier League leaders Chelsea due to the lack of game time resulting from the uncertainty surrounding his future. “We would let any of our players go anywhere for the right money, because everybody has a value at any club,” Smith said. “We’ve had offers from different clubs for Scott Hogan and all of them have not met the valuation.”
Can someone possibly help me with this one? I am wondering what has happened to Kolbeinn Sigthorsson. Has he left Galatasaray? Is he back at Nantes? The official Ligue 1 website has got him returning to the French club but I can’t see any official confirmation of that and before I see that I am not updating the interactive…
Serge Gnabry’s dad, Jean-Hermann, has been talking about the player’s future. Gnabry has been an instant hit at Werder Bremen since signing from Arsenal and has been linked with a move to Bayern Munich. Jean-Hermann, however, is having none of it. “Hang on a minute, how long was Diego here at Werder, how long was Özil here? He has to prove for longer what he can do here before thinking about moving on.” Seems like sound advice.
Arsène Wenger is not expecting a busy transfer deadline day with the exception of a possible low key departure or two. The door remains ajar for the two right-backs who are now a way down the pecking order. With Gabriel now first reserve behind Héctor Bellerín, and Ainsley Maitland-Niles next in line, both Mathieu Debuchy and Carl Jenkinson are in a position to leave if they can arrange it. “ I didn’t close the door because there’s a lot of competition on the right flank,” Wenger says. “Now Gabriel has been convincing on the right side. What I just want to say is Debuchy is fully fit now and so he is available to play and maybe even to have an experience somewhere else. Jenkinson has to agree personal terms. But at the moment, he has not managed to do that.”
Here is Louise Taylor from the Middlesbrough press conference. I really don’t understand why Aitor Karanka is having a pop at the Boro fans. a) I think it is harsh and b) how is it going to help?
Chelsea will truly flex their financial muscles in the summer, when Antonio Conte will presumably set about preparing for a Champions League campaign to come, and the only incoming business likely to be concluded this month would be for a No2 goalkeeper to allow Asmir Begovic to complete his £10m move to Bournemouth. The Premier League leaders are exploring a number of options – they have actually turned to Christophe Lollichon, previously their goalkeeping coach, to help drawing up a list of targets – and have spoken to Celtic regarding Craig Gordon’s potential availability. The Scotland international is out of contract in the summer, though his current club have an option to extend his stay. “It is not something we would consider, really,” said Brendan Rodgers after Wednesday’s victory over St Johnstone. “He is someone I want to lock down during my time here, a good guy who is enjoying life.”
Alternatives may be Galatasaray’s Fernando Muslera, a Uruguay international, and Diego López who is currently on loan at Espanyol from Milan. Yet both those players are regulars at their current clubs and would effectively be swapping regular football for life as Thibaut Courtois’ understudy at Stamford Bridge. More realistic, perhaps, could be Tim Krul at Newcastle given the Dutchman has not been used at all over the first half of the campaign while on loan at Ajax. Chelsea could yet loan further young players out to gain first-team experience, with Fikayo Tomori having joined Brighton & Hove Albion. Kenedy, returned from a spell at Watford, has attracted interest from Flamengo.
Dominic Fifield has been down to see Glenn Murray at Brighton for an interview and, as it stands, the striker is still none the wiser as to whether his season-long loan move from Bournemouth to Brighton is going to be made permanent this month, as had been mooted towards the end of last year. You’d think that would be an obvious solution given that he already has 15 goals and is making such a huge difference to their promotion charge.
This is a lovely interview by Stuart James by the way – a man who is criminally underfollowed on Twitter – with Scott Carson. The Derby goalkeeper talks about Swiss army knives, ‘winning’ the Champions League with Liverpool and, of course, that fateful night against Croatia, of which he says, quite rightly: ‘I always thought to myself: ‘No one has died’.
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Meanwhile, M’Baye Niang is having his medical at Watford. Will be really interesting to see how he gets on. I am not sure it will work but why be so negative before he has even completed his medical, never mind had his first training session.
Here is Fabrizio Romano’s story on the deal from last night
OK, I am not giving up. This one looks to have happened. Steven Taylor is back! He has has joined Ipswich. Also, Mick McCarthy has said that Leon Best will not feature for the first team again this season. This is from BBC.
