It’s that time again when Premier League clubs and their fans sink into a state of mass hysteria conducted by SKY Television’s high priest of hyperbole Jim White. Yes, we scoff, but we at Fanatix cannot get enough of it. So much so, in fact, that we want to share all the latest comings, goings, toings AND froings from a day that promises to be as compelling as ever albeit without that natty countdown clock sported by the channel that invented football in the first place.
Will Luka Modric move to Chelsea? Will Man City dip into their bottomless pit of cash once more? Will Arsenal sign anyone? Anyone at all? Find out with Fanatix and have your say in the comments box at the foot of the page.
———————————————————————————————————
23:56 – And with that, I bid you farewell. A great day for Stoke, a decent one for Arsenal, a dramatic one for Chelsea and a quiet one for the Manchester duo. Goodnight all.
23:54 – CONFIRMED X 2: Everton sign Royston Drenthe on season-long loan from Real Madrid while Fulham seal free transfer of Port striker Orlando Sa.
23:47 – CONFIRMED: Anton Ferdinand has signed for QPR after literally running into of Loftus Road with just minutes remaining. Dramatic stuff.
23:38 – CONFIRMED: Peter Crouch is officially at Stoke City player. Great move from the Potters though feeling persists that Spurs might be a little shy up front
23:21 – CONFIRMED: Cameron Jerome joins Stoke from Birmingham though no official word on Peter Crouch as yet
23:15 – CONFIRMED: Arteta has joined Arsenal from Everton for £10m.
23:12 – CONFIRMED: Chelsea win the prize for most dramatic signing of the deadline day with the arrival of Raul Meireles from Liverpool on a four-year contract for £12m.
23:08 – CONFIRMED: Sunderland sign Arsenal’s Nicklas Bendtner on loan for one season.
23:06 – Reports circulating that Liverpool and Chelsea have agreed fee for Meireles though personal terms are yet to be confirmed. Which all begs the question: is the window shut or not?
23:03 – CONFIRMED: Jermaine Jenas has joined Aston Villa on a season-long loan with Hutton joining on a permanent basis.
23:00 – The transfer window has officially ‘slammed shut’
22:55 – Five minutes to go. Will Meireles join Chelsea?
22:51 – CONFIRMED: Scott Dann joins Blackburn on four-year deal from Birmingham.
22:46 – CONFIRMED: Craig Bellamy has rejoined Liverpool and has been given squad number 39.
22:41 – Meireles hands in transfer request in light of reported £15m bid from Chelsea.Talk about leaving it late!
22:39 – CONFIRMED: Fulham have completed the signing of Bryan Ruiz, which neatly answers my earlier question (see 21:58).
22:36 – CONFIRMED(ish): Benayoun has stated on Twitter that he has joined Arsenal on loan from Chelsea.
22:30 – CONFIRMED: Wright-Philips has ended his spell on the Man City bench by joining Man City
22:22 – Spurs’ Alan Hutton has snubbed a move to Fulham in favour of Aston Villa. Deal yet to be struck though.
22:01 – Hearing that the deal to take Benayoun from Chelsea to Arsenal on loan is all but done.
21:58 – Anyone have any idea what is going on with Bryan Ruiz? Is he going to Fulham or Newcastle ? Did he get on that helicopter? We need to know and, more importantly, so do you.
21:51 – CONFIRMED (AGAIN): Per Mertesacker has officially joined Arsenal even though we knew that already (see 16:09)
21:47 – CONFIRMED: Wilson Palacios has joined Stoke for £8m. Peter Crouch on verge of joining him from Tottenham.
21:44 – The latest on the Arteta situation is that has asked to leave Everton but has NOT handed in a transfer request. If anybody can tell me what effectively is the difference, that would be greatly appreciated.
21:30 – Peter Crouch seen at the Britannia Stadium ahead of move to Stoke City. Though he’s not that hard to miss. is he?
21:21 – Huge news as Arsenal resume talks over the transfer of Arteta from Everton. Spaniard said to have reduced his wage demands to facilitate the move. You can hear the collective sigh of releif from Arsenal fans all over the country.
21:16 – With Man City having concluded their business and Chelsea seemingly running out of time to seals any deals, you would think the prospect of ridiculous late offers had disappeared. WRONG! Big-spending Russian outfit Anzhi Makhachkala have reportedly offered 87 million euros for Portoi’s Hulk!
