Key events
Here’s a bit from Brighton on the terrific loan signing of Ansu fati from Barcelona.
Manager Roberto De Zerbi said:
This is a great deal for all of us. I am sure Ansu will help us to reach a new target and we can help him get back at the level he deserves to be.”
And technical director David Weir said:
We are delighted to bring Ansu to the club. He is one of the most highly-rated young players in the world and arrives with an impressive amount of experience both domestically and in European competition, despite his age. This season is the biggest in the club’s history and we’re really happy that a player of Ansu’s quality is going to be part of it.”
Tottenham pushing hard for Brennan Johnson
David Hytner
It’s a busy day at Spurs and it feels appropriate to whisper the dreaded two words – deal sheet. Lots of moving parts, with outgoing business linked to incoming. In midfield, the move for Chelsea’s Conor Gallagher seems to hinge on shipping out Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg but he does not fancy a move to Fulham.
In central defence, there is interest in Bournemouth’s Lloyd Kelly. Japhet Tanganga has completed a loan move to Augsburg while Sergio Reguilón to Manchester United on loan is also done. Augsburg will be obligated to buy Tanganga for €6m if he makes a certain number of appearances. There are January break clauses on both sides in each deal.
At present, there is nothing to report on moves for Eric Dier, Davinson Sánchez and Tanguy Ndombele. Hugo Lloris’s situation also remains unclear. Dier is not expected to leave.
Spurs are pushing hard for Nottingham Forest’s Brennan Johnson, who wants the move. Forest have a replacement for him in Chelsea’s Callum Hudson-Odoi lined up. They want a package worth £45m for Johnson.
“Wocher Gregg, nice to see footie keeping its sense of perspective in these times of climate change, inflation, austerity, collapsing school buildings, Rubiales, etc,” chirps Jeremy Boyce. “How many climates could you change back with the lolly that is sloshing around today, never mind in the whole window, right up to next Friday when Mo Salah does one to Saudi Arabia? It’s lovely that Saka, Rashford etc. do good works socially, but it’s a bread and circuses thing these days, isn’t it ? Loads of bread and a huge circus. Thank goodness for coats down in the park … eh Ron?” The kids take their own plastic cones to the park these days, Jeremy. Sigh.
Callum Hudson-Odoi has passed his Nottingham Forest medical and will sign from Chelsea for what appears to be a bargain-basement price of £8m. It’s only a few seasons ago that Bayern Munich offered to take the player on loan with an option to buy for £70m – and Chelsea rejected it.
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“Ansu Fati’s loan move is one of the rare deals which should be great for everyone involved,” writes Kári Tulinius. “Brighton get a player who could potentially rip opposing defences to shreds, but they have cover in his position if he’s injured again. The player has a huge chance to get his career flying again, but if he fails he’ll have plenty of suitors in Spain. And Barcelona get him out of the way of Lamine Yamal, and if he regains his scintillating form, he returns next year.”
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The transfer window moves quickly! A couple of hours ago it was only rumoured that Sergio Reguilón may be joining Manchester United. But it turns out he has already trained with the club and is available to take on Arsenal this weekend. Here’s what Erik ten Hag had to say:
He is here, he trained. Yes [he will also be available for Sunday].”
Summer signing Rasmus Hojlund is also fit to make his debut this weekend as well as the goalkeeper Altay Bayindir.
He was tight-lipped about Sofyan Amrabat would be joining, though a wry smile suggested it is close and Sky are reporting that a loan deal is almost done.
Done deal – Ansu Fati joins Brighton on loan
One of the more surprising summer moves is complete. And what a heartening signing this is for Brighton. The club’s burgeoning ability to improve youngsters has clearly made players – and clubs – sit up and take notice. If they can get Ansu Fati firing again, what team they’ll be to watch.
Report: Liverpool reject £150m Al-Ittihad offer for Salah
Andy Hunter
Liverpool have received and rejected their first serious offer from Al-Ittihad for Mohamed Salah, a £100m fee rising to a staggering £150m with add-ons.
The offer from the Saudi Pro League club was made in a phone call on Thursday night to Mike Gordon, president of Liverpool’s owners Fenway Sports Group, and immediately rejected. Gordon reaffirmed Liverpool’s stance that Salah is not for sale although Al-Ittihad are expected to continue their pursuit of the Egypt international until the Saudi transfer window closes later this month.
Continue reading the full story here.
Any clubs looking for a quick-fix creative spark on the cheap? Papu Gómez is no spring chicken, mind, but he was a fine player a couple of seasons ago. Maybe he’ll return to Atalanta.
