Right, and on these not-very-potent bombshells, that’s our transfer liveblog wrapped for the day. Join us again tomorrow for all the latest. Thanks for your company and emails. Bye.
Everton are thought to be keen on Che Adams, who would set them and their precarious, much-scrutinised finances back £6m. Adams’s contract is up in the summer so Saints might listen to offers now, though he remains an important part of their promotion push.
A done deal from the Bundesliga: Werder Bremen have signed the defender Julián Malatini from the magnificently named Argentinian club Defensa y Justica as they look to haul themselves away from relegation danger.
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Football Daily has dropped, and guess which publicity-averse model of shyness it’s covering …
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And more on Kalvin Phillips – there’s a keenness for a deal there but getting it over the line could be a real teeth-puller.
Understand that Kalvin Phillips' agents are negotiating with Manchester City over the size of the loan fee for the England midfielder. Several clubs including Crystal Palace, Newcastle and West Ham are interested but unwilling to pay £6m wanted by City
— Ed Aarons (@ed_aarons) January 16, 2024
Sticking with Brentford, this mooted loan deal for Spurs’ Sergio Reguilón could be a goer:
🚨🐝 EXCL: Brentford are advancing in talks to sign Sergio Reguilón. Loan deal close to being agreed with Tottenham, at the final stages.
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) January 16, 2024
Discussions will follow on player side, waiting for Reguilón decision as several clubs are interested. pic.twitter.com/NCFTZnHDSR
Speculation lurks that Arsenal and Spurs are in a race to sign Ivan Toney as the striker returns from his ban for betting offences, with Arsenal an alleged preferred destination for Toney. But it’s all at the conjecture stage to be honest. And on the subject of Toney, Simon Burnton has written well on the challenges facing the returning forward here:
A bit of late drama in the Africa Cup of Nations: the 2013 finalists Burkina Faso looked like being held to a goalless draw by Mauritania in their opening match in Group D but an emphatically converted injury-time penalty from Aston Villa’s Bertrand Traoré won it for Burkina Faso.
And Daniel Gallan’s liveblogging the next match, Tunisia v Namibia in Group E, which you can follow here:
In the Asian Cup meanwhile, Thailand are leading Kyrgyzstan 2-0 in Group F
A couple of more concrete deals for you: the Liverpool defender Rhys Williams has joined Port Vale on loan until the end of the season – not a bad deal for the League One strugglers, who picked up Brighton’s Jensen Weir on a similar deal last week. Williams had spent the first half of the season on loan at Aberdeen.
And in Serie A Femminile the leaders Roma have snapped up the Norway defender Anja Sønstevold from Inter.
Such has been the torpid nature of this window that a Liveblog Of Record such as this runs the risk of blurring with the Rumour Mill, but here’s a couple of slices of Big Red Club speculation to get you through the afternoon: one, from our good mucker Ben McAleer at Who Scored, concerns Manchester United being keen on Barcelona’s Ronald Araujo, in whom Bayern Munich are interested. The defender will set them back around €80m (£69m) mind. United are also, it is claimed elsewhere, keen on joining Liverpool in the race for the highly rated teenage Lille defender Leny Yoro, but again we’re looking at a hefty fee, around £68m, being needed to snap him up.
Date set for Manchester City hearing over 115 charges
The DCMS hearing into football’s (mis)governance is the place to be today, and this afternoon Richard Masters has confirmed that a date has been set for the hearing on those 115 charges. Paul MacInnes has more:
The chief executive of the Premier League, Richard Masters, has confirmed that a date has been agreed to hear the 115 charges brought against Manchester City and acknowledged a delay in assessing 777 Partners’ offer to buy Everton, as he sought to show MPs the top flight remains committed to reform of English football.
Speaking at a hearing of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, Masters would only offer that the Everton investigation could hopefully be completed within weeks, after processes were complicated by a lack of satisfactory answers from the American investors. Neither would he share details on the City hearing, which has been reported as likely to take place before the end of the season. Meanwhile, Masters’ English Football League counterpart, Rick Parry, also had to acknowledge that the current crisis at Reading involving their owner, Dai Yongge, is a new problem for the League.