21:12 – ‘Arry has also revealed that Tottenham turned down a £40m bid for Luka Modric from Chelsea. Should they be commended for standing firm or ridiculed for not accepting what is a vastly inflated sum for the Croatian?
21:04 – Phew. Harry Redknapp has confirmed that the Kaka deal is nonsense. The world spins normally once again he has however also confirmed that their attempts to sign Bolton’s Gary Cahill have fallen flat and that Spurs will be keeping hold of Bassong.
20:53 – Sky are are claiming that Kaka could be about to make a sensational switch to …… Spurs! Holy Moly.
20:51 – Whispers that Sunderland could be taking Nicklas Bendtner off Arsenal’s hands in a year-long loan.
20:49 – And it’s off again. Bassong’s move to QPR that is. Make your mind up!
20:47 – CONFIRMED: Jermaine Beckford has left Everton to join Sven Goran Eriksson at big-spending Championship side Leicester City
20:44 – CONFIRMED: David Ngog has joined Bolton from Liverpool in a three-year-deal for £4m.
20:29 –The silence from Stamford Bridge is deafening. The club that spent an incredible £73m on the last deadline day in January have been less active than your average Dimitar Berbatov display. Still a couple of hours to go but barely even the sniff of a rumour concerning them.
20:08 – Word is that Arteta’s move to Arsenal collapsed due to the player’s wage demands and the length of contract on offer NOT the transfer fee
19:58 – Newcastle are getting bust late in the day as they try to steal Bryan Ruiz from under Fulham’s noses and lodge a bid for Birmingham City’s Liam Ridgewell.
19:41 – CONFIRMED: Manchester City have signed free agent Owen Hargreaves on a one-year deal. The most surprising deal on deadline day involving a Premier League club, surely?
19:39 – CONFIRMED: Another Chelsea player on the move as Gael Kakuta agrees loan switch to Bolton Wanderers, following in the footsteps of Daniel Sturridge and Jack Wilshere.
19:23 – It’s all going off now. Arsenal have pulled out of signing Mikel Arteta after Everton demanded too high a transfer fee while Shaun Wright-Phillips is having a medical at Loftus Road ahead of a potential move to Man City from QPR
19:08 – Gary Cahill’s potential move to Tottenham is rated at only ’50-50′ apparently. Bolton asking for more that Spurs are willing to pay for a player with less than 12 months left on his contract.
19:04 – CONFIRMED: Chelsea defender Patrick van Aanholt has moved to Wigan Athletic on loan. Blues activity on deadline day more concerned with exits than arrivals.
19:00 – Arsenal have hijacked Liverpool’s attempts to bring Yossi Benayoun back to Anfield and are in talks over a loan deal. Is it a safety net in case the Arteta deal falls through?
18:49 – CONFIRMED: Shaun Maloney has moved from Celtic to Wigan for a fee in the region of £1m
18:47 – Stoke have agreed a transfer fee and personal terms over the signing of Peter Crouch from Tottenham though there are still a few personal issues for the striker to sort out before the move can be made official.
18:38 – Alan Hutton allowed to leave Scotland training camp to sort out future – most probably Aston Villa though Fulham remain interested.
18:36 – Another quiet period with little to report except for the fact that SKY are reporting that Bassong’s move from Tottenham to QPR could be back on.
17:45 – Florent Malouda has ruled out leaving Chelsea which puts an end to nay rumours linking him with Arsenal or Juventus
17:44 – Cameron Jerome has arrived at Stoke’s Britannia Stadium for a medical.
17:23 – Interesting piece of news from Guillem Balague who has revealed that Chelsea among four clubs to have offers for Adam Johnson rejected by Man City.
17:18 – CONFIRMED: David Bentley has joined West Ham from Tottenham on a season’s long loan. He will join Henri Lansbury at Upton Park who is on a similar deal from Arsenal.
17:14 – There must be something at the water at Arsenal as they look set for their third (yes, third!) signing of the day and this time it is the midfielder they most desperately need. Several sources reporting £10m bid for Everton’s Mikel Arteta but then if you’ve been reading fanatix all day you’ll have known about that several hours ago.
17:09 – Could Tottenham be about to make the biggest splash on deadline day? SkyBet have slashed their odds to 4/5 from 7-2 on Giuseppe Rossi moving to White Hart Lane from Villarreal.
