Key events
Spurs striker Alejo Véliz to join Sevilla on loan
Spurs are set to loan the striker Alejo Véliz to Sevilla. The 20-year-old Argentinian, who joined last summer for £12.9m from Rosario Central, has made eight appearances in the Premier League, all of them as a substitute, scoring one goal – in the 4-2 defeat at Brighton on 28 December. He has been out since picking up an injury against Bournemouth on New Year’s Eve, Ange Postecoglou initially saying it would sideline him for “a couple of months”. It appears the assessment was overly pessimistic, with Véliz now back in training. Postecoglou’s attacking options will be swelled when Son Heung-min returns from the Asian Cup. Manor Solomon is also close to a comeback from injury.
More gossip among the parachute payment clubs in the Championship. Leeds have enquired about Leicester’s defender Harry Souttar, but the second-tier leaders are thought to be unwilling to sell to a promotion-race rival. While West Brom have reached a loan deal with Celtic for the winger Mikey Johnston
To the WSL now and Aston Villa’s women have endured a difficult season. It’s just got harder, too, with news that Lucy Staniforth has been ruled out for the remainder of the season with an ankle problem, while her fellow midfielder Laura Blindkilde has joined Manchester City.
Here’s more from PA Media:
Aston Villa’s Lucy Staniforth is to miss the rest of the season due to an ankle issue, boss Carla Ward has said. Ward said the 31-year-old, who has 17 England caps, is set for surgery after suffering the “bizarre” injury in the warm-up prior to last week’s League Cup match against Sunderland.
Since then Villa have also lost Staniforth’s fellow midfielder Laura Blindkilde Brown, with the youngster joining Manchester City on transfer deadline day. Ward told a press conference ahead of Saturday’s Women’s Super League home clash with Bristol City: “Lucy Stan and Laura Brown have been ever-present in our midfield, so it’s a massive hole. Lucy has been excellent for us.
“It’s an injury that requires intervention and we’ll get that done on Wednesday and get her ready for pre-season.”
The England Under-23 international Blindkilde Brown, 20, made her move with Villa saying City had triggered a “substantial” buyout clause in her contract. It is reported City have paid £200,000.
Thanks Michael. Afternoon everyone. Well, football’s very much been told to hold Formula One’s beer when it comes to sensational transfer news today, but deals are being lined up left, right and centre. Here’s another one: Ipswich have sorted a deal to loan Kieffer Moore from Bournemouth to beef up their frontline as they push for a second straight promotion, Sky reports. Could be an interesting one, that.
Here’s a round-up of what’s happened in the morning session of transfer deadline day.
I’m off for a bite to eat. Tom Davies will see you through the next little bit. Cheers!
Jacob Steinberg
There have been contractual issues between West Ham and Saïd Benrahma to resolve but there is growing optimism that the winger will complete his loan move to Lyon. West Ham are currently not expecting any incomings.
More Burnley news: they have signed 19-year-old Joe Bevan from Albion Rovers, currently playing in the fifth tier in Scotland.
Romaine Mundle has signed a four-and-a-half-year contract at Sunderland, moving to Wearside from Belgian Pro League side Standard Liège for an undisclosed fee. The London-born winger started with Tottenham Hotspur and he spent 15 years in N17 before departing for Belgium in July 2023, so a quick return to England for Mundle.
Perhaps the Sensi deal will pave the way for Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to join Brighton. Enzo Maresca was talking about a potential departure for the midfielder earlier. Let’s see.
More ridiculous behaviour from a Championship club. Sensi is 28, an Italy international and although out of favour this season, is in his prime. He played 30 times for Internazionale last season. Leicester are already 10 points clear at the top. Not sure how anyone apart from the other relegated teams with parachute payments – Southampton, Leeds – can compete with this?
Matt Turner’s days at Nottingham Forest are numbered, it seems, after the latest mistake against Arsenal, allowing Gabriel Jesus to sneak in the opening goal at the near post. Forest are still trying to do a deal with Crystal Palace for England goalkeeper Sam Johnstone, according to Ed Aarons. They rejected a £10m bid earlier this week.
