Deadline day: Milan land Vranckx, Zidane finds new club and Gueye goes 'home'

By Sports Desk September 01, 2022

Deadline day has seen major transfers aplenty, with clubs across Europe pushing to complete final pieces of business before the window slams shut until 2023.

Barcelona have terminated Martin Braithwaite's contract, the forward widely expected to join Espanyol, while in France, Abdou Diallo completed a switch to RB Leipzig to begin an exodus from Paris Saint-Germain.

Further deals for both clubs are also on the cards, with a frantic end to the window expected in the final hours.

Premier League's power push

PSG's exodus was of benefit to English sides, Fulham signing Layvin Kurzawa on loan and Everton bringing Idrissa Gueye back to Merseyside three years after he left for the French capital. Gueye said: "There is no better feeling than coming back home. I've followed the team every week and watched how they play. For me, there is no better place than Everton so that's why I chose to come back here."

Fulham have also signed former Chelsea and Arsenal playmaker Willian on a free transfer.

Nottingham Forest hit number 19 for the window, drafting in Willy Boly from Wolves, while Southampton saw Jack Stephens move across the south coast to join Bournemouth on loan.

Arsenal's quest for a new midfielder has seen attention turn to Aston Villa's Douglas Luiz, though the Gunners face a stern test with bids reportedly rebuffed from the side they defeated 2-1 on Wednesday.

Chelsea look set to bring one of the long-running sagas of the window to a close, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang poised to join from Barcelona. Marcos Alonso is expected to move to Camp Nou as part of that deal and the Blues may sell Billy Gilmour to Brighton and Hove Albion.

One player not on the move, however, was Joao Pedro as he confirmed he would remain at Watford amid reported interest from Newcastle United and Everton.

Europe's eye for business

On the continent, Julian Weigl moved to Borussia Monchengladbach on loan from Benfica. 

Free agent Florian Grillitsch has joined Ajax, who are said to have turned down approaches from Chelsea and Everton for Edson Alvarez and Mohammed Kudus respectively.

Krzysztof Piatek also departed Germany, leaving Hertha Berlin for Serie A side Salertina, and was followed to Italy by Aster Vranckx, joining Milan on loan from Wolfsburg.

The Serie A champions are not yet finished, with an announcement confirming the capture of Sergino Dest from Barcelona expected imminently.

In Spain, Luca Zidane, son of Zinedine Zidane, joined second-tier outfit Eibar on a free transfer following his exit from Rayo Vallecano and Ilaix Moriba joined Valencia on loan from Leipzig, with Gennaro Gattuso's side also closing in on signing Justin Kluivert from Roma following the collapse of a proposed move to the Premier League.

Real Sociedad were also in on the late action, landing forward Umar Sadiq from Tenerife, the Nigerian likely to be a replacement for Alexander Isak.

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    The Hoops welcome Leipzig to Celtic Park on matchday four, for what will be the fifth meeting between the sides.

    Leipzig have won three of the previous four encounters, with Celtic winning 2-1 in a Europa League match in November 2018.

    While Leipzig, who are second in the Bundesliga, have lost all of their Champions League matches this term, Celtic bounced back from their heavy defeat to Borussia Dortmund by holding Atalanta to a 0-0 draw in their last European outing.

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    "Leipzig are no different to Borussia Dortmund and Atalanta," said Rodgers. "A top team. They have everything you would want - speed, power, technique.

    "It's a brilliant challenge for us."

    After conceding seven goals against Dortmund on MD2, Rodgers explained Celtic knew they had to step up.

    "You always have to learn and be better and we were against Atalanta, a really outstanding team," said Rodgers, who were perhaps fortunate not to concede against the Serie A side, given they conceded 2.4 expected goals (xG).

    "We'll look to bring our energy to the game but we also know we'll have to defend for good periods of the game, play with concentration and commitment like we did against Atalanta," he said.

    "There will be moments when we press with aggression and moments where we have to be controlled. Top teams will push you back and you have to have resilience."

    After a run of 12 home games without a win at Celtic Park in the Champions League between 2013 and 2023 (D3 L9), Celtic have won their last two home games. They last had three wins in a row back in November 2007 under manager Gordon Strachan.

    "Home games are very important at this level and when you want the result the supporters can bring you closer to that," said Rodgers.

    "What the noise generates here is absolutely incredible.

    "We will also need that bit of patience as well because we have to be educated in our pressure.

    "We've got ourselves into a really good position after three games and now we have another opportunity to show we can pick up a result against a top team."

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    Milan are winless in their last three Champions League games against Madrid (D2 L1) since they won 3-2 in October 2009 with goals from Andrea Pirlo and Alexandre Pato.

    Madrid have won five of their seven home matches against Milan in the competition (D1 L1), beating them 2-0 in the most recent such match in October 2010.

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