Ah, it now appears as if Samuel Eto’o hasn’t joined Amkar after all. I am going to let our friends at goal.com clear this one up. If only my Russian had been better…
It has been a strange transfer window at Tottenham Hotspur because, for the first time in history, the club have not been seriously linked to any players. It is certainly a reflection of the confidence that Mauricio Pochettino has in the squad he has built and he confirmed there would be no incoming business before the closure of the window.
Asked at today’s press conference whether he expected any new signings, he replied: “No. I told you from the first day of the month that we are not thinking to sign players. I remember saying, too, that if some special player was available, then maybe, but it doesn’t happen yet. It’s not impossible, one per cent maybe, but I don’t believe we will sign anybody.”
Done deal! Samuel Eto’o has joined FC Amkar. He looks very happy about it.
Сегодня. Белек, Турция. Подробности позже. #АмкарПермь #ГордостьУрала pic.twitter.com/4wHSszKDVM
— FC Amkar (@fc_amkar) January 26, 2017
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Spurs, meanwhile, have let one of their promising youngsters, Anton Walkes, join Atlanta United on loan. That’s two signings in two days for Atlanta after the capture of Marseille old boy Tyrone Mears yesterday.
BREAKING: #ATLUTD acquire @AntonWalkes on loan from @SpursOfficial
— Atlanta United FC (@ATLUTD) January 26, 2017
📝: https://t.co/jubUKmqXw2 pic.twitter.com/DArp7sxEYH
In a weak moment yesterday, as the clock was ticking towards 6pm and the Evra transfer still hadn’t been concluded, I made a vague promise of possibly posting some Swedish metal rock on the blog today. So here is a challenge: can anyone find a clip that contains more hair gel than this? I give you Swedish Metal Aid from 1985 and I don’t which is more disturbing, that I actually spent 25 kronor to buy it, or that I liked it, or both…
Everton have yet to receive an official offer for Phil Jagielka despite the club captain’s predicament at Goodison Park alerting several Premier League clubs, including the inevitable – Sunderland – to his potential availability. The 34-year-old is frustrated at losing his regular first team place under Ronald Koeman – his last start came in the draw at Hull City on 30 December – with Ashley Williams and Ramiro Funes Mori favoured in central defence so far this year.
Koeman still values Jagielka’s leadership in the dressing room and would have no experienced cover in central defence should he allow the England international to leave this month but, as always, that resolve will only be tested by a firm offer. And one has yet to be submitted. Sunderland are also believed to be interested in James McCarthy and Bryan Oviedo – so too Newcastle United for the Republic of Ireland midfielder – but once again Koeman is reluctant to part company with players he views as important cover.
Mind you, he said the same about Gerard Deulofeu before Everton eventually accepted Milan’s loan terms for the Spanish winger. The Everton manager remains keen on securing support for Romelu Lukaku up front before Tuesday’s deadline.
An update on the Leon Bailey situation from the excellent Sven Claes. Not training with Genk at the moment but will anyone pay the asking price? A lot of money for a player who has not been tested in one of the better leagues in Europe. Hull, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Roma and Bayer Leverkusen all interested though.
Leon Bailey (19) skipped Racing Genk's training session again. Hull, Mönchengladbach, Leverkusen and AS Roma aren't willing to pay €20m. pic.twitter.com/PjqDuEIdtP
— Sven Claes (@svenclaes) January 26, 2017
Hull can’t sell Abel Hernández as well can they? Then they might as well pack up and go home no?
West Brom in talks with Hull over a deal for Abel Hernandez. Nothing agreed yet but player also had some interest from China #wbafc
— Ed Aarons (@ed_aarons) January 26, 2017
Middlesbrough turn down Leicester offer for Gaston Ramírez
More from Aitor Karanka. Boro’s offer for Snodgrass has, as we said, been rejected but they have not given up on the player just yet. The manager also said that an initial bid from Leicester City for Gaston Ramírez has been turned down and that the Uruguayan will not leave unless Boro get two players in (of which Jesé appears to be one). Karanka is still interested in signing Bojan Krkic from Stoke and he stood by his comments on the Boro fans from last weekend.
