It has been another busy transfer deadline day as Premier League club’s work to get new signings in ahead of the 11pm deadline.
Here, the PA news agency takes a look at some of the best deals done so far.
Nunes secures City switch
Premier League champions Manchester City were among the earlier movers, announcing a £53million move for midfielder Matheus Nunes from Wolves.
Nunes has signed a five-year deal at City, with the fee received a club-record sale for Wolves.
The Portugal international only joined Wolves from Sporting Lisbon last summer.
However, once a transfer to the Etihad Stadium looked in the pipeline, Nunes was determined to push the move through and did not train as talks continued.
“The opportunity to work under Pep Guardiola, one of the greatest managers ever, and alongside some of the best players in the world was something I couldn’t turn down,” Nunes said.
Seagulls swoop for Ansu
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Brighton pulled off something of a deadline day coup with the signing of Spain forward Ansu Fati on a season-long loan from Barcelona.
The 20-year-old academy graduate made 36 LaLiga appearances last season for Barcelona as they went on to win the title.
“This is a great deal for all of us,” Brighton head coach Roberto De Zerbi said on the Premier League club’s website.
“I am sure Ansu will help us to reach a new target and we can help him get back at the level he deserves to be.”
Palmer excited by Blues project
Chelsea continued their recruitment drive with the signing of forward Cole Palmer on a seven-year contract from Manchester City.
The PA news agency understands the London club will pay an initial £40m for the 21-year-old academy graduate, with an additional £2.5m in possible add-ons.
Palmer’s arrival the 12th new recruit at Stamford Bridge during the summer – has taken the club’s spending under Todd Boehly’s ownership group past £1billion in three transfer windows.
“I’ve joined Chelsea because the project here sounds good and because of the platform I will have to try to showcase my talents,” Palmer said.
“It is a young and hungry squad and, hopefully, we can do something special here.”
Lenglet’s back again
Aston Villa have moved for defensive cover with the signing of France centre-back Clement Lenglet on loan from Barcelona.
The 28-year-old is no stranger to the Premier League having spent last season at Tottenham.
Lenglet’s arrival provides some additional depth at the back, with Tyrone Mings set for an extended spell on the sidelines with a serious knee problem.
“Of course, after Tyrone’s injury we were analysing how we can face the season,” said Villa boss Unai Emery.
“It was a very good opportunity, he has experience at a high level and in Europe.”
Reguilon is a red
Having kicked things off on Friday morning by announcing the signing of Turkey goalkeeper Altay Bayindir from Fenerbahce, Manchester United later confirmed a loan move for Spurs defender Sergio Reguilon.
The Spaniard had been been training with the Red Devils – and could even feature against Arsenal this weekend.
“In life you have to be ready for everything and the chance to represent this great club with such an illustrious history is one that I could not turn down,” Reguilon told United’s website.
Rasmus Hojlund is fit to make his debut this weekend and Erik ten Hag says Sergio Reguilon could feature at Arsenal after his deadline-day loan switch from Tottenham.
Denmark international Hojlund joined United at the start of August for a fee rising up to £74million from Atalanta, but the 20-year-old has yet to feature due to a back complaint.
However, Ten Hag says the striker is fit to face Arsenal on Sunday, when goalkeeper Altay Bayindir – signed from Fenerbahce on Friday morning – and fellow deadline day arrival Reguilon will also be available for selection.
“Yes (Hojlund will be available),” the United manager said. “He had a good training week so tomorrow we have the final training.
“But he is doing well, responding well, so, yeah, he will be available for Sunday’s game.
“(Bayindir) will be in the squad as well, Altay, so happy. Now we have the keeper group fully there. We covered every position so I think we have a very good keeper group with the arrival of Altay.”
Asked if Reguilon could be involved at the Emirates Stadium, the United boss said: “He is here, he trained. Yes (he will also be available for Sunday).”
Ten Hag confirmed Reguilon’s arrival before the announcement was made confirming his loan switch from Tottenham.
The 26-year-old has joined on a season-long loan to help deal with United’s issues at left-back after Luke Shaw’s muscle injury compounded the absence of Tyrell Malacia and recent exits.
“In life you have to be ready for everything and the chance to represent this great club with such an illustrious history is one that I could not turn down,” said Reguilon, who could return to Spurs in January due to an option in the deal.
“Having spoken to the manager, I know what he needs from me, and I am ready to play my part in helping the team to achieve success.”
“I know that I can contribute to Manchester United this season; I am ready to fight for this group and show everyone my qualities.”
Reguilon spent last season on loan at Atletico Madrid and three years ago was linked with a move to Old Trafford, where Ten Hag believes the Spain international will succeed.