Forest are also bidding for 31-year-old Matz Sels of Strasbourg, with the offer around the €7m mark. That’s about the same money that Newcastle paid for a younger, less accomplished Sels way back in 2016, when the Magpies were in the Championship. Sels lost his place to Karl Darlow and the rest is history. Sels is much improved recently, though, and has been one of the most reliable in Ligue 1 for a few seasons now.
A deadline day special.
Aston Villa confirm signing of Morgan Rogers from Middlesbrough
The fee is officially undisclosed, but thought to be £15m. Rogers joined Middlesbrough on a permanent deal last summer, and has been earmarked by Emery as a player who could instantly bolster Villa’s frontline. Manchester City, whom Boro paid about £1m for Rogers last summer, stand to benefit from a sell-on clause.
Lyon closing on Mangala and Benrahma
Ed Aarons
It’s been a busy window for French club Lyon, who are hoping to seal a double Premier League swoop today by signing Orel Mangala from Nottingham Forest and West Ham’s Saïd Benrahma. Belgium midfielder Mangala will move to Ligue 1 on an initial loan deal worth €10m, with an option to make the deal permanent for another €15m in the summer.
Things are not quite as simple for Benrahma, however. It is understood that the Algeria winger has travelled to France to complete his £15m move but issues over agents’ fees are holding up the move, as it stands.
Fulham open talks with Lyon’s Rayan Cherki
Ed Aarons
Understand that Fulham have opened talks with Lyon over Rayan Cherki, who are open to selling the France Under-21 forward. Talks ongoing over valuation but estimated to be around £35m with only 18 months left on contract. Other Premier League clubs interested, but only in the summer.
Cherki is represented by Kylian Mbappé’s mother, Fayza Lamari, and has been tracked by Chelsea in the past. Lyon need to balance books with Orel Mangala and Saïd Benrahma incoming.
Whilst you are sitting around, doing NISH, Burnley are out making moves.
Lorenz Assignon was actually a target for Galatasaray but it seems that Burnley have beaten Gala – who we are contractually obliged to called ‘the Turkish giants’ – to the signing of the Stade Rennais right back.
Instead, looks like Serge Aurier will sign for Galatasaray from Nottingham Forest. The 31-year-old is currently captaining Ivory Coast at Afcon, where the hosts have reached the quarter-finals. It feels that Aurier’s move to the Turkish league is one that he was born to make.
Manchester City women have signed three exciting young players as they attempt to wrestle the WSL title away from leaders (and holders) Chelsea.
Poppy Pritchard moves from Durham. The 18-year-old striker grabbed a hat-trick for Durham’s Academy in a 3-2 victory over Manchester United’s Under-21s in November 2023. She also found the net inside 15 minutes of her England Under-19s debut in September of last year as the Young Lionesses beat Denmark 5-0.
Tara O’Hanlon moves from Irish side Peamount. The teenage defender is already a Republic of Ireland international. “After winning the league with Peamount, I felt I was ready to try and make the step up to the WSL,” said O’Hanlon. “I’m young, so hopefully I can come in and work hard over the next couple of months. I will do my best to try and earn a place in the team.”
Laura Blindkilde Brown is a big-money move, with City understood to have paid £200,000 for the 20-year-old from Aston Villa. Blindkilde Brown is seen as a replacement for City’s Jill Roord, who became the latest female superstar to suffer an ACL injury last week.
This research needs to be heeded.
This is nice from Graham Ruthven on whether Nottingham Forest can get Gio Reyna going again. At one time, the American looked like one of the brightest young players in Europe.
Enes Ünal, who has been ‘tipped’ to be the next big thing for about 10 years now, looks to be on the verge of joining Bournemouth. Fabrizio Romano has the story.
The Turkish striker was on fire for Getafe last season but suffered an ACL injury in March 2023, and only returned to action last month. Five appearances in January for Getafe, no goals. Apparently he has a €40m release clause, so €16.5m seems cheap but with his injury record it does feel like a risk. The Cherries obviously feel like it’s worth it, though. Imagine Ünal will be a back up to Dominic Solanke for the rest of the season, with a view to replacing the English striker if he moves on in the summer for big money.