West Ham are reportedly keen on ending another Saudi-based player’s stay in the country, in this case the former Celtic schemer Jota. The winger left Parkhead for Al-Ittihad in a £25m move last June but it’s not worked out for him – he’s made only 11 appearances – and he, like Odyssey in 1980, is looking for a way out. And West Ham could fit the bill. David Moyes is thought to favour a loan deal, though Jota’s wages, £200,000 a week, might scupper a move. He’d certainly give the Hammers extra flair and style options in attack. West Ham are also believed to be interested in the Nordsjaelland winger Ibrahim Osman.
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Thanks Daniel, just clambering over the tumbleweed on what has been a very quiet day to settle in the chair. Might as well scroll through those tattoos, the combined effect of which is to make you pine for those distant days when only metallers and terrifying hard-cases ever got tattoos.
In the meantime, why not get your ears round the latest Women’s Football Weekly in which the pod discuss yet another award for Aitana Bonmatí at the Fifa Best awards (though unlike in the men’s category, this award was emphatically and undeniably deserved), the almost-upsets in the Women’s FA Cup at the weekend and the impending return of the WSL:
So that’s the end of my shift today. But if you want to keep me company later, I’ll be doing the MBM love blog on Tunisia v Namibia. So do pop in for that.
I’ll leave you with Tom Davies who’ll see this one out to the close.
But before I go, Patrick Crumlish has shared this comprehensive list of awful football tattoos. And if I had to look at them, so should you.
Dan King, or ‘Another Dan’ as he signed off, makes a good point on Aston Villa:
“With Villa’s new RB not coming to the club until next season, as far as this season is concerned we haven’t actually strengthened at all. Yet.”
Yes. But in a way I like that. Unai Emery always seems to be thinking ahead. Do Villa need major strengthening before the window closes?
Starting to get some awful tattoo faves:
“I still can’t get over Marco Reus having his own first Name tattooed prominently on his left arm…” says Kristof Künssler-McIlwain. Presumably so he never forgets?
Newcastle are resigned to almost certainly being without the injured Joelinton for the remainder of the season and will review their January transfer plans at a specially convened meeting later this week.
So, what do they do now?
Louise Taylor has the latest:
“Surely one of the worst tattoos in football has to be the City fan who had a tattoo of Rooney on his back when he was rumoured to be joining in 2012?”
No ways John Delaney! Was this really a thing? I cannot believe that this was a thing!
Roy Hodgson is “interested” in Kalvin Phillips. But only on a loan move for the Man City midfielder.
I have no skin in the game but I just want to see him go anywhere. I don’t care where. He was one of the most exciting players when he was at Leeds and I hope he can resurrect his career. He ain’t getting any younger at 28. Time get crack on!
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Is it just me, or is De Rossi’s tattoo really rubbish? On the subject of terrible work-related tattoos, my hairdresser has a hairdryer tattooed on the inside of her upper arm.
Look, Jeff K. As someone with, let’s say, questionable tattoos myself, I’m not going to throw stones.
However, I’m with you. Only an elite, elite, elite footballer can get away with a tattoo like De Rossis. And only just.
Since it’s a slow news day, should we start a game called ‘Name your favourite worst football tattoo’?
Big Liverpool signing news!
Well, it’s big news for Port Vale who have landed Rhys Williams on loan from Merseyside.
Central defender Williams, 22, will spend the rest of the season with the Valiants after being recalled from a temporary spell with Aberdeen.
Port Vale’s manager, Andy Crosby, is buzzing, saying that “elite level” clubs will now look at his team as an ideal breeding ground:
“This loan signing is yet another example of clubs at the elite level seeing the way that we treat the players both on and off the pitch and the way that we play as a team, and ultimately seeing Port Vale as an ideal home for their future talents’ development.”
James Humphries has been in touch again to pick up on Saudi’s football heritage:
It was certainly a bit flip to suggest there’s no footballing culture in Saudi Arabia - but isn’t the average top-flight attendance in the low thousands? Not /obviously/ a hotbed of football, and while I’m obviously in favour of growing the game, I don’t think spaffing money at past-it hypocrites (whoever could I be referring to) is how to do it. Particularly when about half your population weren’t allowed to go to games until a couple years ago.