“He’s a very experienced player, played for big clubs, played already a lot of games in LaLiga, Premier League, so, yes, I think very good background,” Ten Hag said.
“We have seen he can play very intense football, so we are happy while we had a problem with Luke Shaw injured, Tyrell Malacia injured, therefore long-term out. So I think we responded very well on that emergency situation.”
On top of deadline-day moves for Bayindir and Reguilon, progress has been made in United’s move for Fiorentina’s Sofyan Amrabat.
A loan deal has been struck for the 27-year-old midfielder, who starred at the World Cup for Morocco and previously played under Ten Hag at Utrecht.
“There are so many rumours, but it’s nice, eh?,” the United boss said when asked about Amrabat.
“I think we have done good business, we constructed a strong squad and we are ready to go in to the fight.”
Pushed again on Amrabat, he said: “I can’t tell (you much) because I don’t know if he can sign, so if we have news, we will report it immediately.”
The PA news agency understands academy product Jonny Evans could also sign a deal for the rest of the season.
The Northern Ireland centre-back, 35, joined on a short-term contract in pre-season and has impressed Ten Hag.
There could be outgoings as well as incomings before the day is out, with multiple clubs looking at Eric Bailly, Donny Van De Beek and Mason Greenwood.
United announced last week that the latter would not recommence his career at the club, with teams in Germany, Spain, Italy and Turkey among those to express interest.
Marc Jurado joined Espanyol on a permanent deal on Friday and Alvaro Fernandez could return to Spain, but Harry Maguire and Scott McTominay look set to stay having been subject of interest this summer.
“If you see the schedule, it’s tough, it’s really condensed,” United boss Ten Hag said.
“When you see last season the World Cup, crazy season, the season takes longer, two weeks longer. We played (the) FA Cup final one week longer.
“We had a short break, we had a really condensed pre-season again, so we need numbers. But also we need not only numbers, the numbers have to be quality.
“I think, yeah, with this squad we have depth and we have quality players and we can be in a variety of systems and we are happy with it.
“We are ready to go into the fight.”
The Premier League’s first £2billion transfer window demonstrates the “incredible pace of growth” in the league’s wealth, according to finance company Deloitte.
The milestone was surpassed for the first time in advance of Friday’s deadline as Chelsea and Arsenal both made £100million midfield signings, with deadline-day moves such as Manchester City’s £53m capture of Wolves’ Matheus Nunes driving the total still higher.
Calum Ross, assistant director in Deloitte’s Sports Business Group, told the PA news agency: “It took 14 summer transfer windows to exceed £1bn – from when the transfer window system was introduced in January 2003 – and it’s only taken seven more to surpass £2bn, so that just reflects the incredible pace of growth that we’re seeing.”
Chelsea’s spending under Todd Boehly’s ownership group has continued with the £100m signing of midfielder Moises Caicedo from Brighton, £63m for forward Christopher Nkunku and Friday’s £40m capture of Cole Palmer from Manchester City as they seek to bounce back from last season’s 12th-placed finish.
With Newcastle beating the Blues, Tottenham and Liverpool to a place in this season’s Champions League and Brighton – who pulled off a deadline-day coup with a loan deal for Barcelona star Ansu Fati – also challenging, there are as many as eight teams with realistic top-four ambitions.
Ross said: “You’ve got that intensity of competition across the league. Whether that’s competing for the title, competing for European places or just simply staying in the league, that’s driving spending.
“There are 10 clubs that have spent more than £100m so it’s not all those top clubs.”
England’s top flight continues to dominate the picture, spending almost as much as the other members of Europe’s ‘big five’ leagues – LaLiga in Spain, Italy’s Serie A, the French Ligue 1 and Germany’s Bundesliga – combined this summer.
But a new challenge has emerged with the Saudi Pro League attracting the likes of Neymar, Karim Benzema and Riyad Mahrez to follow Cristiano Ronaldo’s January move to Al Nassr.
The fees and wages on offer in Saudi Arabia are eye-watering, with Liverpool rejecting a £150m deadline-day bid from Al-Ittihad for attacking talisman Mohamed Salah, but with the extra competition comes additional funding for English clubs.
“There’s been quite a significant change in the global transfer market with the Saudi Pro League becoming one of the highest spenders globally,” said Ross.
“That would be the first time since the summer window of 2016 that one of the big five leagues, LaLiga, doesn’t appear in the top-five spenders globally. The Saudi Pro League’s replaced them, I think they’re the second highest at the moment with over 850million euros.
