Wednesday's headlines
That’s it for today, but join me again tomorrow when I guarantee* that there will be new signings galore. Here are today’s main developments:
Nottingham Forest, Sevilla and Marseille battle for Gio Reyna
Karim Benzema linked with loan move to Chelsea or Arsenal
Joshua Kimmich on summer radar of Liverpool, City and PSG
Leander Dendoncker is leaving Villa to join Napoli on loan
In WSL, Asmita Ale has joined Leicester on loan from Spurs
*Terms of guarantee may change
Here’s an unexpected potential transfer bombshell: Bild’s Christian Falk is reporting that Liverpool, Manchester City and PSG are all interested in a summer move for Joshua Kimmich, whose Bayern Munich contract expires in 2025.
Don’t forget: you can follow all the transfers as they happen with our interactive guides.
More European transfer updates, care of Fabrizio Romano. Bundesliga title-chasers Leverkusen are close to a loan deal for Betis striker Borja Iglesias, who will provide cover for the injured Victor Boniface. Ligue 1 title-winners Paris Saint-Germain, meanwhile, are putting the finishing touches to the €20m signing of Corinthians midfielder Gabriel Moscardo.
Could Tunisia follow Algeria, Cameroon and Ghana in making an early Afcon exit, and will Ivory Coast keep their hopes alive? Get the latest from Yara El-Shaboury.
I’ve just popped over to an elegant continental town square for an espresso and a leaf through the European papers. Gazzetto della Sport reckon that Arsenal are ready to spend €50m on Bologna forward Joshua Zirkzee in the summer – but will face competition from Manchester United and Milan.
Zirkzee joined Bologna from Bayern Munich in 2022 and has been a key player in their unexpected push for a top-four finish this season. He cost the Italian side just €8.5m, but Bayern reportedly agreed buy-back and sell-on clauses at the time.
WSL: Spurs defender Ale joins Leicester on loan
A done deal! Tottenham defender Asmita Ale has joined Leicester on loan for the remainder of the 2023-24 WSL season. Ale is a former England youth international who has played 43 times in total for Spurs since joining from Aston Villa in 2021, but featured on just five occasions so far this season.
“I am really excited to be here and grateful for the opportunity,” Ale told the Leicester website. “This is a great club to come to and I’m looking forward to getting started. At my age, it’s important to have game-time to develop as a player … and hopefully I can help the team put some more points on the board.”
A new Fox in the camp 🦊 pic.twitter.com/Zjw2BSeJec
— LCFC Women (@LCFC_Women) January 24, 2024
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It may be quiet elsewhere, but Brighton’s industrial youth talent complex just keeps rolling on. Next on to the Amex conveyor belt may be the Southampton attacking midfielder Kamari Doyle, with Sky Sports reporting that he is undergoing a medical before completing a move.
Time for some light music and low-key transfer news: Cheltenham Town have signed midfielder Liam Kinsella from Swindon!
More Anglo-Italian transfer news, reported exclusively by Fabrizio Romano – Genoa are weighing up a move for Everton’s Ben Godfrey. The Serie A side are owned by 777 Partners, who are pushing to take over at Everton and also own a minority stake in La Liga side Sevilla. Everton are holding out in the hope of better offers for Godfrey next week, however.
🚨🔵🔴 EXCL: Genoa are considering move for Ben Godfrey from Everton — could be an option via 777 connection.
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) January 24, 2024
Discussions taking place but there are more clubs interested in Godfrey. pic.twitter.com/lKZG0S2ru9
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Leander Dendoncker is set to leave Aston Villa to join Napoli on loan. The former Wolves man is in Naples to complete his medical and could make the move permanent for €9m in the summer, per Fabrizio Romano.
Sevilla rival Forest for Dortmund's Reyna
Sevilla are trying to beat Nottingham Forest to the signing of the Borussia Dortmund winger Gio Reyna. Forest began talks with Dortmund over a loan deal for the US international yesterday but they face strong competition from Sevilla, who need reinforcements after a dreadful run of form in La Liga. Other clubs are monitoring the situation. Reyna has seen Dortmund bring in Jadon Sancho this month.