It occurs to me that someone might legitimately say “well, of course attendances are low, it’s not that populous a country”. Which /would/ be fair enough, if it wasn’t for the aforementioned injustice wrt women, migrant workers, gay people, <list continues> who might otherwise be at games. It’s all horror and despair, I guess, but we can still object to states trying to kid on that they’re not that bad /really/ by chucking cash about. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a cloud to yell at.
Thanks for following up James. It’s such a complicated subject and I’m certainly no Asian football expert. I seem to have an inflated sense of Saudi football as they were in the same group as South Africa and France in the 1998 World Cup.
Dan you asked “Will it happen?”; (Bruno, Isak or Botman to leave Newcastle).
There’s as much chance of it happening as there is of me getting mentioned twice today!
Well, I’ve got some bad news for Newcastle fans because that’s your second mention Peter Howarth.
Newcastle may have fabulously-wealthy owners, and whilst myopic knockers ignore the current limitations on their spending imposed by FFP it is surely still the case that in the long term it is in these players’ interests to stay at the club. Of course other factors may come into play which dictate a transfer - such as a boyhood-desire to play for a specific club, or facing a ban after being caught betting - but in terms of their careers it makes no sense for the club to sell any of their crown jewels. We’ll see.
For what it’s worth, I can’t see all three leaving. But the Bruno story seems to have legs.
I’m genuinely chuffed with the De Rossi appointment. Plus it’s a slow news day on the transfer side of things so one more post on this won’t hurt.
It’s one of the joys of football when a club legend takes over as manager. He was speaking to the press earlier and this is what he had to say:
“I would like to thank the Friedkin family for entrusting me with the responsibility of technical leadership of Roma: for my part I know no other path other than that of application, daily sacrifice and the need to give everything I have inside to face the challenges that confront us. they are waiting between now and the end of the season.
“The emotion of being able to sit on our bench is indescribable, everyone knows what Roma is for me, but the work that awaits all of us has already taken over.
“We have no time, no choice: being competitive, fighting for our goals and trying to achieve them are the only priorities that my staff and I have given ourselves”
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Aston Villa have agreed a £7.8m (€9m) deal to sign Red Star Belgrade right-back Kosta Nedeljkovic.
The 18-year-old is expected to remain in Serbia on loan until the summer to get more regular game time but that’s a handy bit of business for the the high flying Villains.
He’s already got Champions League experience which may come in handy next season [eye-balls emoji].
That ticks one box for Villa who were keen on a right-back. Now they’ll want to snaffle a winger.
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There’s never a bad time for a David Squires cartoon.
For those of you on your lunch break (and those of you just pretending to work), get stuck into this:
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De Rossi replaces Mourinho as Roma coach
It’s a done deal! The man who represented the club 459 times across 18 years will now be in charge.
It’s a wonderful story. It’ll be even better if he can lift them from ninth on the table.
And with a tattoo like this one, how can he not succeed?
Just a reminder that new Roma manager Daniele De Rossi has the best tattoo in football 👏⚠️ pic.twitter.com/SDpJfnL33k
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) January 16, 2024
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What if Bruno goes? Well, according to Tim Vickery speaking on Sky Sports, Atalanta’s Ederson, the Brazilian midfielder, could be a viable option.
““He’s a strong, well-built central midfielder. He’s strong on the ball, versatile, box-to-box and has a strong personality as well,” Vickery says.
Sounds like he ticks all the right boxes. How’d you feel about that Newcastle fans?
Peter Howarth has called me out, and I’m here for it:
“Bruno to PSG? Newcastle to lose Isak or Botman? Dan, this makes no sense.
All three joined Newcastle when there seemed to be next to no prospect of immediate Champions’ League football.
However, the club achieved it last season (when they had no European midweek matches), and their trajectory indicates that they will soon be back. With the club’s long-term financial power, why would any of them want to move?
The present situation is that the club is acting within FFP rules, and if they’re building a team why sell your best players?
The club’s financial statement was very clear in showing that they do not have a financial need to sell anyone, and the question is how they can improve the quality of their squad within FFP. As Chelsea have shown, this can be achieved by selling players they have developed themselves, such as Longstaff or Elliot Anderson, to generate the income needed to buy players from other clubs.