What a surprise … we have two days of rumours and reports that Arsenal are keen on signing Porto’s Danilo and then he goes and renews his contract with the Portuguese club. His new deal runs until 2022 and the coach, Nuno Esprírito Santo is obviously delighted. Full story here (in Portuguese).
Looks like a good signing to me (although, admittedly, I’ve never seen Jorge play in my entire life…) Monaco doing really well at the moment aren’t they? Favourites against City for their Champions League tie at the moment on form?
BREAKING NEWS:
— Seleção Brasileira (@BrazilStats2) January 26, 2017
Ligue 1 leaders, UCL side Monaco have reached an absolute agreement over the transfer of #Flamengo left back #Jorge (20). pic.twitter.com/Hj9968TiIF
Bad news for Burnley - Dean Marney will be out for a long time.
BREAKING: Sean Dyche confirms that Dean Marney suffered a cruciate knee injury @Arsenal and will be ruled out long term.
— Burnley FC (@BurnleyOfficial) January 26, 2017
Aitor Karanka has just held his press conference and has said that Hull refused their offer for Snodgrass (they do not want to sell to a relegation rival), which could clear the way for West Ham United to sign the Hull player…
This, meanwhile, is a very good lunch-time read. The picture of Ian Snodin crawling out of the 18-man brawl he started is absolutely priceless.
Crystal Palace are close to agreeing a deal for Serbia midfielder Luka Milivojevic as they continue to negotiate with Greek champions Olympiakos over the structure of a fee, which could eventually reach up to £12m. The manager, Sam Allardyce, has switched his attentions to the 25-year-old former Anderlecht and Red Star Belgrade player who has scored five league goals this season after failing to agree a deal over Yann M’Vila.
The France midfielder has a clause in his contract with allows him to join a Premier League club for £11m but Palace have so far not matched that. Milivojevic , who has 19 caps for his country, is believed to have agreed personal terms with Palace but has also been linked with Roma and Hull, having played under Marco Silva during his spell in Greece.
Are Juventus trying to sign Rodrigo Bentancur this month rather than in the summer now that Patrice Evra has joined Marseille? According to reports in Italy, they may very well do so. Here is Football Italia summarising the situation nicely.
Will there be any players left at Barnsley at the end of this transfer window?
Breaking transfer news: We are delighted to confirm the arrival of @ConorHourihane. #WelcomeConor #AVFC pic.twitter.com/lb8yWTD1Je
— Aston Villa FC (@AVFCOfficial) January 26, 2017
And now a message from Southampton and Katharina Liebherr to the club’s fans
I am writing to you in relation to an announcement made in China today about Southampton Football Club and Lander Holding.
Please understand that I can only make limited comments regarding this process but I can assure you that any steps we do take will be in the best interests of the club. A potential partnership would need to clear multiple approvals and fulfil strict criteria before being confirmed.
The Premier League is increasingly competitive; we need to keep moving forward and look to new markets for commercial growth, innovation and to share our journey. Together we have had many years of progression and success, and ensuring this continues is the main focus of any possible partnership.
I cannot thank you enough for the continued support you give Southampton Football Club, and it makes me so proud to think we will soon be experiencing a major final together at Wembley. I hope you enjoy what will be a brilliant day for our club and look forward to a successful future together.
Bild in Germany have written a piece on Alen Halilovic and the reasons why it hasn’t worked out for the Croatian wonderkid at Hamburg (he is now on his way to Las Palmas on loan with a €4m buyout clause).
This is what the piece is saying:
• Talent: that’s not the reason, his left foot is a real weapon
• Attitude: less good. All good when going forward but less interested in defensive work
• Behaviour: reportedly annoyed team-mates and staff. Bild uses the term “Rotzlöffel”, which I’ve never seen before.
Now Löffel is spoon, I know that much, and can only assume that Rotzlöffel is something like a spoiled brat. Like any respectable modern journalist I then asked Google which gave me this picture as the answer …
Meanwhile, Arsène Wenger has told one of his defensive midfielder not to bother with tackling any more. Seems odd.
What’s this? I’ve got an email saying that I’ve already reached my daily Neven Subotic limit. I didn’t realise we had such a sophisticated tool. I might ignore it, though. Do I really only get three? Outrageous. Don’t worry Neven, we’ll stay strong. I’ll do another one when you’ve been announced.
