Brentford head coach Thomas Frank says that Ivan Toney will not be leaving the Bees on transfer deadline day.
England striker Toney has been linked with Premier League rivals such as Arsenal and Chelsea in the January window.
The 27-year-old has scored 34 goals in 68 top-flight games for Brentford and Frank insists Toney will stay put after a month of speculation.
“This will be breaking news, OK – but Ivan will stay,” Frank said at his press conference previewing Monday’s clash with Manchester City.
Elsewhere, there were few big early moves from top-flight clubs – although Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa and Newcastle all completed deals to strengthen their squads.
Forest signed 18-year-old striker Rodrigo Ribeiro on loan from Sporting Lisbon until the end of the season, while Morgan Rogers swapped Middlesbrough for Villa Park in a reported £8million switch and Newcastle brought in teenage midfielder Alfie Harrison from Manchester City.
Brighton midfielder Mahmoud Dahoud has, meanwhile, joined Stuttgart on loan. More transfers are expected to be completed ahead of the 11pm deadline, with Pablo Fornals expected to leave West Ham to join Real Betis.
But Brentford head coach Thomas Frank has said there is no chance Ivan Toney will make a late deadline day move away from the club.
Ribeiro came through the ranks in Lisbon and made his professional debut for the club as a late substitute in a Champions League tie against Manchester City in March 2022.
The 18-year-old’s move to Forest could become permanent. He told the club’s YouTube channel: “It is a great opportunity for me.
“It is the best league in the world. For me, it is a dream to play in this league and for this club.
“I promise to work every day and to keep going with the work and help the team.”
Rogers, 21, signed for Boro last summer and scored seven goals this season, including against Chelsea in the Carabao Cup semi-final.
Villa also later announced the signing of England Under-19 international Lino Sousa from Arsenal, who is set to immediately join up with Plymouth on loan for the remainder of the campaign.
Newcastle also made a move for the future with the signing of 18-year-old Manchester City midfielder Harrison for an undisclosed fee.
“The size of the club and what it has got going for it is massive for me,” Harrison told Newcastle’s website.
“It has got a huge, passionate fanbase and I’m looking to really push on with my career now.”
In the Sky Bet Championship, midfielder Alex Pritchard completed his move from Sunderland to Birmingham for an undisclosed fee.
The 30-year-old has signed a two-and-a-half-year contract to reunite with former Black Cats boss Tony Mowbray.
“I am happy,” Pritchard told BluesTV.
“My future has been well speculated for a while now and I am just glad to get everything done and just settled and, hopefully, I can just crack on with football.”
Sunderland reacted quickly to fill the gap in their squad, signing winger Romaine Mundle from Standard Liege for an undisclosed fee.
The 20-year-old former Tottenham player has signed a four-and-a-half-year contract at the Stadium of Light.
Hull have been one of the most active Championship clubs on deadline day, with midfielder Abdulkadir Omur joining from Trabzonspor.
Turkish international Omur has signed a three-and-a-half-year deal after he joined for an undisclosed fee, while Dogukan Sinik has been allowed to make a loan move to Hatayspor.
“The fans will love watching him (Omur),” Hull boss Liam Rosenior said on the club website.
“He is someone who can unlock the door, create and score goals, and has a great final pass and shot.
“He is an outstanding technical footballer who can go past players, has a low centre of gravity and works hard out of possession. I love his football personality.”
Swansea have brought in young forward Charles Sagoe Jr depart on a six-month loan from Arsenal.
St. Louis City v LA Galaxy: Reus sets sights on silverware after dream start
Marco Reus is desperate to bring silverware to the LA Galaxy after making a flying start to his time in MLS, with St. Louis City the destination for his first road game on Sunday.
Reus registered a goal and an assist on debut last week as the Galaxy beat Atlanta United 2-0, maintaining their grip on top spot in the Western Conference.
The Galaxy are five points clear of local rivals Los Angeles FC at the top of the standings ahead of Sunday's trip to St. Louis, who are 13th and 10 points adrift of the playoff picture.
Reus' arrival in Los Angeles has caused plenty of fanfare, but he is focused solely on the team's collective aims.
"It's not about me, it's about the team," he said. "We want to be champions. So we take it game by game.
"Besides the traffic, it's really amazing. The people are so friendly. The weather, it's really nice. When you wake up in the morning and the sun is shining, you start the day differently.
"So I'm really, really happy every morning I come into the dressing room. I'm just happy and excited."
St. Louis played out a thrilling 4-4 draw with the Portland Timbers last week, twice throwing away a two-goal lead to leave interim coach John Hackworth bewildered.