The Guardian has closely followed Ünal’s career and was included in our 2014 Next Gen series.
In 2013, he became the youngest player to score in the Turkish top flight, netting in a match against Galatasaray for Bursaspor at the age of 16, got a £2m move to Manchester City in 2015 at 18, moved onto Villarreal for £12m in 2017, and onto Getafe in 2020. It’s been up and down since then.
Anyway, back to football transfers. Here is the Rumour Mill to save the day.
Before we get lost down a food-based rabbit hole, I know that Dyche and Woan are takeaway curry aficionados. They know their way around a menu, let’s put it like that.
“I might be late to the party on this one but I’ve just spotted Sean Dyche and the tough tackling Vinny Samways breakfasting together in a trendy Liverpool cafe,” emails Darrien Bold. “Rumours of a cool £2m swoop doing the rounds in these parts”.
More news when we have it. I’m not entirely sure that the first part of the email isn’t a joke. Dyche eating a posh breakfast with Vinny Samways before training is exactly the sort of thing I imagine that Dyche does on a Thursday.
However, when I interviewed Ian Woan – now Dyche’s assistant at Everton of course – in 2021 when they were at Burnley, he painted a fairly bleak picture of Dyche’s eating habits. Woan and Dyche lived together in a flat in Whalley, Lancashire with no working kitchen.
Rather than commute from Nottingham, Woan lives with Dyche in a nearby flat in midweek, a base for heated discussions on team selection.
“I would never talk back to him in front of other staff. Ever. But in our flat, it’s open season. You’d laugh if you came. Premier League manager, incredibly successful and all it’s got is two couches, two beds and a big-screen TV. I don’t think the cooker works.”
It sounds eerily similar to the Nottingham home Woan, Dyche and [Steve] Stone shared in the early 1990s. “We had nothing in that first house. Stoney spent most of his time trying to get the 2ps out of the pay phone. Sean was always way more professional than us, but would always have MTV on. I was the landlord back then. The rules have changed these days, I know who’s boss.”
This is not disclosed, but looks like Forest’s deal for Ribeiro would be worth more than £10m and if the transfer becomes permanent.
Nottingham Forest sign Rodrigo Ribeiro from Sporting
Ben Fisher
Nottingham Forest have announced the signing of Rodrigo Ribeiro from Sporting. The 18-year-old striker has joined the club on loan for the remainder of the season, in a deal which could become permanent beyond that. Per the club:
An exciting young forward, Ribeiro came through the ranks, making his professional debut for Sporting in the Champions League against Manchester City in March 2022. A Portugal Under-20 international, Ribeiro scored six goals in nine matches as Sporting reached the semi-finals of the Uefa Youth League last season, and has featured 10 times for the club’s academy side in the Portuguese third tier this term. Ribeiro will wear the No 37 shirt in Nottingham.
Mahmoud Dahoud joins VfB Stuttgart on loan
It hasn’t quite happened for Dahoud at Brighton. The emergence of Billy Gilmour in Roberto De Zerbi’s midfield has hampered the German, who returns to the Bundesliga, where he made his name with Dortmund. Stuttgart are going great guns of course, third in the table, and joins fellow Albion loanee Deniz Undav, who has scored 12 Bundesliga goals so far this season.
Brighton’s technical director David Weir said, “This is a good move for Mahmoud. It will give him an opportunity to play regularly for a side doing very well towards the top of the Bundesliga. We wish him well for the rest of the campaign.”
The above is from the BBC Lancashire sport editor. Blackburn were apparently pushing for Wharton to be loaned back to the club for the rest of the season, and it looks like Palace nearly pulled out of the deal. However, it seems that things have been resolved. Wharton should still be a Palace player by the end of the day.