And here is Neven Subotic and I am mainly posting this because that is one nice jumper. Look at that colour! Wonderful. Well done Neven (although I still don’t know if he passed his medical at Cologne or whether he will do well in Peter Stöger’s three-man defence but that is neither here nor there I suppose…)
Willkommen in Köln, Neven #Subotic! Das erste Foto nach dem Medizincheck #effzeh pic.twitter.com/4CsrSLQ8uZ
— BILD 1. FC Köln (@BILD_FC) January 26, 2017
This is what we expect in Italy today, from Fabrizio Romano.
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Manolo Gabbiadini: talks Southampton-Napoli about a new bid, likely to be €16M + €4M add-ons
- Milan want Lucas Ocampos from Genoa after they agreed to sell M’Baye Niang to Watford
- Roma will make an official bid for Grégoire Defrel (Sassuolo)
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Bryan Cristante to Atalanta from Pescara shuold go through
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Oscar Hiljemark’s transfer to Genoa from Palermo should be made official
Payet agrees personal terms with Marseille with West Ham talks to continue
This is what we expect from France today, courtesy of our friends at Get French Football News, who you can follow here.
Dimitri Payet has reached a provisional contract agreement worth €7m a year (gross) with Marseille, due to run for four and a half years. Negotiations are expected to accelerate in the coming hours, with multiple French press reports insisting that West Ham United cannot envisage Payet staying past the January deadline.
OGC Nice will almost certainly wrap up a deal today to sign 33-year-old midfielder Mounir Obbadi on a free transfer from Lille, in an attempt to boost their title challenge. The player is currently at Afcon and will likely have a medical after his participation in the tournament is over. In the meantime, Nice’s Director General Julien Fournier has ruled out a move for Lyon midfielder Clément Grenier.
Contrary to reports in Italy last night, L’Équipe assert this morning that M’baye Niang has yet to make up his mind about a move to Watford. All parties have agreed terms to a €1m initial loan deal with an option to buy worth €18m, and appear to be awaiting the final green light from the Frenchman.
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More on Subotic’s failed medical at Boro – he did definitely fail it and Borussia Dortmund announced that he had done so. The problem was that routine tests by Boro’s medical staff revealed a rib problem which required immediate surgery and would mean up to six months out – he subsequently had the operation a few days later and has only recently returned to fitness…
Swansea have news! Which is good because that means we, too, have got news. Not a transfer as such but Wayne Routledge has signed a new deal that will keep him at the club until 2019. Happy with that Swansea fans?
📰 We have news! @WayneRoutledge has signed a new deal with the club. ✍️https://t.co/xwuBMKfTz2
— Swansea City AFC (@SwansOfficial) January 26, 2017
Rio Ferdinand, formerly of West Ham, has had his say on Dmitri Payet and this is what he would do if he were Slaven Bilic…
“I would tell Payet to sit and rot until I get what I want for you, money-wise”.
Hard to argue with it, I guess. Full story here.
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This is good. L’Equipe say that Paris St-Germain’s Jesé is close to joining Middlesbrough on loan until the end of the season. Good player, obviously, but not sure he is the right fit for Boro. Has not worked out at PSG, though, that’s for sure. Aitor Karanka is holding a press conference later today in which he should discuss Jesé, Snodgrass and, hopefully, his criticism of Boro’s fans, which I thought was very harsh.
Jesé (PSG) proche de Middlesbrough https://t.co/aQILUt5jsW pic.twitter.com/VLtrB1gPt5
— L'ÉQUIPE (@lequipe) January 26, 2017
West Ham and Middlesbrough match Burnley bid for Snodgrass
West Ham and Middlesbrough have matched Burnley’s bid of £7.5m up front for Robert Snodgrass, with Hull set to allow them all to discuss personal terms with the Scotland international’s representatives. A move to the London Stadium seems most likely at this stage, although Middlesbrough are also understood to be willing to match the 29-year-old’s wage demands as Aitor Karanka attempts to strengthen his squad, with Gaston Ramírez having submitted a transfer request amid interest from Leicester. West Ham see Snodgrass as a potential replacement if Dimitri Payet eventually joins Marseille, with the French side apparently unwilling to raise their £23m offer in a classic game of transfer window brinksmanship.
