Chelsea complete Enzo Fernandez signing on deadline day, Man Utd confirm Marcel Sabitzer loan
Chelsea’s pursuit of Argentina World Cup winner Enzo Fernandez went down to the wire on deadline day, after Arsenal completed the signing of Blues midfielder Jorginho
Chelsea have completed the signing of Enzo Fernandez for £106m, in what is a British transfer record. The Blues met Benfica’s release clause for the Argentina midfielder shortly before Tuesday’s 11pm transfer deadline.
A statement from the Portuguese side confirmed the deal past midnight after Chelsea rushed to complete the transfer.
It came after Manchester United signed Marcel Sabitzer on loan from Bayern Munich until the end of the season. The Austria international adds to United’s midfield options after Christian Eriksen was ruled out for three months with an ankle injury.
Brighton held on to midfielder Moises Caicedo, but Arsenal turned their attention to another target and signed Jorginho from Premier League rivals Chelsea in a £13m deal.
Elsewhere, Tottenham confirmed the signing of right back Pedro Porro, with Matt Doherty joining Atletico Madrid on a free transfer after his contract with Spurs was terminated by mutual agreement.
Follow all the latest transfer news and rumours, below:
Bakayoko move stalls
Tiemoue Bakayoko’s proposed loan move from Chelsea to Cremonense has stalled over finances.
The £40million signing from Monaco has failed to make an impact at Stamford Bridge and Chelsea are keen to remove his £120,000-a-week wages from their books.
Bakayoko is currently on loan at AC Milan who are paying those wages but, they are refusing to play him as he will automatically trigger a clause for a £12m permanent deal if he appears in another league match.
Chelsea star Mykhailo Mudryk ‘deeply sorry’ for racial slur in TikTok video
Mykhailo Mudryk has apologised for using a racial slur in a TikTok video.
The Chelsea star, who joined from Shakhtar Donestk this month for £89 million, is “deeply sorry for any offence caused” by the July 2022 post.
The 22-year-old was reciting a rap song in the video, which has since been removed. Mudryk’s representative said in a statement: “Mykhailo is deeply sorry for any offence caused.”
Mykhailo Mudryk ‘deeply sorry’ for racial slur in TikTok video
The Ukraine winger, who joined the Blues this month for £89m, ‘regrets’ the social media post from July last year
Enzo Fernandez: Chelsea and Benfica’s transfer talks expected to go down to the wire
Chelsea’s pursuit of Enzo Fernandez is expected to go very late, as Benfica refuse to budge on their demands, in what have been described as fractious talks.
As reported by The Independent on Monday, the Portuguese club have been insistent that Chelsea pay the midfielder’s £106million release clause if they want the deal done.
Such a move would bring expensive tax costs, so the Stamford Bridge hierarchy have attempted to come up with a deal worth slightly more than that clause, that can be paid in installments.
Chelsea have put forward a number of different options, like the fee being front-loaded to the first payment. Benfica have been unwilling to accept this, and their stance has been repeated.
Chelsea’s Enzo Fernandez talks expected to go down to the wire
Discussions have been described as ‘fractious’ as Benfica refuse to budge on their demands
A summer move for Maddison?
The Daily Mail report that Manchester City are interested in a move for James Maddison this summer.
The Premier League champions will likely be active in the summer with the futures of Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva up in the air.
City are interested in Borussia Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham but have also identified Maddison as a potential option with Pep Guardiola wanting more goals from his midfield.
Lukic finalising Fulham move
Sasa Lukic is currently at Fulham’s training ground to finalise his £8million move from Torino.
The 26-year-old will become Fulham’s first new signing of the January transfer window. The Serbia international midfielder came through the same academy as Aleksandar Mitrovic, at Partizan Belgrade.
Fulham have also confirmed that Josh Onomah’s contract has been mutually terminated.
Man Utd move for Sabitzer
Transfer guru Fabrizio Romano says that Manchester United have approached Bayern Munich over a move for Marcel Sabitzer.
United are said to have discussed potential terms for the midfielder after news of Christian Eriksen’s injury which will keep him out until late April at the earliest.
Joao Cancelo joins Bayern Munich on loan from Man City
Manchester City have confirmed the departure of Joao Cancelo to Bayern Munich, on loan for the remainder of the 2022/23 season.
The surprise move sees the Portugal international switch to the Bundesliga on deadline day, having previously been one of the top performers in Pep Guardiola’s title-winning team last year.
However, he has featured intermittently since the World Cup, with Rico Lewis making his way into the senior set-up on the right side of City’s back line and Kyle Walker another option there. On the left, Nathan Ake has been the go-to starter more often than not.
Cancelo’s arrival follows that of Daley Blind’s to boost Julian Nagelsmann’s options at full-back, with Bayern having lost the services of Lucas Hernandez after he suffered an ACL tear at the World Cup.
Joao Cancelo joins Bayern Munich on loan from Man City
Nathan Ake has been preferred by Pep Guardiola on the left, while Rico Lewis has broken through on the right side of defence
Man Utd end negotiations with Arsenal over Russo
Manchester United have ended negotiations with Arsenal over a deal for striker Alessia Russo.
Arsenal’s highest bid was a world record deal worth around £500,000 but United have reiterated they don’t want to sell the striker for any price.
Russo is out of contract in the summer and Utd risk losing her for free. The club have been in contract negotiations with Russo for months want to keep her long-term.
They’ve rejected Arsenal’s approaches as they also don’t want to sell the forward to a WSL rival whilst challenging for the title.
Kilkenny joins Charlton
Charlton Athletic have confirmed the signing of midfielder Gavin Kilkenny. The 22-year-old arrives on loan from Premier League side AFC Bournemouth until the end of the 2022/23 campaign.
“I’m delighted to be joining Charlton,” said Kilkenny. “It’s obviously a huge club and it’s a really great opportunity for me.
“I really enjoyed working with Dean Holden at Stoke, albeit briefly, and I want to repay the faith he has shown in me by bringing me here.
“Hopefully we can start pushing up the table to get this club back where it belongs.”
Harrison staying at Elland Road?
Football Insider are reporting that Jack Harrison will not be leaving Leeds United in this transfer window despite being subject to a bid from Premier League rivals Leicester City.
Leeds boss, Jesse Marsch, had expected offers for Harrison and had lined up replacements in the event of his departure but the 26-year-old winger opted to stay at Elland Road.
Harrison’s decision to remain at Leeds is a boost for the relegation-threatened club but he could leave in the summer with only 18 months left on his contract.
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