Hello. It’s Gregg here, in on a free transfer to do a job in the middle of the park while John grabs some food. I wonder how much money Al-Ittihad will have to throw at Liverpool before Mo Salah suddenly isn’t for sale any more? For all that Jürgen Klopp spoke of Salah staying I did think he seemed a little bit resigned when talking about the forward in his press conference this morning. Perhaps he was just fed up of being asked about it.
Gregg Bakowski is in the chair for the next hour while I devour a chicken Salah, sorry, salad.
Ed Webster gets in touch: “On your list of Chelsea’s signings under Todd Boehly, I think Chelsea have also signed Deivid Washington this summer for c. £15m…. so I think that pushes them over the £1bn mark!! Keep up the good work.”
Chelsea has completed the signing of Deivid Washington from Brazilian side Santos! ✍️
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) August 24, 2023
Well well, party for Todd? What an achievement.
Report: Saudis make their move for Salah
According to David Ornstein of the Athletic, a £100m “plus substantial add-ons” verbal offer was placed last night by Al-Ittihad to sporting director Mike Gordon. It was refused out of hand, and Liverpool consider the matter closed. The Saudis almost certainly don’t.
Liverpool have rejected formal bid from Al Ittihad for Mohamed Salah: £100m plus add-ons proposal turned down as per @David_Ornstein, insisting he’s not for sale 🚨🔴🇸🇦 #LFC
Proposal was also including huge add-ons but Liverpool want Mo to stay. pic.twitter.com/Xnh6XFOevd
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) September 1, 2023
Ron Stack: “I read your post about Fair Game before my first cup of coffee, so for a moment I thought they wanted the Government to transfer Levy. As a Spurs fan, I’m in favourr.”
This one’s been a long-running saga, all summer long but looks like the PSG reboot has got its man.
Randal Kolo Muani will join PSG later today! The agreement is being finalised, there are some points to clarify after €90m package deal agreed 🔴🔵⏳
Meeting right now to get details sorted.
Eintracht also need replacement (could be Ekitike) by 6pm to approve Kolo deal. pic.twitter.com/gw9b2nsDDo
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) September 1, 2023
Richard Hirst also gets in touch: “Am I the only person who finds the Man Utd screen behind ten Hag utterly incomprehensible? Team Viewer, DXC (presumably) Technology and the plea/instruction Download Now; I guess you have to be 12 to understand it. Which, thinking about it, also applies to their transfer ‘strategy’.”
Ben Lake gets in touch: “I imagine you as you sitting in your yellow suit and yellow chair, locked in your yellow vault that keeps you safe from a big purple floppy thing in your ear. Anyway, despite constant self affirmations that the (mostly men) running football can’t be that stupid and ignorant, I see from earlier reporting that some clubs are sniffing around Mason Greenwood.”
“I will be, honestly, a little impressed with whoever attempts to make that signing, particularly if it is in Europe. The genuine gall to welcome that level of vitriol onto your club for a single player is really astounding, yet somehow, totally unsurprising. Football has a long history of trying to ignore any murky past a footballer may have, particularly in relation to their activities around the bedroom.
“Let’s see where he ends up at the end of this window and wait for the totally predictable fallout that the perplexed looking man in a suit who sanctioned the whole thing will have to deal with.”
Simon Gill gets in touch: “Well spotted there, Jack Kirby-Lowe. Could the appearance of that white rose on City’s infographic mean that Kalvin Phillips has finally found a (somewhat subversive) role at the club, beavering away in the social media department rather than anchoring the midfield?”
Still got an England call….
Ben Fisher
James Maddison, Harvey Barnes and Timothy Castagne are among those Leicester City have sold this summer but there could yet be more movement out of the King Power Stadium. Patson Daka, Harry Souttar and Boubakary Soumare are among those who are yet to feature under Enzo Maresca this season. Kelechi Iheanacho is another player who could be up for grabs, while Wales goalkeeper Danny Ward has been relegated to third in the pecking order at the club. “I want my players to play and if it means he gets a move, from a selfish point of view, I’d be happy,” the Wales manager Rob Page said on Thursday.
Done deal: Aston Villa sign Lenglet on loan
Per the club’s website.
Aston Villa is delighted to announce the loan signing of French international Clément Lenglet. The centre-back joins Villa from Barcelona and returns to the Premier League having spent last term on loan at Tottenham Hotspur.
Lenglet started his career with Nancy in his native France before going on to enjoy a spell at Sevilla. The move is subject to a successful visa application.
Looks like good news for Manchester United fans on Amrabat.