Atlético Madrid have had a busy month: they’ve also let full-back Javi Galán go out on loan to Real Sociedad today, and are waiting on an offer from Al-Ittihad for Ángel Correa. As Fabrizio Romano reports, they also want to bring in Moise Kean:
🔴⚪️🇮🇹 Atlético Madrid will pay €500k loan fee for Moise Kean joining from Juventus.
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) January 24, 2024
Salary covered by Atléti, deal to be signed and sealed in the next days just waiting on final green light. pic.twitter.com/3IuAzVCvs4
Key event
Some Premier League-adjacent transfer news: Atlético Madrid have signed a new goalkeeper, Horatiu Moldovan, for a cut-price €1m from Rapid Bucharest. That frees up Ivo Grbic to join Sheffield United for around £2m.
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Away from transfers, Ivory Coast have sacked head coach Jean-Louis Gasset despite still having a chance of sneaking into the Afcon last 16. It’s no great surprise, given the tournament hosts’ 4-0 loss to Equatorial Guinea on Monday. Gasset was fired for “insufficient results” and will be replaced by Emerse Fae as interim coach.
After Monday’s game, the 70-year-old said: “In life, there are sometimes matches that turn into nightmares. We call this the disaster scenario. When you have a scenario like this, which borders on a nightmare, there is not much to say or do.” Not the best motivational coach, perhaps.
Some more Premier League bits and bobs: Wolves defender Yerson Mosquera has been loaned to Villarreal after impressing at FC Cincinnati, but could feature for the first-team next season. Manchester United midfielder Dan Gore is off to Port Vale until May, while Burnley forward Michael Obafemi returns to the Championship on loan with Millwall.
Young Liverpool midfielder James Balagizi has joined Kilmarnock on loan after previous spells with Crawley and Wigan. “I’m really excited to get the deal done, I am happy with the project at the club and excited to get things going,” Balagizi, who is capped at multiple England youth levels, told the club website.
“Fans can expect an exciting player, I work hard on and off the ball and always look to make things happen,” the 20-year-old added. “Creativity is my main thing, I play box-to-box and aim to get fans off their seats.” Cor!
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Thanks, Tom. Let’s kick off with news of Gio Reyna. Word on the street was that the US international was heading for Nottingham Forest, with the Premier League club holding talks with Dortmund today. Forest might have to move fast, though – as L’Equipe are reporting interest from Marseille in a loan move for Reyna.
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And with that, I’ll hand you over to Niall McVeigh. Thanks for reading.
Chelsea rumours latest: Things have been pretty quiet by their standards this month, but there’s talk of Chelsea interest in Victor Osimhen. The Express reports that the Stamford Bridge hierarchy is chatting up the Napoli and Nigeria forward about a summer move.
Talking of Osimhen, if you haven’t read Osasu Obayiuwana’s interview with him yesterday you should
An email: “I was wondering when we could declare the Saudi league experiment in trouble,” wonders Mike CC. “Henderson’s swift (and unpaid?) departure was terrible PR, Mahrez has looked like he’s forgotten how to play football in the AFCON, and so I’m wondering if losing Benzema would be a sort of first of the final nails?”
In footballing terms, I think it was always too much of a leap to expect a raft of lavish signings in one window to transform the whole picture, but the broader Saudi reputation-laundering project is still going pretty swimmingly. Look at the 2034 World Cup. It could be that football is a more difficult, and too big a, sport to bend to your will the way more individualised sports such as golf and boxing are.
Callum Styles: Here’s one that could have ramifications for both the Championship and League One promotion races. Sunderland are keen on a loan move with a summer option to buy for the Barnsley midfielder Styles, who was left out of the Tykes’ squad for the win at Oxford last night that lifted them to fifth in League One. The Sunderland Chronicle now reports that Styles, who has Hungarian citizenship, is in talks with Black Cats high-ups about a move.
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Why the transfer tumbleweed? Deloitte has put in its two pennorth (from PA Media)
Clubs’ desire to avoid tough sanctions for financial rule breaches could be a big factor in the spectacular drop in Premier League transfer spending this month, a football finance expert has said.
Financial services firm Deloitte has told the PA news agency that by January 23 last year £435million had been spent by the 20 top-flight clubs - 10 times more than by the same date this year.
