Key events
Some Manchester United bits and bobs: PSV Eindhoven have approached the new Old Trafford football hierarchy about a move for Facundo Pellistri while Anthony Martial has said he wants to stay put at United during this window.
Done deal: Liverpool’s Fábio Carvalho joins Hull on loan
Confirmation arrives of the 21-year-old Portuguese’s loan move to Hull, which should pep up the Championship side’s playoff tilt, the attacking midfielder having won promotion from the division with Fulham in 2022. He joins till the end of the season.
Away from the transfer market, the former Ajax director of football Marc Overmars has been banned from holding any position in football for a year for inappropriate behaviour towards women at the club.
West Ham have made some of the better signings from the Championship among Premier League clubs in recent times, and Sky reports that they’re chasing the Sunderland wideman Jack Clarke, who has impressed as the Black Cats have established themselves in the top half of the second tier in the past couple of seasons. Clarke is contracted to Sunderland until the summer of 2026 wo the Hammers would have to shell out a sizeable amount for a player over whom Burnley saw a £7m offer rejected last summer.
In tangentially related, and less positive, news for West Ham comes confirmation that Lucas Paquetá is out injured for six-to-eight weeks.
A couple of other rumours. Paris Saint-Germain are sniffing around Newcastle’s Bruno Guimarães, according to Foot Mercato as they seek to strengthen their midfield. Meanwhile beleaguered Al Ettifaq gaffer Stevie Gerrard is apparently mulling moves for Liverpool’s Joel Matip and/or Joe Gomez.
And Radu Dragusin has arrived at an airport! Genoa’s, to hop on a plane to London.
A couple of Scottish transfer nuggets now: Yosuke Ideguchi has left Celtic to join J League side Vissel Kobe on a permanent deal. The midfielder, a rare example of a Japanese move to Parkhead not working out, spent most of the past year on loan at fellow Japanese club Avispa Fukuoka, after being unable to make an impact at Celtic. And St Johnstone have signed the Israeli defender David Keltjens until the end of the season subject to international clearance.
List time. Who doesn’t love a chart rundown? And Nos 41-70 have been added to our 100 Best Female Footballers in the World table, including rises for Melchie Dumornay, Chloe Kelly and Zecira Musovic and falls for Pernille Harder, Ella Toone and Alex Morgan.
Clément Lenglet is set to stay at Aston Villa despite a host of top European clubs chasing the defender, PA Media reports. The 28-year-old, on loan from Barcelona, had options to leave this window but is expected to remain at Villa Park until the end of the season. Milan, Napoli, Lyon, Monaco and several sides in Spain were all reportedly keen on the France defender but Villa have ruled out cutting short his loan.
Is signing star names enough? Here’s Joseph Lowry on the current state of Inter Miami:
Super teams – and Inter Miami are no exception here – do just about everything they can to keep the ball and avoid having to sit deep inside their own half. That way, their superstars have as many chances as possible to, well, be superstars. But even the best teams in the world relative to their competition don’t have possession for anything close to 100% of every game.
So what happens when they lose it?
This is where the biggest teams in Europe have a big advantage over their competition that Miami lack over theirs. Teams like PSG and Real Madrid, ones that play with a bunch of uber-talented attackers, also tend to have uber-talented defenders.
Victor Osimhen news: the Nigeria striker’s had a lively time of it, off the park, this season:
🚨🤯 Osimhen replies to Kvaratskhelia’s agent, who had stated that the Nigerian will head to Saudi Arabia in the summer.
“Dear Mamuka Jugeli, you are a piece of filth and a disgrace”.
“I’m embarrassed at your sense of reasoning”.
“Dumb f*ck! KEEP MY NAME OUT OF YOUR MOUTH!”. pic.twitter.com/8VxLzQZhhq
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) January 10, 2024
Below the Premier League, the January window is as much about strategic loans as permanent signings, and the smarter clubs tend to pick from well-run set-ups higher up. Brighton are one such, and League One Port Vale will be pleased to have secured a deal for the Seagulls’ midfielder Jensen Weir on a six-month loan. Meanwhile, League Two leaders Stockport have signed Salford’s attacking midfielder Odin Bailey on a permanent deal, having had him on loan.
Brighton themselves are closing in on a deal for the Boca Juniors teenager Valentín Barco in a very Brighton-esque move. Here’s our story if you missed it:
Another rumour drops. Arsenal fancy an “audacious” swoop for Newcastle’s Alexander Isak, according to the Football Transfers website. The striker would set them back £63m but such is the Gunners’ need for someone, anyone, who knows where the goal is, a striker who has 19 goals in 37 games for Eddie Howe’s side would make sense. Hard to see Newcastle letting him go, unless their FFP needs are even more urgent than we thought.
“How is Joshua Kimmich only 28?” is the legitimate, probing question asked by my colleague Michael Butler, before reporting that all manner of suitors are interested in the Bayern Munich midfielder. Bayern are also at risk of losing Alphonso Davies to A22’s Real Madrid, it would appear. Read those rumours and many more in today’s Mill:
Done deal: Spurs confirm £25.8m Dragusin signing
We have confirmation: Tottenham have beaten off competition from Bayern Munich to make the central defender Radu Dragusin their second January signing in a €30m (£25.8m) deal.
Sancho edges closer to Dortmund move
Jadon Sancho’s loan move to Borussia Dortmund looks set to be finalised, with final details on his contract just being worked through. And a couple of interesting Championship moves for you: Luke Ayling is set to join Carabao Cup aspirants Middlesbrough on loan from Leeds for six months, while our man on the scene, every scene, Fabrizio Ramona reports that Fábio Carvalho has just signed his contract at Hull on a loan deal from Liverpool and he is set to play in the Tigers’ Friday night match at home to Norwich.
Preamble
Morning everyone. Let’s be honest – it’s been a pretty slow-burn transfer window so far. Sure, at any given moment, someone somewhere will be blethering about Kylian Mbappé and Real Madrid, but that’s been the case for a good few consecutive windows now, so you know, whatever. Jordan Henderson could be heading back to Europe – Ajax his mooted destination – having solved Saudi Arabia’s human rights problems. And Spurs have been moving quickly, snapping up Timo Werner, a signing that seems to have been met by an “if Big Ange wants him, that’s good enough for us” reaction from the fanbase. What’s more, early talk this morning is of a deal for Genoa’s Radu Dragusin being close to finalisation to plug that Spurs defensive gap, while 2016’s Eric Dier is possibly heading to Bayern Munich.
We’ll have more on all this and plenty else besides through the day, so stick around.