Allow me to clarify. When I said it made sense, I meant I could see it happening. Of course Newcastle would love to keep all three. With them acting as a spine it would be fascinating to see how they bring in new talent. But will it happen?
We’ve got another reader’s mail here, this time from James Humphries:
“Hiya Daniel. While, obviously, the EPL etc have their moral coats on a very shoogly peg, I don’t think it’s accurate to say that the Saudi/China is just replicating what they do - despite the best efforts of the moneymen, and indeed partly explaining their relentless monetisation, there is an already existing football culture in the UK, France, Germany (and so on). The concern - well, the concern apart from it being naked sportswashing which, as man city, psg, Newcastle et al have shown, works - is surely that they’re doing it backwards; trying to impose a football culture top-down, rather than have a league that develops because of local demand. Of course, there /are/ loads of football fans in Saudi arabia, but AFAIK most of them have their passports held by the Saudi government.
Thanks for that James. I take your point on the existing football cultures in Europe but I don’t think we should be so quick to dismiss Saudi’s own football culture. Al-Hilal won the AFC Champions League back in 1991 and the national team lifted their first of three Asia Cups in 1984, kicking off a stretch where they won three titles and finished second across five consecutive tournaments up to 2000.
No doubt that what they’re doing is sportswashing. But they are at least building on a solid foundation.
Roma are close to replacing The Special One.
After giving Jose Mourinho the sack, Roma are looking to iron out the details on a deal with club legend Daniele de Rosi who would move straight into the head coach position.
According to Fabrizio Romano, the contract is expected to be valid until June with the option to extend should all parties want to continue together.
Bruno Guimareas to PSG? It makes sense, doesn’t it? One of the most-prized assets in England currently playing for – with respect – a team just outside the elite. The Parisian giants with a load of cash to burn and ambitious owners to satisfy. Newcastle are also eager to show they’re on the right side of FFP rules so a big money signing could be the way to balance a few books.
Tell you what, I can see it happening.
He’s got a £100m release clause and Eddie Howe would be powerless to stop it from happening. He might also lose defender Sven Botman and striker Alexander Isak are are the other major assets at the club right now.
A story to keep an eye on.
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“What would be the point in Man Utd signing Zirkzee?”
That’s what reader Kevin Wilson wants to know.
“He’s basically Hojlund Mk II. One good season in a weak league (Belgium - Hojlund had one season in Austria), then an OK season in Serie A. If Man Utd want a new striker, they need to spend on a guy with 4-5 seasons in a strong league under their belt.”
Mate, trying to make sense of the senselessness coming out of Old Trafford would give you a headache.
Paul MacInnes made a great point on the latest Football Weekly where he basically said United are a club that merely reacts, rather than plans during games. It feels like that’s the overarching philosophy throughout the club so, to cut a long story short, I have no idea whey they’re potentially looking at bringing in an unproven striker. Especially when other parts if the pitch need more urgent attention.
Brentford are considering a loan bud for Tottenham’s Sergio Reguilon.
That’s according to The Standard. A reminder that the left-back was on loan to Manchester United not too long ago but had that spell cut short.
It will be a good bit of business of Brentford who in the midst of a full-back shortage after serious injuries to both Rico Henry and Aaron Hickey.
Reguilon is considered a viable option for the Bees. The 27-year-old joined United on loan last summer as cover for Luke Shaw but made just seven starts under Erik ten Hag before being sent back to Spurs.
Reguilon will surely go wherever he’s wanted. Despite Tottenham only naming eight subs for their 2-2 draw with United over the weekend, Reguilon was left out of the squad altogether.
More Man United news. Looks like a few clubs are interested in securing the (temporary) services of one of the club’s youngsters.
🔴🇺🇾 After PSV Eindhoven and LA Galaxy, also Granada have asked for Facundo Pellistri on loan until the end of the season.
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) January 16, 2024
Discussions will follow in the next days to decide on next step for Pellistri.@MatteMoretto 🤝🏻 pic.twitter.com/o6OeZ2H0Et
Manchester United need some fixing up, don’t they? Well, there’s chat the once dynastic club could be plugging holes at both ends of the pitch.
Dutch forward Joshua Zikzee currently at Bologna as well as the Argentine defender Ronal Araujo at Barcelona have reportedly caught the eye of scouts at Old Trafford.