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The Adrián Ramos transfer has finally gone through as well – he has joined Granada on loan until the end of the summer. He will then join Chinese side Chongqing Lifan in the summer, for a fee believed to be around €11m. First of all, it is a good deal for Borussia. They have just signed one of the hottest young prospects, Alexander Isak, for €10m so will be making a profit.
Secondly, however, I can’t help but think there is something strange with this deal. There has been a lot of talk of him joining Chongqing Lifan first and then being loaned out to Granada but Dortmund have now said it is the other way round. What are the reasons behind this convoluted deal?
Crystal Palace will be one of the busier clubs in the market over the last few days of the window as Sam Allardyce seeks to instigate a revival at Selhurst Park. Securing the Sunderland left-back Patrick van Aanholt remains Allardyce’s priority at the moment, with the Palace manager having eked excellent form from the Holland international last season while working at the Stadium of Light. He is likely to cost an initial £9m. Van Aanholt is very much Palace’s preference to fill the problematic left-back/left wing-back berth given that Pape Souaré has been absent since September following a car crash on the M3.
They have spoken to various other clubs about alternative targets over the month, including Norwich for Robbie Brady (who continues to interest Burnley) and Juventus for Patrice Evra (who has since joined Marseille), but they are hopeful a deal can be concluded sooner rather than later for Van Aanholt, despite variations complications in the negotiations. Sunderland will want to recruit a replacement for a player who will need to undergo a stringent medical before putting pen to paper. Palace still aspire to add potentially two more to the ranks after the Dutchman, with Allardyce’s preference at present to secure a defensive midfielder. There is the potential for Andros Townsend to leave Palace and return to Newcastle, though that deal would also be complicated to conclude, while Yohan Cabaye is not expected to depart with Marseille’s mooted interest having not crystalised into a concrete bid. Christopher Samba was invited to train at Palace earlier this week but is not fit following his release from Panathinaikos.
We have a done deal already. Jonny Burn has joined Bristol Rovers from Middlesbrough for a fee of around £60,000.
SIGNING: Rovers complete the permanent signing of @Boro defender @jonnyburn5! https://t.co/YGa4I2yGJ4 pic.twitter.com/uICMyqUNA9
— Bristol Rovers (@Official_BRFC) January 26, 2017
Neven Subotic, who has been linked with about 300 Premier League clubs over the past two seasons, appear to be finally leaving Borussia Dormund. The 28-year-old Serb, who is an excellent defender but injury prone, is, according to Express newspaper in Germany, on his way to FC Cologne. He will have a medical at Cologne today with a view to a loan deal until the end of the season to give the Cologne manager, Peter Stöger, some back up in defence.
There were claims, if you remember, that he failed a medical at Middlesbrough last summer, which his agent denied. Let’s see how this one goes…
Today’s Rumour Mill has landed and is, as always, full of intriguing gossip, including Arturo Vidal, Álvaro Morata, Sergi Canós, Modou Barrow and, oh yes, Nedum Onouha.
And then Patrice Evra joined Marseille on an 18-month contract from Juventus. Good signing for the French club. I suspect, however, that their report on the left-back joining for their English website was done by Google translate rather than a journalist, as it starts with the sentence “By hiring Patrice Evra, OM gives a sure value to the post of left rear…” .
And, of course, after we had finished the live blog yesterday, the two biggest transfers of the day went through. First, PSG completed the signing of Gonçalo Guedes from Benfica for a cool £25m, taking their January spending to £59.6m. Not bad. Here is what he had to say:
“I’m very happy to join such a big club as Paris Saint-Germain. Playing here with players of a very high standard will enable me to improve. Paris always play to win trophies, so my aim is to win as many trophies as possible, and that Paris keep on winning. I know my compatriot Pauleta was well loved by Paris Saint-Germain fans. I hope to do as well as he did, and one day be just as much loved as him.”
L'aventure de Gonçalo Guedes commence dès aujourd'hui ! #BemvindoGuedes 🔴🔵 pic.twitter.com/zSQ3CANeLO
— PSG Officiel (@PSG_inside) January 25, 2017
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Keep up to date with all the moves in the January window with our transfer interactive...
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