IT’S THAT TIME of the year again when the employees of Sky Sports dress up in yellow and pull out all the stops in a desperate bid to fool you into believing that Reece Oxford’s loan move to Reading is in fact worth your attention.
Transfer deadline day truly jumped the shark a couple of years ago when we witnessed Jim White parachuting into the studio from a helicopter and the unsavoury scenes of reporters being attacked by purple dildos.
Alas, we’ve freed up our Tuesday to save you from the bullshit and bring word of any genuine deals that go through before the window shuts at 11pm tonight.
Potential deals to keep an eye out for today…
- Robbie Brady to Burnley: The Ireland star looks set to leave Norwich City and, after turning down the advances of Sunderland, he could join international team-mates Jeff Hendrick and Stephen Ward as a Claret before the end of the day.
- Scott Hogan to Aston Villa: Brentford’s in-demand Ireland-eligible striker could be on his way to Villa after West Ham decided to pull the plug on their interest.
- Anthony Stokes to Hibernian: Dubliner Stokes is out-of-favour at Blackburn Rovers and may return to his former club on loan for a third spell.
- Moussa Dembele and Craig Gordon to Chelsea: Two of Celtics best players are reportedly targets of the Premier League leaders, but the Hoops are holding out for £30 million (€34.8m) for the French U21 forward, while Brendan Rodgers has insisted that his number one goalkeeper will not be leaving. Both moves appear highly unlikely.
- Mamdou Sakho to Crystal Palace: Unwanted by Jurgen Klopp, the former PSG centre-half could link up with Sam Allardyce at Palace — either on a permanent basis or on loan.
“Deadline day is floundering. How do we make it more relatable to the younger generation? I know, kids these days love emojis… right?”
The mood on Merseyside summed up by two smiley faces. Lord, give me strength.
Former Ireland U21 international John O’Sullivan is off to Carlisle United after the midfielder’s release from Blackburn Rovers.
Emmanuel Adebayor has found himself a new club in Turkish side Istanbul Basakehir. The ex-Arsenal, Manchester City and Real Madrid man has been a free agent since leaving Crystal Palace in the summer.
I hope they know what they’ve got themselves in for…
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Hull City may be selling off most of their prized assets at the moment, but they have just announced the arrival of Italian centre half Andrea Ranocchia from Inter Milan on loan until the end of the season.
For all of you cursing the lack of transfer activity, don’t despair as there is actual live football to entertain us this evening.
Liverpool’s clash with Chelsea is the pick of seven Premier League fixtures, while there are also seven more meetings in the Championship.
Rejoice!
It looks like Scott Hogan’s transfer to Aston Villa is on the cards.
Sky Sports are reporting that the Birmingham club have agreed a £15m (€17.3m) fee with Brentford for the 24-year-old, who has 14 goals from 25 appearances in the Championship this season.
League Two club Notts County, who announced the arrival of Dubliner Mark Yeates from Blackpool yesterday after their recent transfer embargo was lifted, have confirmed that manager Kevin Nolan has registered himself as a player.
The veteran midfielder enjoyed spells at Bolton Wanderers, Newcastle United and West Ham.
Watford’s Nigerian striker Odion Ighalo has just passed a medical with Chinese club Changchun Yatai ahead of a £20m (€23m) transfer.
The 27-year-old has endured a tough time this season with just two goals in all competitions, but he notched 18 times in 42 appearances in all competitions last term.
Wishful thinking from Ireland international David Meyler here…?
Hull City are reportedly trying to bring the former Manchester United man, now at Valencia, back to the Premier League. Surely not.
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In some other Irish-related news, Everton have rejected a bid from Brighton for Ireland U21 striker Courtney Duffus according to the Liverpool Echo.
Mamadou Sakho has been pictured in London ahead of a switch from Liverpool to Crystal Palace.
It’s a day of uncertainty for many players, as Birmingham striker David Cotterill has reminded us. With just hours to go before the window closes, the Wales international claimed he has been told by the Blues that he can leave. He tweeted:
In League Two, Colchester United have signed former Ireland U21 midfielder Sean Murray from Swindon Town on an 18-month deal.
Hearts striker Conor Sammon (remember him?) is on his way to Kilmarnock on loan until the end of the season.
It is the 30-year-old Ireland international’s second spell with the Scottish Premiership club, having enjoyed three years at Rugby Park between 2008-2011.
Sammon links up with his former Cherry Orchard and UCD team-mate Gary Dicker at Killie.
There’s been some movement at Burnley with Ashley Westwood making the switch from Aston Villa for an undisclosed fee.
Still no sign of confirmation on Robbie Brady yet, though. We could be waiting awhile for that one.
Irish striker Eoin Doyle is leaving Preston North End on loan to link up with an old manager of his in Paul Cook at Portsmouth.
The pair worked together previously at Sligo Rovers and Chesterfield and Cook is glad to have the services of the 28-year-old for the remainder of the season.
“He knows what I want as a manager and I know that I can rely on him to give 100 per cent on the pitch,” Cook said.
“Eoin brings commitment and quality to our side and I’m sure he’ll be popular with all our supporters.
“We’re extremely pleased with his signing and are very grateful to Preston for loaning him to us.”
It looks like Moussa Dembele is staying at Celtic then. He’s just tweeted this Wolf of Wall Street-themed pic…
Odion Ighalo is the latest footballer to agree a move to the Chinese Super League.
Robbie Brady has finally got his Premier League move…
QPR have completed the loan signing of Ravel Morrison from Lazio.
QPR have got the option to make the move permanent.
Luka Milivojevic has signed for Crystal Palace . The 25-year-old signs from Olympiacos for an undisclosed fee.
“I am delighted to bring Luka to the club,” Sam Allardyce told the club’s website.
“He has experience in UEFA Champions League and International football and will add a new dimension to our midfield.
“He is a talented two footed player with intelligent passing ability as well as being very strong defensively, in and out of possession.”
Tim Krul has signed for AZ Alkmaar on loan from Newcastle until the end of the season.
Another done deal as Southampton sign a highly-rated Italian striker…
Another done deal as Mamadou Sakho joins Crystal Palace on loan.
Dundalk have done some late business with Everton.
The transfer window has now closed and that’s our cue to finish the liveblog.
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