Key events
Off the back of Jamie Jackson’s contribution. I ask the question … what is the cheekiest bid of all time?
Jamie Jackson
Manchester United would not be surprised if Chelsea make a cheeky late bid for Alejandro Garnacho though the early signs are the west London club may not. For United, after letting both Marcus Rashford and Antony go on loan (to Aston Villa and Real Betis) there would surely be serious uproar if Sir Jim Ratcliffe allowed another wide forward, who Ruben Amorim talked up last week, depart.
Ruben Amorim left more than £100m of striker on the bench in yesterday’s 2-0 defeat to Crystal Palace. Surely he wants the Manchester United hierarchy to invest in someone that guarantees goals. He also sanctioned the departures of Antony and Marcus Rashford, leaving them short of options in attack, not that either has done anything of note this season.
Where will Mathys Tel end the day?
I am told that Nottingham Forest are expecting a quiet day in the market. I doubt the Ward-Prowse news changes that as the weekend saw the return to Premier League action of Danilo and Ibrahim Sangaré to boost Nuno Espirito Santo’s central midfield options.
Does someone returning to their parent club from an unsuccessful loan count as the first official deal of deadline day?
Ward-Prowse returns to West Ham
Jacob Steinberg
West Ham are bringing James Ward-prowse back from his loan at Nottingham Forest. No recall option was included but a mutual agreement has been reached by the clubs and the midfielder will be back in east London soon. Meanwhile West Ham are set to confirm Evan Ferguson’s loan from Brighton. Their move for the Lorient forward Eli Junior Kroupi has stalled as he is looking to stay put until the summer. Celtic striker Daniel Cummings could join for £500,000 today.
As we wait for transfer to get into full swing, why not check out Premier League Talking Point after a fun weekend of action.
I have my own couple of transfer lines from yesterday and they are BIG!
Lewis O’Brien is set to join Swansea on loan from Nottingham Forest.
Ben Fox will leave Northampton for Harrogate.
Some of the latest transfer news from last night.
Marcus Rashford is now an Aston Villa player … until the end of the season at least.
Evan Ferguson and Ben Chilwell are on the move.
Manchester United sign Patrick Dorgu.
Preamble
This feels significant! The transfer window is set to SLAM shut at 11pm GMT and plenty of work needs to be done by clubs across the country. Agents and sporting directors will be working on their numerous phones and ensuring they always have a charger on hand to avoid missing out on the deal of the decade.
Spend in January is up on last year in the Premier League, although a lot of that can be put down to Manchester City opening the cheque book in an attempt to halt their slide down the table. Eyes today will be firmly across the road in Manchester to see if United can pull off something to help Ruben Amorim’s stuttering revolution, and at Tottenham, who need fresh bodies to help move them away from the relegation zone.
There are few guarantees on deadline day but I am sure it will be hectic. We will bring you the latest news from our correspondents and plenty of gossip to boot.
