West Ham finally get Upson for record fee

The final day of the January transfer window last night threatened to end in a frenzy of late moves, or a damp squib. West Ham United appeared to be involved in the biggest deal in breaking their transfer record to sign Matthew Upson from Birmingham City for £7.5m.

The 27-year-old will cost £6.5m plus another £1m in add-ons taking the fee above the £7.25m paid last January for Dean Ashton. Birmingham had earlier rejected bids of £4m and £6m for Upson and had maintained they would hold out for £9m before the defender, who has just 17 months left on his contract, made plain he wanted to go.

Speculation continued to swirl around Upton Park last night involving Marlon Harewood moving to Tottenham Hotspur and Teddy Sheringham also leaving, either to Spurs, in a player-coach role, or to Charlton Athletic. However, West Ham said no player would leave the club, apart from Javier Mascherano to Liverpool, and that they had not received bids for the pair although Spurs certainly appear to have been interested in Harewood - and West Ham have rejected a swap deal involving Harewood and Tottenham Hotspur's Mido. There was, though, the possibility that, having made six signings, West Ham would allow the defender Tyrone Mears to depart, possibly to the Championship leaders, Derby County, on loan.

Portsmouth were also active with Andrew Cole in talks over a possible move to Everton, West Ham also made an enquiry about the striker, although the deal appeared dependent on a replacement for the 35-year-old being signed. Everton, because of injuries to Andrew Johnson and James McFadden, only want Cole on loan, although Portsmouth were seeking a permanent deal.

Portsmouth, who failed to get a work permit for the Nigeria striker Chinedu Ogbuke, had also enquired about Mido after his proposed switch to Manchester City appeared to collapse. The striker's wages have proved too prohibitive for a loan deal and a move seemed unlikely because Spurs were struggling to find a replacement.

Mido, who cost £4m last summer, is keen to leave White Hart Lane but with Spurs still involved on a number of fronts, and with the Bulgarian Dimitar Berbatov injured, a new striker was needed. One player to leave White Hart Lane was the 21-year-old Swiss international Reto Ziegler, who signed for Sampdoria on loan until the end of the season.

Tottenham had also considered taking the Italian striker Bernado Corradi on loan from Manchester City but that, too, was dependent on the club being able to move Mido on in the transfer window.

Tottenham have pulled out of their attempt to sign Derby County's highly rated teenager, Giles Barnes. The 18-year-old was the subject of an enquiry from Spurs on Tuesday and they were quoted a price that would rise to around £3.5m depending on appearances.

Both Portsmouth and Wigan considered taking the Fulham midfielder Papa Bouba Diop but failed to reach an agreement. Portsmouth would have allowed their midfielder David Thompson to move to Bolton. Derby County have allowed Nathan Doyle to join Hull City.

The Barcelona midfielder Xavi claims that Manchester United have spoken to his agent about a possible switch to Old Trafford. The 27-year-old Spain international playmaker is under contract at the Nou Camp until 2010 but, according to the player, he is a target for the Premiership leaders, although United distanced themselves from his claims.

"It's true that the contact arrived with my agent Ivan Corretja to play for United but I have a contract with Barça," Xavi said.

Leading Deals Below Premiership: Ritchie Foran (Motherwell to Southend, £200,000); Gifton Noel-Williams (Burnley to Murcia, £50,000); Pavel Pergl (Sparta Prague to Preston, free); Craig Fleming (Norwich to Rotherham, free); Marco Reich (Crystal Palace to Kickers Offenbach, free); Russell Hoult (West Bromwich to Stoke, free); Simon Lappin (St Mirren to Norwich, undisclosed); Casper Ankergren (Brondby to Leeds, loan); Peter Sweeney (Stoke to Yeovil, loan); Stuart Nicholson (West Bromwich to Bristol Rovers, loan); Marek Saganowski (Troyes to Southampton, loan); Geoff Horsfield (Sheffield United to Leicester, loan).

Deadline day transfers

Premiership Transfers

Matthew Upson (Birm to West Ham) £6m

Sebastian Larsson (Arsenal to Birm) £1m

Undisclosed Transfers

Michael Ball (PSV to Manchester City)

Michael Duberry (Stoke to Reading)

Mark Hughes (Everton to Northampton)

Gareth Williams (Leicester to Watford)

Loans

Manuel Fernandes (Benfica to Everton)

Geoff Horsfield (Sheff Utd to Leicester)

Kevan Hurst (Sheff Utd to Scunthorpe)

Przem Kazimierczak (Bolton to Acc Stan)

Curtis Osano (Reading to Woking)

Bjorn Runstrom (Fulham to Luton)

Johan Smith (Bolton to Carlisle)

Andy Taylor (Blackburn to Huddersfield)

Simon Walton (Charlton to Cardiff)

Kelly Youga (Charlton to Bradford)

Mark Yeates (Tottenham to Leicester)

Gabriel Zakuani (Fulham to Stoke)

Reto Ziegler (Tottenham to Sampdoria)