“Also it’s another source of funding though – I think almost half of the transfer fees received by Premier League clubs came from the Saudi Pro League.
“So that illustrates that having that extra funding that they’re able to capitalise on from Saudi Pro League clubs and other overseas markets is then providing them with additional funds to redistribute to their transfer targets.”
The Saudi window remains open until next Thursday and while clubs could be reluctant to sell with no opportunity to replace departed talent, Ross said: “There is still a chance over the next week or so that we will see further outgoings.
“Being able to operate in a financially-sustainable manner, as well as complying with the relevant financial regulations, is a key part of their activity.
“It’s balancing that need for financial sustainability and profitability with the desire for on-pitch success.”
Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi feels an overwhelming duty to help Barcelona loanee Ansu Fati realise his potential of becoming a “great” player.
Spain international Fati has joined Albion on a deal until the end of the season, having been linked with Premier League rivals Tottenham.
De Zerbi, who recently lost Julio Enciso to a long-term knee issue, says he “can’t make mistakes” as he bids to develop the exciting 20-year-old forward during his temporary stay at the Amex Stadium.
“I’m very pleased, it’s a big player,” the Italian coach said of Fati. “We lost Enciso and we needed one big player.
“We are lucky because we have a lot of young players, potential top players and it will be one responsibility more.
“If you work with this talent, you have much responsibility because it’s our football heritage and we can’t make mistakes with these players because football needs this talent and you have to manage it in different ways.
“I’ve always thought like this. Especially for the big, big talent, I feel the responsibility to help this talent to become great players.
“Sometimes the coaches think only of the result, only of their career but football needs to have great players. It’s a big responsibility and I feel it.
“I think our style is very close with his characteristics, with his qualities.”
Fati, who has nine Spain caps and travelled to last year’s World Cup in Qatar, will not be involved when Brighton host Newcastle in the top flight on Saturday evening.
His arrival came on a landmark day for Albion after they were drawn to face European giants Ajax and Marseille in the group stage of their maiden Europa League campaign.
Greek champions AEK Athens complete Group B, with the first round of fixtures scheduled for Thursday, September 21.
“Ajax, Marseille and AEK are all good teams but we are a good team too,” said De Zerbi.
“It will be a very tough group but we have the enthusiasm of the first time Brighton play in the Europa League and you can imagine what will be our attitude, behaviour and passion to make points and to qualify for the next step.
“You can (only) be proud for two or three minutes – not too much – and then you have to think, Newcastle first of all because tomorrow we don’t play in the Europa League, we play in the Premier League.”
Forward Danny Welbeck will miss out against the Magpies due to a muscular injury.
Cameroonian midfielder Carlos Baleba – bought from French side Lille on Tuesday for a reported £23million – will join Fati in having to wait until after the upcoming international break for a debut.
In a positive week for the Seagulls, Pascal Gross received his first call-up from Germany, while captain Lewis Dunk was included in England’s squad.
“Both were incredible news for us,” said De Zerbi. “We are a small club, we are not used to this news and for us it’s like winning a trophy.
“They deserve it, I think and I am working to help my players to reach this target.”
The Premier League’s first £2billion transfer window demonstrates the “incredible pace of growth” in the league’s wealth, according to finance company Deloitte.
The milestone was surpassed for the first time in advance of Friday’s deadline as Chelsea and Arsenal both made £100million midfield signings, with deadline-day moves such as Manchester City’s £53m capture of Wolves’ Matheus Nunes driving the total still higher.
Calum Ross, assistant director in Deloitte’s Sports Business Group, told the PA news agency: “It took 14 summer transfer windows to exceed £1bn – from when the transfer window system was introduced in January 2003 – and it’s only taken seven more to surpass £2bn, so that just reflects the incredible pace of growth that we’re seeing.”
Chelsea’s spending under Todd Boehly’s ownership group has continued with the £100m signing of midfielder Moises Caicedo from Brighton, £63m for forward Christopher Nkunku and Friday’s £40m capture of Cole Palmer from Manchester City as they seek to bounce back from last season’s 12th-placed finish.
With Newcastle beating the Blues, Tottenham and Liverpool to a place in this season’s Champions League and Brighton – who pulled off a deadline-day coup with a loan deal for Barcelona star Ansu Fati – also challenging, there are as many as eight teams with realistic top-four ambitions.
Ross said: “You’ve got that intensity of competition across the league. Whether that’s competing for the title, competing for European places or just simply staying in the league, that’s driving spending.
“There are 10 clubs that have spent more than £100m so it’s not all those top clubs.”
