It’s here! It’s here! Welcome to the football writing equivalent of Michael Fish’s weather forecast of 15 October 1987, which the Guardian web editors will be dropping like a stone from all front pages as those “solid” links gradually prove to have consisted of little more than gas and hot air in the runup to today’s various slammings shut of the window (11pm GMT in England, Scotland and Italy, 10pm in France, 5pm in Germany).
First, to Arsenal. Mikel Arteta is still “actively looking” for a forward, but has seen the likes of Benjamin Sesko and Matheus Cunha thumb their nose at him in recent days. So: will French teenager Mathys Tel prove their late, dramatic move? Manchester United have had two bids swatted away by Bayern Munich, a £50m offer from Spurs came to nought … could Arteta have more success with a loan approach for a player who doesn’t fancy his chances of kicking on under Vincent Kompany? As for Emirates exits, Atlético Madrid are now said to be winning the race to prise Oleksandr Zinchenko away, to the chagrin of Borussia Dortmund, who also fancied the left-back.
Loans seem to be big this year. West Ham fully expect to end Monday with Evan Ferguson on their books, reunited with Graham Potter, and for James Ward-Prowse’s loan paperwork at Nottingham Forest to have been shredded, allowing potential for the latter’s lauded dead-balls to look for the Republic of Ireland striker’s bonce for the remainder of the season. Celtic youngster Daniel Cummings is another potential incoming at the London Stadium.
Chelsea host West Ham tonight and, in the background, a parallel clash might be going on as Lorient forward Eli Junior Kroupi allegedly wavers between the two clubs. Maybe he’ll just swan off to Tottenham instead? Meanwhile, João Félix might fancy a move to Milan.
Celtic could find Zinchenko’s Spanish stroll scuppering the Scottish Premiership leaders’ hopes to bring forward an agreed move for Kieran Tierney. Maybe they’ll have more joy if they up the bidding for Motherwell’s Lennon Miller – the hotly-tipped 18-year-old midfielder is currently recovering from a fractured ankle.
They’re unlikely to nab Kelechi Iheanacho, however. Middlesbrough – currently denied a Championship playoff spot by one solitary goal – hope to make the difference up by becoming a temporary port of call for the Nigeria international, whose spell at Sevilla has failed to yield a single league goal. He hasn’t made the pitch since 14 December, but could soon find himself in lineups alongside Samuel Iling-Junior, who is currently on loan from Aston Villa at Bologna. Those moves going through would smooth the road for Emmanuel Latte Lath to toddle off to MLS side Atlanta United.
With Arne Slot’s injury list easing, young Liverpool striker Jayden Danns is seen as a player who will benefit from more game time. Championship sides Blackburn, Stoke and Preston have all been sniffing around the 19-year-old, but Sunderland now looks a good bet.
Plenty more deals are kicking around – PSG’s Marco Asensio to Aston Villa, Ben Chilwell’s loan is all-but-done to Crystal Palace, his Chelsea colleague Carney Chukwuemeka should end the day at Borussia Dortmund, Newcastle’s Lloyd Kelly more or less has pen in hand to formalise a switch to Juventus … probably for the best to swan over to our rolling deadline day blog, where there’ll be more idle speculation, more gossamer-thin links but crucially, all the Actual News covered as deals are boxed off. Good luck everyone!