Significant update for Amrabat story: Fiorentina are on the verge of reaching an agreement with Sassuolo for Maxime Lopez as new midfielder. 🔴🧩
Expectation for Amrabat & Man Utd deal to get done as Fiorentina in very advanced talks to replace him.
More to follow #DeadlineDay
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) September 1, 2023
Jack Kirby-Lowe gets in touch: “Great work you’re doing. I noticed Man City’s smart little graphic for their Nunes signing. Very nice, the design team must be proud. One GLARING issue though is rendering the red rose of Lancaster in white, the colour of hated county rivals, the mighty Yorkshire (Yorkshire!!). I hope someone gets fired for that blunder!”
Fair Game, the campaign, have got in touch and are calling on the Government to add a “transfer levy” to its package of reforms for football, which would provide a lifeline to clubs below the top flight that continue to struggle with the fall out of the pandemic and the day-to-day challenges of the cost-of-living crisis.
Using data from the last five years, if a 10 percent levy had been in place it would have led to an extra £160m to Football League clubs and the grass roots game each year.
Niall Couper, the CEO of Fair Game, said:
The dreams of signing the likes of Moises Caicedo, Declan Rice and Rasmus Hojlund, and a place among the world’s elite has led to a gambling culture in English football that has put the very future of dozens of our clubs at risk.
On the one hand we have normalised the £100m transfer. On the other, Fair Game research has revealed that 39 clubs are technically insolvent. And since the start of the Premier League 64 clubs in our top four divisions have gone into administration.
“If the levy had been in place over the last 12 months, that would have raised over £200m. It would transform the lower echelons of the football pyramid, protecting the domestic transfer market for EFL clubs and lower, and giving a much-needed cash injection into clubs that have been left on the brink by the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis. That would be life-changing for football in this country.
Todd Boehly et al, it’s over to you.
Ben Fisher
Wolves are determined to make up for lost time. They have plenty of irons in the fire, with Southampton striker Che Adams and Fulham midfielder Harrison Reed among those of interest. Tommy Doyle, Enso Gonzalez and Santiago Bueno have signed in the last 24 hours. Wolves missed out on Alex Scott, the Championship young player of the year, to Bournemouth earlier in the window, before they had the cash from the £53m deal Manchester City struck to buy Matheus Nunes.
Andy Hunter
Alex Iwobi’s move to Fulham is close to completion. Everton are set to receive £20m plus add-ons for the Nigeria international, who is in the final year of his contract at Goodison Park, and Leicester have moved ahead of Norwich in the race to sign young striker Tom Cannon. Cannon, who enjoyed a successful loan at Preston last season, is expected to raise another £7.5m towards Sean Dyche’s deadline day budget – but how much he will be given to spend is anyone’s guess.
Liverpool face Aston Villa on Sunday and Jürgen Klopp has pronounced himself very happy with his new-look midfield of Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Wataru Endo and now Ryan Gravenberch. Only Thiago Alcantara remains of the old guard, and Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott are now the two longest-serving players in that department, give or take a repurposed Trent Alexander-Arnold.
We pretty much had to reinvent the team. The midfield is all ready and will be completely new. We had to do that in a season where we didn’t qualify for the Champions League, which has a massive impact. I know people expect it to be different but it is how it is. I really think we did good business, the players we brought in are really good, will help the team. We are less experienced but that is normal, but we are full of desire and I love this team.
Jamie Jackson
More to come from Manchester United with Reguilon and Amrabat perhaps still in the offing but the word from inside the club is that they believe the window so far to successful, one well-planned and executed by John Murtough, the football director, having yielded the maximum from a limited FFP constrained budget.
Johnson set for Spurs?
Ben Fisher
Tottenham are closing on a deal for Brennan Johnson, with final details of the deal being ironed out. Nottingham Forest want circa £45m for the Wales forward, who has been tracked by Brentford for the past couple of years. Spurs are also weighing up a second bid for Bournemouth defender Lloyd Kelly, after a £20m move was swiftly rejected by the Cherries. Kelly is out of contract next summer but is viewed as an integral part of Bournemouth’s squad. Spurs want to offload Eric Dier, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Hugo Lloris and Tanguy Ndombele.
Cole Palmer £40m signing took Chelsea’s spending under the Todd Boehly/Clearlake regime takes them very close to £1 billion, according to our potted calculations. Just one more flex and they are there?