"Really don't know what to say," Hackworth said. "It's hard to imagine coming to a place like this and scoring four goals, being up, and then just losing one-versus-one defensive battles.
"Sometimes, the number of goals you give up, or the number of goals you score, can hide a lot of the transition moments.
"An easy way to prevent some of these defensive miscues from happening is to just be better with the ball."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
St. Louis City – Eduard Lowen
Lowen scored his fourth goal of the MLS season last time out, converting from the penalty spot as St. Louis drew 4-4 with the Timbers.
Only Joao Klauss, with five goals, has outscored him for St. Louis this term.
LA Galaxy – Marco Reus
Reus is one of 20 players in MLS history to record a goal and an assist on his regular-season debut.
He is also the fifth Galaxy player to do so, after Steven Gerrard, Andreas Herzog, Giovani dos Santos and Sasha Victorine. No other team have had more than two players achieve the feat.
MATCH PREDICTION – DRAW
The Galaxy have won 10 of their last 13 regular-season matches, the first time they have done so in a single season since 2011. LA have not recorded 11 wins in a span of 14 matches within a single regular season in the post-shootout era (since 2000).
It would be no surprise to see the points shared in this one, though. All three meetings between St. Louis and the Galaxy have ended level, all with different scorelines (1-1, 2-2, 3-3).
St. Louis have only won one of the last six matches in which they have held the lead in regular-season play dating back to the beginning of June (four draws, one defeat).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
St. Louis City – 35.8%
LA Galaxy – 38.1%
Draw – 26.1%
Raphinha hails Barcelona after statement win over Valladolid
Barcelona forward Raphinha believes the team have laid down a statement of their intent by starting the season with four straight wins in LaLiga.
Raphinha scored the first hat-trick of his career and also delivered two assists on Saturday, as Barca crushed Real Valladolid 7-0 at Camp Nou.
Hansi Flick's side already possess a four-point cushion at the top of the table after also recording victories over Valencia, Athletic Bilbao and Rayo Vallecano.
Raphinha believes their results have demonstrated the club got things right in the transfer market, telling Movistar: "Today's game has shown that there is no need for anyone else to come. We are very happy because of that.
"We are in very good shape. The team is working hard. Today's result shows what we are working for.
"We saw that the coach was on the sidelines asking for more goals and that's our mentality.
"We are hungry and want to score as many goals as we can. When we are dominant like we have been, the best way to respect our rivals is not taking the foot off the gas."
Raphinha was one of the players who faced criticism during Barca's trophyless 2023-24 campaign and was rumoured to be on his way out ahead of the new season.
The Blaugrana again battled financial restrictions throughout the window, allowing Ilkay Gundogan to leave in order to secure the registration of new arrival Dani Olmo.
With his future now certain, Raphinha is keen to nail down a starting spot and contribute on a regular basis.
"I don't know if today's was my best game, but it's certainly among my best. I will try to play even better and as much as I can," the Brazilian said.
"I'm very happy to be able to help the team. I feel good. I knew that this season would be very important for me. I'm looking for my best version to help my team-mates and be more confident."
Lazio 2-2 Milan: Leao salvages draw but Rossoneri still winless
Rafael Leao came off the bench to earn Milan a 2-2 draw with Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday, but Paulo Fonseca's side are still without a Serie A win this season.
Milan were in front at the break through Strahinja Pavlovic's eighth-minute goal, the Serbian rising highest to power home a header from Christian Pulisic's corner.
However, Lazio hit back in the second half with Valentin Castellanos and Boulaye Dia scoring in quick succession.
Nuno Tavares' first-time ball into the centre was met by the unmarked Castellanos to level in the 62nd minute, then Dia tapped another Tavares cutback home to put the Biancocelesti ahead four minutes later.
Fonseca reacted by sending on four substitutes, and those changes had a swift impact as three of them combined for the leveller.
Theo Hernandez – who joined Leao in being dropped from the start – picked out Tammy Abraham, and his lay-off allowed Leao to escape Tavares to fire past Ivan Provedel.
The game was preceded by an emotional tribute to the man who led Lazio to their last league title, Sven-Goran Eriksson, who died at the age of 76 on Monday.
A Lazio shirt bearing the Swede's name was displayed on the home bench, while a banner held up by the home fans read: "You brought us to the top of the world... Have a good trip Mr. Sven."
Data Debrief: Milan's slow start continues
New Milan boss Fonseca is already under pressure after overseeing a return of two points from his first three league games at the helm.
It is the first time the Rossoneri have drawn two of their opening three matches in a Serie A season since 2011-12, when they also drew two and lost one,
They went on to finish second that season, just four points adrift of champions Juventus. If a title challenge is to take place this term, rapid improvements are needed.
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