Deadline day news
Manchester City goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson has turned down a move to Galatasaray, having previously expressed a wish to join the Turkish club. Isaksson had been hoping to leave City before the close of the transfer window to safeguard his position in Sweden's Euro 2008 squad. He has lost out to Joe Hart to be City's No.1 and admitted a desire to finalise a switch to Galatasaray in order to play regularly. But City's first-team coach Tord Grip has confirmed that Isaksson does not want to join Galatasaray on loan. "Andreas is probably staying here, it now looks that way," City's Tord Grip told Sportbladet. "I am at the training complex and he is here today. "He is able to go on loan to Galatasaray and get a game. "But that is what he doesn't want to do and we cannot do much more."
Ched Evans will stay on loan at Norwich until the end of the season, after the club reached an agreement with Manchester City.
His 'emergency loan' spell was due to end on February 26, with Man City able to recall him from Wednesday, but now
Evans, 19, has scored four goals in 12 apperances for Norwich, his first being within just two minutes of his City debut; his most recent the winner against Southampton on Tuesday night.
>>Norwich Evening News.
>>MEN.OUSMANE Dabo has left City to rejoin Lazio - where he will link up with Rolando Bianchi.
The French midfielder failed to make a Premier League appearance under Sven-Goran Eriksson, getting his only game for the Swede in the Carling Cup win at Bristol City in August.
Dabo struggled to make an impact after Stuart Pearce brought him to Eastlands from Lazio in June 2006.
And the 30-year-old had become increasingly frustrated by his lack of opportunities under Eriksson's management.
"I'm the only player in the first-team squad who hasn't been given a chance this season," he said earlier this month.
"After a while, it gets so ridiculous that it becomes laughable."
Of the three moves above, the only one that surprised me was the Isaksson one given that it was widely believed both the player and club were happy for him to move during the window after Joe Hart was established as the number 1, but it may well have been that the Swede was after a permanent move rather than just a short term deal.
The Evans move is a sensible one given the return to fitness of Danny Sturridge along with the the strides that Valeri Bojinov has made to get back on the pitch and will allow him to gain some decent experience at a place where he seemingly enjoys playing.
With just over four hours to go before the window shuts, all eyes will now be on the two moves (Benjani and Caciedo) which have been heavily rumoured for the past couple of days but have (as yet) still to be announced - although I would be surprised if they weren't completed before the deadline passes.
I'll update this post through the evening as soon as any deals are confirmed, and if anyone hears of any deals (rumoured or confirmed), feel free to post up.
UPDATE:
West Brom have completed the permanent signing of Ishmael Miller from Manchester City for an undisclosed fee. The Championship leaders have exercised the option to buy the striker before January 31 - a clause Albion inserted in the deal which brought Miller to The Hawthorns on a season-long loan in August. Miller, 20, has signed a three-and-a-half-year contract, which includes an extra year's option in the club's favour. No news of the fee involved, but I confess I wasn't aware of the clause inserted into the loan contract. A good move for Miller this, moving to a side who look a good bet for promotion to the Premier League. Kudos to Sven as well for getting him under a new contract at the beginning of the season which would have increased his value. Although he has performed well for West Brom this season, I don't (as I've written before) believe he quite has what it takes to make it at the club and lacks the technical ability to quite make it at the highest level. Whilst no official confirmation from the club has yet, FC Basel's website is reporting the transfer of Caceido has been completed. Worth checking out for the translation. UPDATE:
Inter have confirmed that Roberto Mancini’s son Filippo will be spending the rest of the season on loan at Manchester City.
The player has been on trial with the Eastlands based club since last week and he has impressed Sven Goran Eriksson.
The 17 year old made his debut for the Nerazzurri in the Coppa Italia just days before arriving in Manchester.
A statement on the club’s official website reads:
“Filippo Mancini will be playing in England for Manchester City.”
UPDATE:
The MEN is reporting that Paul Dickov has joined Blackpool on loan until the end of the season, and still suggests the Benjani move could be completed - with Jermain Defoe set for a move to Portsmouth as his replacement.
UPDATE:
The transfer window is now closed, and no confirmation of the Benjani (or Defoe) moves. That's not to say it won't happen though as an announcement could still come through that the deals were completed by midnight.
If the Benjani move has not gone through, it will be interesting to see the reason why, but we'll know one way or the other tomorrow morning.
UPDATE:
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Manchester City have confirmed that the proposed transfer of Portsmouth striker Benjani to the Blues was unsuccessful.City spokesman Paul Tyrrell said, "Due to the late arrival of the player in Manchester we were unable to complete the transfer."
A very short statement from the club, and one that strikes as a bit of an administrative mess more than anything. Perhaps more will come out later today as to exactly why the deal didn't get done but given I wasn't entirely convinced of the merits of signing him it may well be a blessing, but I'll post something more in depth regarding the transfer deadline hopefully later today.
3 comments:
Felipe Caicedo looks like a great signing. He was a #10 at Copa America for a physical Ecuador team and he's already got 15 caps at age 19.
It's almost like Sven wants to field a team filled with aggressive midfielders who can move forward as striker in the run of play. I like it.
having waited till the early hours of the morning to see what surprises City would pull out this transfer deadline ,I was needless to say shocked.Was there a player of any standing not connected with the club over the last month?
The final day farce was similar to the first goal/balloons against Sheffield Utd and to show that the club never learns about the the transfer deadline- Mido last year(this time luckily).
One would have thought that after the truly brilliant signings in such a short period of time (july-august)that with all the scouting done btwn then and now ,a striker and midfielder could have been signed earlier on in the month esp when there is apparently not a finance problem at the club.
No,my beloved club go for a 20 year old stiker from the Swiss league -is he going to be our saviour this season or is it yet another one for the future??
Re: Benjani if and when he joins the club- 9mill for 29 year old how ever good he has played at Pompey(inc 2 hat tricks).
After all that blah blah in Sven we trust and 3 wins in February will shut me for a while.
Perhaps a little harsh from Anonymous as I certainly don't think it was for lack of trying by Sven - frustration with other clubs and players was something he alluded to, and the January window in general is not usually one where big name quality players are sold.
I don't know anything about Caceido, but another promising youngster looks to have been added.
As for Benjani, there are stories the deal may get resurrected some time next week, but I was not convinced it was the right move for us and maybe his time keeping may have convinced the club to pull the plug at the last minute to ensure the deal didn't go through? I certainly think that for the money we were set to spend on him, we are better served taking a short term hit as we are sure to land a bettter quality player in the summer.
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