Summer 2022 transfer window
-
Raheem Sterling (Manchester City) – £47.5m
-
Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli) – £34m
-
Gabriel Slolina (Chicago Fire) – £8.1m
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Carney Chukwuemeka (Aston Villa) – £20m
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Marc Cucurella (Brighton) – £60m
-
Cesare Casadei (Inter Milan) – £16.8m
-
Wesley Fofana (Leicester) – £70m
-
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Barcelona) – £12m
Summer 2022 total – £268.4m
Winter transfer window 2023
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Benoit Badiashile (Monaco) – £35m
-
David Datro Fofana (Molde) – £10.6m
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Andrey Santos (Vasco da Gama) – £16m
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Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid, loan fee) – £10m
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Mykhailo Mudryk (Shakhtar Donetsk) – £90m
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Noni Madueke (PSV) – £30m
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Malo Gusto (Lyon) – £26m
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Enzo Fernandez (Benfica) – £106.8m
-
Jimmy-Jay Morgan (Southampton) – £3m
Winter total – £327.4m
Summer 2023
-
Nicolas Jackson (Villarreal) – £32m
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Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig) – £53m
-
Angelo Gabriel (Santos) – £13m
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Lesley Ugochukwu (Rennes) – £23m
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Axel Disasi (Monaco) – £38m
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Robert Sanchez (Brighton) – £25m
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Moises Caicedo (Brighton) – £115m
-
Romeo Lavia (Southampton) – £58m
-
Cole Palmer (Manchester City) – £40m
Summer 2023 total – £397m
Full total: £992.8m
Jamie Jackson
Manchester United have received multiple interest in deals for Mason Greenwood, Eric Bailly and Donny van de Beek to leave but nothing yet finalised, is the understanding.
Jacob Steinberg
Fulham have now submitted a bid for Tottenham midfielder Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, and are closing in on a £20m deal to sign the Everton winger Alex Iwobi. Everton are eyeing West Ham’s Maxwel Cornet.
Done deal: Manchester City sign Nunes for £53m
“Manchester City are delighted to announce the signing of Matheus Nunes from Wolverhampton Wanderers on a five-year deal.”
He becomes their fourth major signing of the summer.
The 25-year-old has signed a five-year contract and joins Josko Gvardiol, a defender, midfielder, Mateo Kovacic, and Jeremy Doku, a wide player.
Nunes said: “I’m so happy to be joining Manchester City, the Champions of Europe and a club I’ve admired for a long time. The opportunity to work under Pep Guardiola, one of the greatest managers ever, and alongside some of the best players in the world was something I simply couldn’t turn down.”
His transfer follows Nunes’s refusing to train at Wolves to force the move through.
Per PA Media: more on Liverpool, who look to have closed the books once Gravenberch was secured:
Despite a need for reinforcements in defence – Ibrahima Konate is injured and Virgil Van Dijk is suspended – Klopp is not expecting any more business to be done.
“It’s deadline day so I don’t want to kill the excitement of the people so you never know,” he said. “But I’m busy today with other things. If we could bring in a centre-half for a weekend I’d think about it.”
Another Manchester City youngster is heading out.
James McAtee leaves Man City and he joins Sheffield United on loan, here we go! 🔴🤝🏻 #DeadlineDay
McAtee was tempted by Leicester as Maresca wanted him but lure of the Premier League and emotional connection to Sheffield United too much. pic.twitter.com/X1uXeMetkK
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) September 1, 2023
Wolves have signed Manchester City royalty in Tommy Doyle, in that he is grandson of two City legends in Mike Doyle and Glynn Pardoe. He will spend the season on loan at Molineux after Matheus Nunes went the other way on a permanent move and joins Wolves on the back of a successful season with Sheffield United, who he helped to promotion to the Premier League in May.
Done deal: Arsenal must be missing a full-back, and it only takes a minute to tell you that Nuno Tavares will play the season at Nottingham Forest on loan.
Ben Fisher
There is a growing expectation that Brennan Johnson will not wake up a Nottingham Forest player on Saturday morning. Whether he does a Tottenham Hotspur one remains to be seen. Spurs want to sign the versatile forward but need to offload fringe players to finance any deal and trim their squad. The significant part here is Forest are very much open to selling for a fee circa £45m. Brentford still retain interest in a player they have bid multiple times for over the past couple of years but are loath to enter a bidding war of sorts.
Palhinha heading to Bayern Munich?
Jacob Steinberg
Fulham are not confirming reports from Germany that they’ve accepted a €65m offer from Bayern Munich for João Palhinha. The day’s early, though, and the deal is expected to go through – assuming that Fulham, who have contacted Tottenham about Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg – can find a replacement for their influential midfielder.
Losing Palhinha would be a huge blow for Marco Silva, who is desperate to keep the Portugal international. It’s been a weird window for Fulham. They’ve already lost Mitrovic to the Saudi Pro League and it will be interesting to see what Palhinha’s likely departure has on Silva’s future.
