Europe's elite clubs raced to beat the January transfer deadline as Pedro Porro signed for Tottenham and Enzo Fernandez neared a record Premier League move when the window slammed shut.
Argentina's World Cup winner Fernandez appeared set to complete a long-awaited move to Chelsea in a record-breaking Premier League transfer.
While Chelsea aimed to bring in the youthful Fernandez, veteran Italy international Jorginho departed as he joined Arsenal after Mikel Arteta's side were unable to secure Brighton and Hove Albion's Moises Caicedo.
Manchester United also looked to strengthen their midfield with a loan deal for Bayern Munich's Sabitzer after an injury to key playmaker Christian Eriksen at Old Trafford.
Meanwhile, Tottenham solidified their defensive options by snaffling Spanish wing-back Porro from Sporting CP after lengthy negotiations.
Stats Perform provides a rundown of the notable deals as the mid-season transfer window finally closed.
BOEHLY BREAKS RECORD FOR FERNANDEZ
Fernandez emerged as a target for Chelsea following his influential displays for Argentina during their World Cup triumph in Qatar and the Blues' Todd Boehly-led consortium appear to have finally got their man.
After already snatching Mykhaylo Mudryk from under the noses of Arsenal, Chelsea are set to splash a reported £105.5million (€120m) on Fernandez from Benfica.
That would break the Premier League record of £100m Manchester City paid Aston Villa for Jack Grealish, as the Blues looked to secure the former River Plate midfielder on a reported seven-and-a-half-year contract.
ARSENAL'S CAICEDO BLUES CURED BY JORGINHO
Arteta and Arsenal's pursuit of Caicedo fell on deaf ears as Brighton refused to budge, despite the Gunners lodging a reported £70m bid for the 21-year-old.
After missing out on primary midfield target Caicedo, Jorginho switched the blue shirt of Chelsea for the red of Arsenal as he completed a reported £12m transfer to the Premier League leaders.
The 31-year-old will provide able competition for the impressive Thomas Partey after penning an 18-month contract at Emirates Stadium.
TEN HAG FINDS ERIKSEN COVER IN SABITZER
With Eriksen ruled out for three months, Erik ten Hag and United acted swiftly to attempt to bring in experienced midfielder Sabitzer on a short-term loan.
Opportunities had been hard to come by for the Austria international after joining Bayern from Bundesliga rivals RB Leipzig ahead of the 2021-22 season.
He started just 15 times in his 40 appearances for the Bundesliga champions, though he may now have the chance to impress in the Premier League with Ten Hag's resurgent Red Devils.
CONTE GETS PORRO AS DOHERTY AND SPENCE DEPART
It appeared Tottenham may not secure the services of attack-minded wing-back Porro, formerly of Girona and Manchester City, after it seemed negotiations had come to a halt with Sporting.
But Spurs confirmed the 23-year-old's arrival late on, with Porro signing a five-and-a-half-year deal after a reported £40m (€45m) move from Sporting, who signed Barcelona's Hector Bellerin as a replacement.
That transfer saw Djed Spence, who only signed from Middlesbrough in a deal worth up to £20m in July, sent out to Ligue 1's Rennes for the rest of the season on loan.
Fellow full-back Matt Doherty also made way as he joined Atletico Madrid on a six-month contract, with Spurs terminating the 31-year-old's contract to "enable him to join another club".
OTHER DEALS
Bournemouth paid their second-highest transfer fee in history for Illya Zabarnyi, parting with a reported £24m (€27.2m) for the Ukraine centre-back from Dynamo Kyiv.
Gary O'Neil's Bournemouth added a second signing soon after, confirming the arrival of Sassuolo midfielder Hamed Traore on a loan that will become permanent on a five-year deal in June.
Nottingham Forest continued their spending after signing Atletico centre-back Felipe on a deal that will run until 2024, while Jonjo Shelvey also arrived from Newcastle United on a deal until 2025, and a move for Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Keylor Navas on loan was reportedly nearing.
Patrick Vieira's Crystal Palace bolstered their midfield by bringing in Naouirou Ahamada for a reported £10.5m (€12m) fee from Stuttgart, while Arsenal's Albert Sambi Lokonga joined on a six-month loan.
