Transfer talk: Sunderland sign Adam Johnson and Steven Fletcher but Michael Dawson's QPR deal stalls
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Adam Johnson last night completed a £10 million move to Sunderland from Premier League champions Manchester City.
The 25-year-old winger signed a four-year deal to return to the North-east, as Martin O'Neill successfully fought off competition from Liverpool and Tottenham for his signature.
Johnson had become frustrated with his lack of first-team starts at the Etihad and believed it cost him a place in the England squad for Euro 2012. O'Neill will give him that platform at the Stadium of Light and the deal takes the manager's spending past £22m this week following the purchase of Steven Fletcher from Wolves.
Fletcher, 25, signed a four-year contract there for a fee believed to be around £12m, and will be available for the Black Cats' Premier League game against Reading today. O'Neill said: "I think Steven will be terrific for us. He's underrated, but not by me."
West Ham also plundered Wolves yesterday to confirm the signing of winger Matt Jarvis for £10.75m. Hammers manager Sam Allardyce had already seen two bids rejected for the 26-year-old England international who is available at Swansea today. The Welsh club completed some business of their own yesterday by signing the Celtic midfielder Ki Sung-yueng for around £5m, subject to a work permit and international clearance.
The Aston Villa manager, Paul Lambert, has ruled out moves for strikers Jermain Defoe, of Tottenham, and Kenwyne Jones of Stoke, but admits he hopes to make new signings before the transfer window closes next week.
"They are two top, top players, those lads. But that's not going to happen here," he said. "I have never stopped looking. Someone might come in."
Those words were echoed by Lambert's Queen's Park Rangers counterpart Mark Hughes in relation to Tottenham defender Michael Dawson. Rangers have been one of the most active Premier League clubs this summer, signing no fewer than eight players already, and negotiations are understood to be under way with the likes of Dawson, Real Madrid's Ricardo Carvalho and Internazionale's Julio Cesar.
But Hughes admitted yesterday that the signature of Dawson had been stalled due to personal terms.
"At the moment, it is not where I'd hoped it would be," the Welshman said. "It may change. Obviously we've still got days left until the window closes so it might be revisited, but at the moment it is not in a place we think we can progress.
"There was an issue with personal terms."
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