By the way, this is a deal that could spark a merry-go-round. If Palhinha goes and Fulham sign Hojbjerg (they have alternatives) then don’t be surprised to see Tottenham go for Chelsea’s Conor Gallagher.
Just as Liverpool find their new supersub in Darwin Nunez, the previous incumbent is coming back to the Premier League.
For the moment, here’s Jürgen Klopp’s say on the Salah matter: “The position remains the same. No offer as far as I know. No doubt about it. Nothing else to say.”
Klopp: “I really think we did good business [this summer].”
— Anfield Edition (@AnfieldEdition) September 1, 2023
We await developments on Liverpool’s latest signing and await the Saudi Arabian swoop for Mohamed Salah. It’s coming, surely.
More on Manchester United from Jamie Jackson: “United remain intent on signing Sofyan Amrabat, with their interest independent of the sale of Scott McTominay, who is not expected to leave.
Done deal: Chelsea sign Palmer from Manchester City
Jacob Steinberg
The deal is a boost for Mauricio Pochettino, who has been pushing Chelsea to buy an attacking player since losing Christopher Nkunku to a long-term knee injury last month. Chelsea are also without Mykhailo Mudryk and Carney Chukwuemeka before hosting Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
Pochettino’s preference was to bring in a forward capable of playing in a variety of roles. Palmer fits the bill: a left-footed talent capable of playing on the right wing and through the middle.
Will Unwin
It should be a busy day at Nottingham Forest. Odisseas Vlachodimos is on his way from Benfica, Callum Hudson-Odoi will join from Chelsea and Nuno Tavares from Arsenal. Where the most intrigue lies is with regards to Brennan Johnson and whether Forest can come to an agreement with Tottenham. If the winger does go, they will likely pull the lever to sign Ibrahim Sangare from PSV.
Done deal: Manchester United sign goalkeeper Bayindir
Jamie Jackson
Manchester United have signed Altay Bayindir from Fenerbache for €5m on a four-year deal with an option of another 12 months, the 25-year-old goalkeeper replacing Dean Henderson who joined Crystal Palace earlier in the week.
The transfer was completed on Thursday night but the announcement was delayed due to the Turkish club’s 2-0 Europa Conference League win against FC Twente then.
Bayindir said: “It is a huge honour to join Manchester United and become the first Turkish player to represent this incredible club. I have a passion for success, and I will give everything to help this special group of players to achieve our ambitions.”
On transfer deadline day United hope to sign Tottenham’s left-back Sergio Reguilon on loan due to Erik ten Hag’s first-choice in the position, Luke Shaw, in the position being injured until as long as November.
The proposed deal is thought to have a break clause in January to allow Reguilon’s return to Spurs. Marc Cucurella playing for Chelsea against Wimbledon this week prevented such a deal.
Barry Glendenning brings you the Rumour Mill.
Chelsea’s policy of offloading home-grown academy graduates in the interests of trimming their squad and balancing the books shows no sign of abating, with Callum Hudson-Odoi being shipped out to Nottingham Forest. Once valued at £50m, the injury prone winger is rumoured to be going for a cut-price £8m. Trevoh Chalobah is also expected to leave Stamford Bridge for Bayern Munich, even if the German champions’ insistence on a loan deal is not entirely to Chelsea’s liking. Bayern also remain interested in taking Conor Gallagher off the Chelsea payroll, but any move they make could be hijacked by Tottenham.
With Spurs looking increasingly unlikely to lure Brennan Johnson away from Nottingham Forest, expect them to ramp up their efforts to sign Eberechi Eze from Crystal Palace instead. After their pursuit of Chelsea full-back Marc Cucurella came to naught, Manchester United will announce the signing of Tottenham full-back Sergio Reguilón. The 26-year-old Spaniard spent a couple of hours on Thursday night being poked by the Old Trafford medics before a season long loan. United remain hell-bent on signing Sofyan Amrabat from Fiorentina and both clubs and the player himself all seem amenable to a deal being concluded as long as the price is right.
Preamble
It’s here, yellow-ticker fever day is with us. And there’s plenty of loose ends to tie up, with transfers aplenty to be carried out through the day and night until we reach the witching hour and talk of “deal sheets” descends. While the supernova deals of the summer have been done, largely, in Declan Rice and Harry Kane, just about every Premier League club has a gap or two to fill. And that could make for some deadline day drama. They say anything can happen on deadline day and while that is a statement full of more holes than Blackburn, Lancashire, it’s bound to be heavy on the jet fuel, and clicks on X/Twitter. Stick with us for the duration until the window SLAMS SHUT.