Leeds United's Diego Llorente joined Jose Mourinho's Roma on loan until the end of the season, with an option for a permanent transfer reportedly worth €18m (£15.9m).
Ayoze Perez is another Premier League player who will spend the second half of the term on loan, with the Leicester City forward moving to LaLiga side Real Betis.
Aleksandar Mitrovic's Serbia team-mate Sasa Lukic traded Torino for Fulham in a transfer reportedly worth £8.8m (€10m) including add-ons, signing a contract until June 2027.
Lukic will likely be joined by Arsenal full-back Cedric Soares after Marco Silva's side reportedly agreed to bring the former Southampton defender on a six-month loan.
Outside of England, Borussia Dortmund and Belgium midfielder Thorgan Hazard completed a short-term loan move to Eredivisie title hopefuls PSV.
Nzonzi: Sevilla's Europa League dominance comparable to Real Madrid's Champions League aura
Sevilla's aura in the Europa League is similar to the fear Real Madrid instil into Champions League opponents, says Steven Nzonzi.
Jose Mourinho's Roma were the latest team to fall foul of Sevilla in a Europa League final as the Andalusian side extended their remarkable record of wins in UEFA's second-tier club competition to seven.
Only five teams – Madrid, Barcelona, Milan, Liverpool and Bayern Munich – have won more major European honours than Sevilla, who beat Roma 4-1 on penalties after a tightly contested 1-1 draw in Budapest.
Nzonzi, who helped Unai Emery's Sevilla beat Liverpool in 2016 to seal a third straight Europa League crown, believes the club have now created such an air of dominance in the tournament that they can be compared to Madrid, who have won the Champions League/European Cup on 14 occasions.
He told Stats Perform: "I don't know if they are the greatest team, it is hard to say but, of course they are one of the best teams to play in that competition.
"I really feel they have that energy that experience going on in that competition and it makes them win, it reminds me of Real Madrid in the Champions League.
"Real Madrid are another level and the won the Champions League more [times] than Sevilla won the Europa League but [Sevilla are] one of those teams when they are in that competition, you feel like anything is possible and they can win it."
Asked why Sevilla are able to sustain such success in the Europa League, Nzonzi replied: "It's really hard to say because sometimes you play against other teams that are better than you.
"They may play better or on paper have better players than you but you are still the one ending the game or winning the competition.
"I think it's the whole vibe, the whole energy going on, in the changing room, in the club there is a confidence because if you already won it one, two, three, four, five, six times, you have the confidence to win it again and feel that you are the superior team in that competition.
"Then there is the fans. I watched the semi-final and when Juventus played in Sevilla, I looked at the fans and I said, 'They [Juve] are not winning, the fans are just so good'. They are just pushing you so much, it is very difficult for the other team to feel confident.
"I think the big thing with Sevilla is the fans. I feel it is a big part of the energy that is happening for them in the Europa league.
"I remember going to the stadium and having a lot of fans not stopping the bus, but following the bus. [In the 2015-16 final] there were much more Liverpool fans in the stadium, but we still could feel the energy of the Sevilla fans."
Sevilla were embroiled in a relegation scrap in LaLiga until Jose Luis Mendilibar replaced Jorge Sampaoli in March, and while they are set for a mid-table finish, their Europa League triumph means Champions League football beckons next term.
"It feels like the Europa League has big things to do with Sevilla, because it is just incredible," Nzonzi added.
"And I think it is even better because they are not qualifying for the Champions League through LaLiga."
Caoimhin Kelleher should leave Liverpool to lift Republic career – Stephen Kenny
Republic of Ireland boss Stephen Kenny has admitted goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher needs to leave Liverpool this summer if he is to fulfil his potential.
The 24-year-old will meet up with his international colleagues ahead of the Euro 2024 qualifiers against Greece and Gibraltar later this month and resume his battle with Gavin Bazunu for the role of Ireland’s number one.
However, the man who played in the Reds’ 2022 Carabao Cup final victory over Chelsea is still firmly in the shadow of Brazilian star Alisson Becker at Anfield and made just four club appearances for his club last season, and Kenny expects him to seek pastures new before the new campaign gets under way.