Spending reached a record £815m by the end of the January 2023 window, but so far this month Tottenham’s purchase of Romania defender Radu Dragusin from Genoa for a reported £26.7m is one of a small number of permanent deals to have been completed, with loan moves dominating.
The relative quiet comes following a 10-point deduction imposed on Everton in November by an independent commission for breaching the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules (PSR). The commission found the club had acted “irresponsibly” and concluded they “overspent”, largely on the purchase of new players.
… Tim Bridge, lead partner in Deloitte’s Sports Business Group, told PA: “It would be remiss not to talk about the impact (on transfer spending) of some of the regulatory moves that the Premier League has made and the independent bodies that work with the Premier League have made to really focus on how the Premier League is governed.”
Manchester United’s Facundo Pellistri is Andalucía-bound, it would appear
🚨⚪️🔴 Granada are closing in on Facu Pellistri loan deal from Manchester United!
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) January 24, 2024
The agreement is getting closer as talks moving fast, more contacts today to get it done between all parties.
Green light from the player revealed 10 days ago, now almost there. 🇺🇾 pic.twitter.com/rVh8rEvzTr
Emmanuel Dennis rejoins Watford on loan from Nottingham Forest: (from PA Media) Dennis has joined his former club Watford on loan from Nottingham Forest until the end of the 2023-24 season, the Championship club have announced.
The 26-year-old forward was part of the Watford side relegated from the Premier League in 2021-22. Dennis, who scored 10 goals in 37 games during his first spell at Vicarage Road, spent the first half of this term on loan at Turkish side Istanbul Basaksehir. The Nigeria international started his career with the Ukrainian side Zorya Luhansk and first joined Watford from Club Brugge in June 2021, completing his move to Forest the following summer.
One for the future: Newcastle are reported to have confirmed the signing of the Manchester City academy teenager Alfie Harrison. The 18-year-old’s talent has attracted plenty of attention and the Athletic says that an undisclosed fee has been agreed between the clubs.
Thanks Barry. I have to confess I’ve been watching the tennis, in lieu of loads of stuff happening in the transfer window, but it has my undivided attention now. But I’ll start with an injury story, rather than a transfer one – more details on Anthony Martial being ruled out until April:
Handover: That’s all from me but Tom Davies will be keeping a beady eye out for any transfer comings and goings.
Kieran Trippier: Despite speculation in Germany that Bayern Munich would return with a third bid for Newcastle full-back Kieran Trippier after having their most recent offer of £13m turned down, Fabrizio Romano has tweeted that negotiations are not ongoing and any prospecitve deal has been abandoned for the time being.
Newcastle insist the 33-year-old, who was Eddie Howe’s first signing in the wake of the Saudi takeover at St James’ Park, is not for sale in the current window. Despite a recent run of poor form, Trippier is viewed as the personification of the club’s resurgence under Howe and is deemed far too important a leader and personality to be allowed to leave the club.
🚨⚪️⚫️ Kieran Trippier deal, currently OFF.
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) January 24, 2024
Negotiations no longer taking place between Bayern and Newcastle, as of now.
Newcastle insist on their position after €15m bid rejected yesterday: Trippier, not for sale. pic.twitter.com/1c0u4Lv2pp
🚨🔴 Anthony Martial has completed surgery to address a groin complaint.
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) January 24, 2024
❗️ Martial will be out of action for 10 weeks.
French striker will stay at Man United until the end of the season and then leave the club as free agent in June. pic.twitter.com/ikAuKI8jUx
Atletico Madrid bid for Celtic midfielder: Sky Sports News are reporting that Celtic have received a bid for Matt O’Riley from Atletico Madrid. The Scottish champions are resigned to losing the central defender, valued at around £20m, during the summer but are not believed to be interested in moving him on this January despite interest from Atletico, Girona and Inter.
O’Riley signed a new four-year deal with Celtic in September and has scored 10 goals in 30 apperarances in all competitions so far this season.
Trevoh Chalobah. The Chelsea defender is up for sale and with three-and-half years left on his contract, could fetch a pretty penny for his club. The 24-year-old has not played since the end of last season, having been sidelined with a long-term hamstring injury and reports from Stamford Bridge suggest he does not feature in Mauricio Pochettino’s plans for the future.