The former is 22 but may only be a summer target. However, the latter, 24-years-old with 20 caps for Barca, remains a short-term target.
The Spanish giants have stuck a £69m price-tag on him. There’s just one catch. The player doesn’t want to leave.
Thanks Taha. Another quality shift from you.
Howdy everyone. Doing well I hope. To kick things off we’ve got an email from reader Ben Lake on Saudi comings and goings:
The very quick reverse in supply flows of footballers from into Saudi, to out of Saudi is very much reminding me of the 2016-17 Chinese league splurge on players.
Taking lots of players on big money, who could still do something in medium or lower league teams around Europe. The reality of playing in those leagues in a completely different culture soon obviously taking it’s toll and seeing numerous players looking for any good Samaritan willing to take on their millstone salaries.
Obviously, this is all really funny, particularly in the case of Jordan Henderson, following his various defence of his previously impressive stances on minority issues. Also, in how badly this reflects on the various money men who think you can just spend loads of money and create a footballing culture, falling flat on their well moisturized faces. Especially when there is precedent for this not working less than a decade ago.
On the other hand, this is essentially just what English, German and Spanish teams have been doing for years anyway, so it would be a bit rich for us to be taking too much of a high horse on this.
I’d be so interested to read a first hand account of footballers transitioning into a Saudi, Indian, Chinese league and how they found it and why so many of them quickly turn tails and run.
Does this potentially mean that the Saudi splurging is over? What will Chelsea do? Without Saudi money last Summer their entire transfer policy would have looked even more silly than it does right now.
Great points Ben. Has the bubble burst already? My guess is there’s just too much riding on the success of the league for it to go the way of China.
Right, I’m going to head off now – Daniel Gallan’s here for the rest of the day.
Some silly noises about Karim Benzema to Chelsea, which feels like the most Chelsea signing ever – an unreal, world-class No 9 signed on loan after his prime to bang in 2 in 12 before they sign some kid in the summer for £93m.
Where’s Kalvin off to? The Manchester City defensive midfielder – who could really do with actually playing some football – continues to be linked with Newcastle, with Sky Sports also reporting interest from West Ham, Everton and Juventus. He’s only featured once in the Premier League since the start of October.
Sounds like Forest’s transfer window plans remain unchanged despite the charge of breaching the league’s profit and sustainability rules.
“It doesn’t changing anything, we have to continue our work,” said their manager, Nuno. “The balance of the squad is important. We have to organise the squad. The idea is try to improve, it’s not easy, especially in this window but we are working on that.”
"We are all concerned at the club, i'll be telling the players to forget about this and focus on our job" 💬
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) January 16, 2024
Nuno Espírito Santo on Nottingham Forest being charged for breaching Premier League Profitability and Sustainability Rules 👇 pic.twitter.com/sbQySgBHzQ
Here it is, the Rumour Mill has dropped. Michael Olise to Manchester United leads that one – poor guy, what’s he done to deserve that. Renato Sanches also gets a mention, currently not finding much love in Rome. He always transports me back to the summer of ‘16, running the show at the Euros.
Amid the chat of people moving around, here’s someone who’s staying in one place – Sarina Wiegman ain’t done with the Lionesses.
There were also some gongs awarded last night. Messi, really? Voting was based on performances from 19 December 2022 to 20 August 2023 so it didn’t include his World Cup win. Odd.
Preamble
Morning, folks. This window – which has been rather unflashy so far – rumbles on. The key story remains whether Jordan Henderson is allowed a return to the big show, the former Liverpool midfielder reportedly desiring an out from Saudi Arabia. The world’s smallest violin and all that.
The big story to emerge in the last couple of hours is that José Mourinho has been sacked by Roma, with the Serie A side ninth in the league. Nicky Bandini wrote this about him yesterday, signalling that the end was near – and now it’s come. What next for the two-time Champions League winner? A dip into international waters?
There’s also the latest drama at Everton, with Forest also in a pickle.
Send in your transfer wishlist, good-luck messages for José, views on whether the transfer window is simply an illusion conceived to distract us from the mundanity of everyday life, knock-knock jokes, whatever you fancy!
