The January transfer window has been one of the most exciting ever and Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool aren't stopping there.
Alexis Sanchez is set for a medical at Manchester United and could be announced as their latest star signing within hours with Henrikh Mkhitaryan heading in the opposite direction to Arsenal after finally agreeing tersm with the Gunners. That won't stop Arsene Wenger though, the Frenchman has his eye on Dortmund's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as well.
They won't sign Bordeaux's Malcom though with rivals Tottenham winning that race while Chelsea's hunt for a new striker has them talking to Roma for Edin Dzeko while Stoke's Peter Crouch remains a left-field option. Liverpool still need a replacement for £142m man Philippe Coutinho with Jurgen Klopp weighing up whether he will push for Monaco's Thomas Lemar this month or the summer.
We will have all the latest news for you right here throughout the day.
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Theo Walcott would have preferred not to leave Arsenal’s training ground for the final time in the dark with his boots in bin bags, but that was how his 12-year stay in north London ended earlier this week.
Walcott was unveiled as an Everton player on Friday following the completion of his £20m move north and is raring to make his Goodison Park debut this weekend having spent the large part of this season on the sidelines.
After joining Arsenal as a 16-year-old, he left on Wednesday at 28 after 399 appearances, 108 goals but without a Premier Leaguestart since April, when he appeared to definitively fall out of Arsène Wenger’s first-team thinking.
Walcott is not bitter about his lack of playing time during his final months in north London and hails his embattled former manager as a “great man”, but he was disappointed that the fast-moving nature of the transfer market forced him to depart under the cover of night, with his belongings in bin liners, without saying his final goodbyes.
Jürgen Klopp believes Manchester City did not pull out of the race to sign Alexis Sanchez for financial reasons, claiming that if a club has a chance to sign the Chilean, they should “bring him in whenever”.
Arsenal's Sanchez is on the verge of swapping the Emirates for Old Trafford and joining Manchester United, but only after City, previously favourites for his signature, pulled out of the race.
City are understood to have baulked at Sanchez’s £35m asking price and sizeable wage demands, particularly as the player will become a free agent when his current contract expires in the summer.
Their withdrawal, confirmed on Monday night, opened the door for rivals United to secure a deal, with out-of-favour playmaker Henrikh Mkhitaryan expected to move in the opposite direction.
When asked about Sanchez’s transfer on Friday, ahead of his side’s trip to Swansea City, Klopp suggested that any club with a chance to sign Sanchez should do so.
Manchester City will press ahead with plans to upgrade their front-line in the summer after missing out on Alexis Sanchez this month.
City were ready to sign Sanchez from Arsenal only for Manchester United to offer a bigger transfer fee and salary to sign the player.
But having walked away from the Sanchez deal, City are preparing to spend big at the end of the season, prioritising a new first-team winger and a centre forward for Pep Guardiola’s side.
Details here:
The Belgian striker has struggled at Stamford Bridge despite scoring the goal at West Brom that clinched last season's title, and has never fully adapted to Conte's methods.
That has ensured the Italian has been reluctant to use him from the start in games, and it has created more of a problem for Chelsea given Alvaro Morata's current struggles in front of goal.
Arsene Wenger is ready to offer Olivier Giroud to Borussia Dortmund in an attempt to find a deal for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Arsenal are talking to Dortmund about signing the Gabonese international, for whom Dortmund initially wanted €70m. Arsenal do not want to pay that much, so they have told Dortmund that they would be willing to include the veteran France striker as part of the deal.
Giroud has been relegated to a fringe role this season by the arrival of Alexandre Lacazette, and has only started one Premier League game. Dortmund were one of the teams who wanted Giroud last summer – along with Marseille, Besiktas and Everton – but he stayed put.
The league leaders are looking to add a No.6 as cover for Fernandinho with Yaya Toure likely to leave at the end of the season.
And the Daily Telegraph report that City fear the deal could ratchet up in price and want it done before the World Cup.
Roma’s Edin Dzeko is the latest striker Chelsea are targeting, as they finally seek to bolster their forward options, having failed to do so in the summer.
Antonio Conte and the board are determined to bring in an alternative to the currently misfiring Alvaro Morata and it is understood that Dzeko and Tottenham Hotspur’s Fernando Llorente - who the champions just missed out on in August - are the main targets.
Dzeko has enjoyed a resurgence at Roma and was brilliant against Chelsea in their Champions League group games, scoring in the 3-3 draw at Stamford Bridge.