That hiccup did disrupt Blackburn’s own transfer plans. American striker Duncan McGuire was reportedly flying over the pond last night from Orlando City to sign for Blackburn for £3.2m, but was told to turn back when the Wharton deal looked like collapsing. Sheffield Wednesday are another team keen on the USMNT forward. It is unclear whether McGuire made it to England.
Crystal Palace are one of the few Premier League clubs that remain very active. Colombia right-back Daniel Muñoz has already joined from Genk on a three-year deal (I can genuinely only think of three right backs that have played for Palace in last 10 years – Ward, AWB and Clyne), the £20m+ deal for Blackburn’s Adam Wharton is expected to be confirmed today and now Ed Aarons has a new lead: West Ham’s Maxwel Cornet, who is an excellent player when fit IMO.
Would those three deals represent a better deadline day than the one Palace had 10 years ago today?
Nope. Palace were in an awful state when these five arrived, but a run of five successive wins in March and April saw the club pull clear of the relegation zone and survive relegation in 2013-14. These signings were crucial to that run.
Chelsea want £5m loan fee for Armando Broja
Jacob Steinberg
Armando Broja’s future at Chelsea remains up in the air. After rejecting a loan bid from Wolves for the striker last week, they’re now ready to let him go out on a straight loan. No option or obligation necessary. But potential suitors are unsure about paying a £5m loan fee. Fulham are also interested and look the likeliest of anyone to do it.
Aston Villa, meanwhile, are nearing a Championship capture of their own. We’re expecting this one to be rubber-stamped today after Rogers’ medical.
Speaking of Championship clubs with an embarrassment of riches, here’s league leaders Leicester City, who could be tempted to flog Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall if they receive a bid of around £30m. The midfielder is thought to be a January transfer target for Brighton. Here’s what Foxes manager Enzo Maresca had to say:
“I don’t want Kiernan to go – ask the club if we need to sell or not. The only way we can do something is to sell players. I don’t think that Kiernan’s future was about this game. Kiernan is a Leicester player, hopefully he can play in the next game.
“Here, he showed once again he is in love with the club, if something will happen now, I don’t know. He cares about the club and he has 10 goals this season, probably for the first time in his life, these kind of things, people don’t give the right importance to and it’s not a good thing.”
Southampton’s Alcaraz joins Juventus on loan
Absolutely sensational that a benchwarmer at Southampton can sign for probably the biggest club in Italy, even if it is on loan. Carlos Alcaraz joins Juventus, and what a move that is for the Argentinian.
“Considering the midfield options we have available to us right now, and Charly’s lack of game time, we wanted to allow him this chance to gain some valuable experience in one of the top leagues in Europe,” said Southampton’s director of football Jason Wilcox. “Juventus are a huge club and we are convinced that this move will allow Charly the opportunity to flourish and then come back and be a success at Southampton.”
The strength is depth that Saints have is absolutely ridiculous. They signed David Brooks and Joe Rothwell from Bournemouth on loan a couple of days ago. Both are easily Premier League players, but it goes to show how parachute payments are distorting the Championship. Southampton are third, just one point behind second-placed Ipswich and one point ahead of fourth-placed Leeds.
Preamble
Congratulations, everyone. You made it. January is over, unless you are in Hawaii or another remote Pacific island, in which case you’ve still got another couple of hours to go. The end of this month means three important things. Firstly, dry January is over. Secondly, it is nearly time to start worrying whether a card and a kiss will suffice for Valentine’s Day in a couple of weeks. And lastly, it is ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL’S JANUARY TRANSFER DEADLINE DAY.
This month has been a relatively underwhelming affair. There have been only 10 permanent transfers by Premier League clubs, a far cry from the record-breaking £843m spent in last season’s January window. Perhaps this is a good thing, as clubs worry about FFP and start to operate with a modicum of common sense. Still, there are a few clubs out there who have been biding their time, waiting until the last moment to low-ball their rivals with a cheeky bid for a striker they so desperately need. We will certainly see some action today, and this liveblog (and transfer interactives) will be here to bring you all the latest movers and shakers from the men’s and women’s game.
Onwards!