17:04 – Spanish daily AS are reporting that Royston Drenthe will become an Everton player. That could prove to be a real coup by David Moyes.
16:51 – Things appear to be picking up as Peter Crouch heads to Stoke for talks, Fulham make a £4m bid for Alan Hutton who was thought to be Aston Villa bound and Asamoah Gyan has handed in a late transfer request at Sunderland.
16:31 – Chelsea fans, it could be about to get worse. Not only are you set to miss out on Modric and Pereira but now SkyBet are porting that the odds on Daniel Sturridge joining Liverpool have been slashed from 9/1 to evens.
16:28 – Reports that Bellamy has left the Wales training camp to have talks with Liverpool over a project move.
16:24 – More mutterings that Chelsea have failed to agree a deal with Porto over Pereira. Looking increasingly like AVB will have to make do with what he’s got which to be fair includes two World Cup winning forwards, two other strikers that have won the Premier League golden boot three times between them, the England captain, the most prolific midfielder of modern times, arguably the best left back in the world and, err, Salomon Kalou.
16:09 – CONFIRMED: Arsenal sign Per Mertesacker from Werder Bremen for what a fee believed to be in the region of £8m. A few registration formalities to be sorted out but I think we can confidently say that its a done deal.
15:38 – Liverpool and Tottenham see their hopes of signing a striker diminish with the news that both Mauro Zarate (loan) and Diego Forlan (permanent) have joined Inter Milan.
15:36 – QPR manager Neil Warnock confirms interest in Shaun Wright-Phillips but says ball is now in Man City’s court.
15:28 – CONFIRMED: Christian Poulsen has ended a tortuous 12 months at Liverpool by officially joining Ligue 1 side Evian.
15:24 – Everton’s Yakubu has been linked to Blackburn along with former Italy international Luca Toni. With Scott Dann having a medical at Ewood Park it’s looking like a productive day for Steve Kean and co.
15:05 – CONFIRMED: Arsenal have signed someone!!! Yes, you read that correctly. Left back Andre Santos has joined from Fenerbahce. Still need at least one midfielder, a central defender and possibly aanother forward and there are less than 8 hours remaining until the transfer window eases to a close. Sorry, I meant SLAM SHUT!
14:34 – Bad news for Chelsea with reports that negotiations for Alvaro Pereira have broken down and that Genk have rejected their latest offer for winger Kevin de Bruyne.
14:07 – CONFIRMED: Scott Parker has joined Tottenham from West Ham. Does that mean Wilson Palacios is free to move to Stoke?
13:55 – It’s all gone a bit quiet on the rumour front regarding Premier League teams. Everyone must be off for a spot of lunch. In the meantime, here’s a bit of Championship news: Max Gradel has left Leeds to sign a four-year deal at Ligue 1 side Saint Etienne.
13:47 – Jermaine Jenas has been both linked and unlinked with a move to Aston Villa in the last hour. Transfer deadline day rumour and specualtion at its finest.
13:18 – Here we have the definition of when the transfer merry-go-round grinds to a halt: QPR have agreed a fee with Sunderland for Anton Ferdinand which could mean the end of their interest in Sebastian Bassong which in turn could end Spurs’ interest in Bolton’s Gary Cahill.
13:06 – First piece of official news coming out of Chelsea today is that new signing Mexican striker Ulises Davila will spend this season on loan at Vitess Arnhem. Hardly earth-shattering stuff but could be the only announcement from Stamford Bridge today.
13:00 – Odds of Sneijder moving to Man United have lengthened to 3/1. Sighting at Manchester Airport not true after all. I hate to say I told you so but…….
12:57 – Leicester reported to have made £2.5m bid for Everton’s Jermaine Beckford. Surely the Toffees cannot afford to lose a striker even if he rarely troubles the barndoor?
12:33 – CONFIRMED: Joe Cole has joined Lille on a season-long loan from Liverpool, as announced on the Ligue 1 club’s website. Aston Villa left their bid too late.
12:30 – Good news for Man City, bad news for the rest of the Premier League: BBC are reporting that Carlos Tevez will defitnitely be staying at Man City
12:29 – The exodus from Birmingham looks set to continue with Cameron Jerome following Dann and Beausejour out of St Andrews. Stoke have reportedly agreed a fee for the burly front man.