He said: “I would fully expect that. It’s not right normally to speak about a player moving, but he’s at the stage where he’s behind probably one of the best goalkeepers in the world and it’s not going to get any easier.
“He can’t afford not playing. He knows that and he’s known that for a while. It’s not easy. There’s a process you go through with a club like that and I think and it wouldn’t be a surprise for him to move in the summer, and he knows that.
“I think he’s ready to go and play regularly because he needs to. It’s hard to leave Liverpool, it’s such an iconic club, but he’s not so young now. He’s 24 and he needs to play and he knows that.”
Kenny faces something of a conundrum with his keepers, with Kelleher, Bazunu and Mark Travers all at Premier League clubs, but struggling for regular football.
Bazunu, 21, lost his place at Southampton as they fought, ultimately unsuccessfully, to stave off relegation, although his international manager is optimistic his confidence will not be affected by that experience.
Kenny said: “He’s done remarkable, really, in a short career, Gavin as well. For one so young, he’s done remarkably well. He’s always looked very confident playing for us.”
Full-back Matt Doherty is another man who has been starved of football this season having made just two brief appearances as a substitute for Atletico Madrid since joining them from Tottenham in January.
Kenny said: “I’m sure when he took that move, he knew he would find it hard for games, but he thought he would play an amount of games, for sure. He couldn’t have envisaged that he wouldn’t play at all. That was frustrating for him and tough mentally to deal with.”
Kenny has been forced to omit Rotherham striker Chiedozie Ogbene from his 25-man squad for the games against Greece in Athens on June 16 and Gibraltar in Dublin three days later after he failed to recover from a hamstring injury.
However, 18-year-old Brighton counterpart Evan Ferguson will report for a nine-day training camp in Antalya full of confidence at the end of his breakthrough season.
Kenny said: “He’s taken everything in his stride, he’s a single-minded individual and nothing has fazed him. He seems to be able to adapt to whatever the occasion demands.”
Fiorentina aim to take out frustration on West Ham in Conference League final
Fiorentina will look to take their Coppa Italia frustrations out on West Ham in next week’s Europa Conference League final.
The Viola, seeking a first major trophy since 2001, have reached two finals this season but missed their first opportunity to end that wait for silverware when they were beaten 2-1 by Inter Milan last week, with Lautaro Martinez’s brace cancelling out an early Nicolas Gonzalez strike.
That has added to Fiorentina’s motivation going into Wednesday’s final against the Hammers in Prague on Wednesday.
Goalkeeper Pietro Terracciano, speaking to Sky Sports Italia at a media day on Thursday, said: “We must face all games in the best way knowing that the final is very important for us and the city. It’s the game of the season in Prague.
“It will be different from the Coppa Italia final. We’ll face a different opponent. But we played a great game against Inter and I am sure the same will happen with West Ham. This is our certainty, we’ll give our all to win the trophy.”
Coach Vincenzo Italiano said the key to success would be cutting out the mistakes that cost Fiorentina against Inter.
“We’ve had a great season, and we deserved the chance to play for this trophy, we are aware of our strength but we know that every error makes the difference in a final,” said Italiano.
“Every detail matters and we want to give joy to our fans.”
Fiorentina sit ninth in Serie A going into their final league fixture away to Sassuolo on Friday night, before all attention turns to West Ham.
Asked about David Moyes’ side, Italiano said: “They haven’t done well in the league, but they have a very competitive team with top-class players and a competent coach. We must focus on ourselves and be free in our minds.”
For last week’s goalscorer Gonzalez, losing to Inter is not the only disappointment he has endured this season.
The 25-year-old midfielder has been capped 22 times by Argentina but missed out on their World Cup squad, watching on from home as his team-mates lifted the trophy in Qatar.
Wednesday’s final gives him a much-needed opportunity to win a medal himself.
“We are experiencing so many emotions, I am happy to have reached two finals,” he said. “We lost the first one, but now there is another big game and we want to win.
“Some things hurt me last year, especially not going to the World Cup. I wasn’t fit, but some thought it was a fake injury. I never did it, I always want to be 100 per cent when I play football. We have 90 minutes and we want to make the difference.”
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