Nottingham Forest were linked with a £25m summer move for Chalobah which failed to materialise and are now believed to have rekindled their interest. Fulham are also believed to be interested in securing his scrawl, viewing him as an ideal replacement for Tosin Aderabayo, who has just six months left on his contract and could leave Craven Cottage in the current window.
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Karim Benzema to Chelsea or Arsenal?
Despite spanking six goals past Middlesbrough in the Carabao Cup last night, Chelsea remain in need of a top class striker and they don’t come much better than Karim Benzema.
Speculation abounds that the 36-year-old wants to leave his Saudi Pro-League club Al-Ittihad “temporarily” after an apparent falling out with his manager Marcello Gallardo, although the player’s representatives deny the claims.
Al-Ittihad are understood to have offered to ship Benzema, who trousers £1.6m per week, out on loan to another Saudi club but the former Real Madrid striker wasn’t keen on such a move and would prefer a loan deal that would see him return to Europe.
News of his disquiet in Saudi Arabaia may have piqued the interest of Chelsea and Arsenal, although Benzema would almost certainly have to agree to take a massive pay cut if he was to move to either club.
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West Ham move for Osman: As we await confirmation of Kalvin Phillips’s move to the London Stadium on loan from Manchester City, news reaches us that West Ham are hoping to sign the 19-year-old winger Ibrahim Osman from Danish club Nordsjælland for a fee of approximately £16m.
A graduate of the Right to Dream Academy in Ghana, Osman could join his compatriot and fellow alumni Mohammed Kudus at the London Stadium. Brighton and Brentford are also reported to be interested in the teenager and given the famously keen eyes their respective scouting departments have for talent, the kid almost certainly has moxie.
Kieran Trippier to stay at Newcastle. Newcastle’s overlords have rejected a new and improved offer for Kieran Trippier from Bayern Munich, it says here. The German champions are believed to have offered £13m for the right-back, a million more than Newcastle paid to take him from Atletico Madrid two years ago.
For their part, Newcastle insist the defender, who has been so instrumental in their resurgence under Eddie Howe, is not for sale. While open to a move to Bavaria, Trippier, 33, is not reported to be agitating for one.
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Valdimarsson to Brentford: Brentford are reported to have beaten Aston Villa in the race to secure the signature of Iceland and Elfsborg goalkeeper Hakon Valdimarsson.
The Athletic say the Bees have agreed a fee of around £2.5m with the Swedish club and the 21-year-old is en route to London to undergo a medical.
The acquisition of Valdimarsson will mark Brentford’s third foray into the market during the current window, following the arrival of the 18-year-old midfielder, Yunus Emre Konak, from Sivasspor and the loan signing of full-back Sergio Reguilon from Tottenham Hotspur.
Gio Reyna to Nottingham Forest: Fabrizio Romano has tweeted that Borussia Dortmund and Nottingham Forest are to have more talks over the finer points of a loan deal that would see the USA midfielder move to the City Ground on loan.
The 21-year-old has started just two games for Dortmund this season, making another 11 appearances in all competitions off the bench. He signalled his eagerness to get a move in the current window by signing for Jorge Mendes’s Gestifute agency in December. Forest are believed to want an optioon to buy included in any loan deal.
🚨🌳 Nottingham Forest and Borussia Dortmund have scheduled new round of talks for Gio Reyna loan deal.
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) January 24, 2024
Loan fee and salary coverage still being discussed while Gio has already accepted #NFFC as destination.
His new agent Jorge Mendes is taking care of the deal. pic.twitter.com/xvCx7py11c
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Welcome to the latest Transfer Live
With nine days of the current window remaining, there are no shortage of rumours and counter-rumours to report, but the sad fact of the matter for transfer enthusiasts is that very little in the way of actual Premier League business has been done.
Over three weeks since clubs were allowed to start horse-trading, Tottenham Hotspur remain the only club to have paid money for a player with a view to chucking him straight into their first team squad.
The man in question, Radu Dragusin, got his first taste of Premier League action since signing for £25m from Genoa when his new team twice came from behind to draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Otherwise it’s been a particularly quiet window thus far, largely soundtracked by the forlorn clanging of a distant church bell, the chirping of crickets and the audible twitching of club executives terrified of falling foul of the Premier League’s profit and sustainability (PSR) rules. But on we must go …