The champions have also looked at West Ham United’s Andy Carroll and Stoke City’s Peter Crouch.
The Vicarage Road side have said he will not be leaving in January which leaves the window open to a move at the end of the season, the paper said.
Sam Allardyce said on Friday that Everton may be forced to admit defeat in their search for a left-back this month as their intended targets so far proved too expensive.
Cuco Martina, naturally a right-back, has deputised in the position under Allardyce with first-choice Leighton Baines gradually recovering from a calf problem.
Allardyce singled out the position out as one to strengthen when he arrived at Goodison Park in November but Everton have instead added reinforcements up front, signing Cenk Tosun and Theo Walcott for a combined total of approximately £47m.
Here's what he had to say yesterday:
Tottenham now appear to be the leading contenders to bring in the Brazilian forward Malcom after Arsenal withdrew from the running. Arsene Wenger has turned his attentions elsewhere to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Henrikh Mkhitaryan as he was not prepared to pay a £50m asking price set by his club Bordeaux.
Now Spurs believe they can sign the 20-year-old for just £30m up-front thanks to chairman Daniel Levy’s negotiation skills. The growing sense of optimism around Tottenham was summed up by manager Mauricio Pochettino’s refusal to deny his interest in the Brazilian.
“Yes but he has been linked with different clubs,” he said when it was pointed out the forward known for his rapid speed was available. “I don’t want to speak about players that are in other clubs.”
Karius replaced Simon Mignolet in Klopp’s line-up for last weekend’s 4-3 victory over league leaders Manchester City at Anfield and will retain his place on Monday night, when Liverpool travel to play Swansea City.
The 24-year-old’s performance on Sunday was met with criticism though, particularly for his failure to stop Leroy Sané’s near-post equaliser at the end of the first half to make the score 1-1.
Karius, who signed from Mainz in the summer of 2016, arrived as Liverpool’s No 1 but lost his place the following December after several costly errors caused Klopp to turn back to the equally-erratic Mignolet.
The failure of either player to perform consistently has led to speculation that a new goalkeeper may be signed in the summer, with Atletico Madrid’s Jan Oblak and Roma’s Alisson both linked.
However, the Liverpool manager said on Friday cast doubt on whether a new ‘keeper is the answer and claimed that he would prefer it if the players he currently has at his disposal simply improved.
Under Section U.23. of Premier League rules, new signings must be registered by their clubs at 12 noon on the last working day before their first match to be eligible to play.
“The deadline for receipt by the Board of all duly completed documents required by these Rules to effect the registeration of a Player shall be 12 noon on the last Working Day before the date of the first League match in which the club making the application intends him to play,” the rules state.
“Save that the international transfer certificate and evidence of eligibility to take up employment in the United Kingdom (in both cases if applicable) may be provided thereafter (but must be provided before the Player is registered by the League).”
The news will no doubt come as a blow to both players, as earlier in the week the two clubs were confident their new signings would be available to play this weekend.
The fine details of Sanchez’s move to Old Trafford were finalised on Wednesday, with the Chilean set to sign a contract until 2022 that will give him wages of over £400,000. United have also agreed to pay agents’ fees of up to £10m that both Manchester City and Chelsea balked at.
However, Mkhitaryan’s wage demands are believed to have allowed down the deal, with both clubs wanting to announce the two players at the same time.
Pep Guardiola has suggested that Manchester City had to give up on trying to sign Alexis Sanchez or risk destabilising the club’s wage structure.
Sanchez looked set to leave Arsenal for the Etihad Stadium until City ended their pursuit on Monday, leaving the way clear for Manchester United.
The Chile forward has agreed a four-and-a-half year contract at Old Trafford, worth over £300,000 a week, with image rights and bonuses taking that above £500,000.
City’s highest-earning players, by comparison, are on around £220,000 a week, and Guardiola did not feel that offering a significantly higher wage to a new signing would benefit the squad as a whole.
Jose Mourinho says Sanchez's transfer is not "done at all" but has no fears that his move from Arsenal will go through as expected.
The Chilean is set to swap the Emirates for Old Trafford with Henrikh Mkhitaryan heading in the opposite direction with negotiations between the two clubs and both players at an advanced stage after prolonged talks.
Both players won't be eligible to make their debuts this weekend after the clubs failed to meet the Premier League's midday registration deadline on Friday.
We'll bring you all the latest news, done deals and breaking rumours throughout the day right here so don't touch that dial.
Without further ado, off we go.
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