12:17 – Odds have shortened from 7/2 to 11/10 on Wesley Sneijder becoming a Man United player. Wouldn’t bet on it myself but you never know, it is the silliest day of the silly season after all.
12:13 – Apparently Chelsea TV are planning a live show for tonight and are sending minions to report from the training ground as well as Stamford Bridge. Are they preparing for a big announcement?
12:10 – Shaun Maloney is having a medical at Wigan ahead of a proposed move from Celtic. Would be a decent replacement for Charles N’Zogbia.
11:47 – Tottenham’s attempts to sign Lassana Diarra from Real Madrid have stalled over the player’s wage demands.
11:43 – Several sources claiming that Chelsea are still trying to negotaite a deal with Tottenham for Luka Modric. Will Daniel Levy stick to his guns?
11:40 – David Ngog looks et to flatter to deceive at Bolton this season as Liverpool have accepted a £4m bid for the Frenchman.
11:39 – Wigan are busy today – now they are in talks with Birmingham over ths signing Jean Beusejour
11:23 – Birminghjam City’s Scott Dann is having a medical at Blackburn. Potential move to Liverpool or Arsenal always seemed a long shot.
11:20 – Latest on Balotelli sees reports linking the Italian to a loan move to Newcastle. It’s a pity Joey Barton left Tyneside, seeing those two square off would have been entertaining!
11:13 – Reports circulating that Chelsea have rejected an approach from Wigan to take starlet Josh McEachran on loan. Is that wise from the Londoners? Tom Cleverley’s spell there last season certainly did him no harm while Jack Wilshere’s time at Bolton conditioned him perfectly for the rigours of Arsenal – and England’s – midfield.
11:00 – Some lower profile deals have been concluded: Marek Cech has left West Brom for Turkish Chanpions League entrants Trabzonspor; Liverpool teenager Villyan Bijev has joined Fortuna Dusseldorf.
10:30 – French press are reporting thet Liverpool want first option to buy Lille sensation Eden Hazard as part of the conditions for Joe Cole’s loan move. Has-been England international for one of the brightest young talents in Europe – hardly seems a fair deal, does it?
10:27 – Craziest rumour so far? Vicente – former Spain international and Valencia flyer – linked to Brighton in the Championship. Would be one hell of a coup if Gus Poyet can pull it off.
10:10 – It looks like there might be something in the Balotelli rumour as his profile is no longer accessible on the Manchester City website……..
10:05 – Now this could be disappointment for Chelsea fans as Yossi Benayoun confirms via Twitter that he is in talks woith the club to seal a move before the deadline. Never really got the chance to show his worth at Stamford Bridge and one has to wonder what Fernando Torres thinks of his departure.
10:03 – Disappointment for Chelsea and Arsenal fans as Eljero Elia joins Juventus from Hamburg for £7m. OK, ‘disappointment’ might be a little strong, perhaps ‘indifferent shrug’ would be more apt.
9:45 – Wigan are getting in on the action with a move for Celtic schemer Shaun Maloney. The Scotland international spent an unhappy 18 months with Aston Villa but will hope to enjoy better fortunes in England at the DW Stadium. Deal not yet confirmed.
9:30 – Some of the rumours kicking about this morning: Franck Ribery linked with Chelsea along with Genk’s Kevin de Bruyne; Liverpool searching for a forward with Mauro Zarate and Craig Bellamy linked; Mario Balotelli linked with Man City exit though no destination mentioned
9:10 – Reports emerging that Alvaro Pereira is having a medical ahead of his proposed move to Chelsea. Unconfirmed.
9:00 – Deals that should definitely be concluded today are Owen Hargreaves’ somewhat surprising move to Manchester City, Per Mertesacker to Arsenal and Joe Cole to Lille on loan.
8:58 – The first of what will no doubt be many public utterances by Harry Redknapp today who has told SKY Sports News that Luka Modric will definitely not be leaving Tottenham. Who reckons that £40m might change his mind?
8:55 – Good morning! And what a lovely morning it is. Plenty of lovely transfer gossip for us to sink our teeth into today but first we will start a with a bit of cast-iron fact with the confirmation that Sebastian Coates has completed his move to Liverpool. No details have yet emerged about the length of contract or transfer fee but one thing’s for sure, at 6ft 6 ins the Uruguayan could scare even Martin Skrtel.
COMMENTS