England’s top flight continues to dominate the picture, spending almost as much as the other members of Europe’s ‘big five’ leagues – LaLiga in Spain, Italy’s Serie A, the French Ligue 1 and Germany’s Bundesliga – combined this summer.
But a new challenge has emerged with the Saudi Pro League attracting the likes of Neymar, Karim Benzema and Riyad Mahrez to follow Cristiano Ronaldo’s January move to Al Nassr.
The fees and wages on offer in Saudi Arabia are eye-watering, with Liverpool rejecting a £150m deadline-day bid from Al-Ittihad for attacking talisman Mohamed Salah, but with the extra competition comes additional funding for English clubs.
“There’s been quite a significant change in the global transfer market with the Saudi Pro League becoming one of the highest spenders globally,” said Ross.
“That would be the first time since the summer window of 2016 that one of the big five leagues, LaLiga, doesn’t appear in the top-five spenders globally. The Saudi Pro League’s replaced them, I think they’re the second highest at the moment with over 850million euros.
“Also it’s another source of funding though – I think almost half of the transfer fees received by Premier League clubs came from the Saudi Pro League.
“So that illustrates that having that extra funding that they’re able to capitalise on from Saudi Pro League clubs and other overseas markets is then providing them with additional funds to redistribute to their transfer targets.”
The Saudi window remains open until next Thursday and while clubs could be reluctant to sell with no opportunity to replace departed talent, Ross said: “There is still a chance over the next week or so that we will see further outgoings.
“Being able to operate in a financially-sustainable manner, as well as complying with the relevant financial regulations, is a key part of their activity.
“It’s balancing that need for financial sustainability and profitability with the desire for on-pitch success.”
Chelsea will give Cole Palmer time to get comfortable in his new environment after completing his £40million move from Manchester City, according to Mauricio Pochettino.
The 21-year-old signed a seven-year deal on Friday to swap the club he joined aged seven for Pochettino’s new-look Stamford Bridge outfit.
The City academy graduate played 14 league games during the club’s Premier League title-winning season last term and was an unused substitute as they beat Inter Milan to win the Champions League in June.
Despite his increased involvement in the champions’ first team – which included scoring in both the Community Shield and UEFA Super Cup this season – his new manager hinted a chance to play a more significant role in west London may have been a factor in persuading him to move.
He becomes the club’s 12th signing of the current transfer window, taking spending during the first 16 months of ownership of Todd Boehly’s Clearlake Capital consortium over £1billion, but Pochettino said it is likely to be the last of the club’s business before Friday night’s deadline.
With so much player turnover and with the youngest average squad age in the league, he has stated repeatedly in the early weeks of the season that too much cannot be expected too soon and applied the same argument to Palmer’s arrival.
“I think he’s a fit for the project,” said the manager. “He’s a young, talented player. He decided to come because he expects to play maybe more and be important here.
“But that’s not the most important thing. The most important is that he sees Chelsea as a project for him, and to improve his game, and to be more involved every single game.
“The quality is there, there is great potential. Now he needs to settle here and prove and show that he’s better than his team-mates, and that he deserves to play. He has to fight for his place.
“He’s from Manchester and he’s going to move to London. London is different, the club is different, the culture and everything. First of all, before he starts to perform, he needs to settle in his space and feel comfortable.
“We’re not going to put pressure on him to perform (straight away). The most important thing now is to be happy and to find his space in the team.
“I think so (that is the end of transfer business). I think there’s no time. If something is going on, I don’t know. I didn’t talk to my sporting directors since 11 o’clock (Friday morning). If something is going to happen they will communicate with me.
“We are happy with the squad. I don’t believe that something will happen in the next few hours in terms of players in.”
The manager would not rule out the departure of Conor Gallagher, who has been the subject of a reported £40m bid from Tottenham.
The midfielder has started every game under Pochettino and captained the side in Wednesday’s 2-1 Carabao Cup win against AFC Wimbledon.
“I think all the players that are involved in the squad are in our plan,” said Pochettino. “After, it’s a decision between the club and the player.
“Always from our side, Conor was a player that is consistent and can perform in different positions. We are so happy with him.
“He was captain against Wimbledon, he’s an important player for us. What’s going to happen in the future, I don’t know, I cannot tell you this. It’s like a player asks me ‘how do you see myself in the future?’ I don’t know, I cannot know. It’s up to you.”
The manager added that he had been under no illusion that Romelu Lukaku would play a role with the first team this season.
The striker finally departed on Thursday on a season-long loan to Roma, having not trained with the squad since returning from a stay at Inter nor been given a squad number.
“I’m not disappointed because it was so clear the situation,” said Pochettino. “I didn’t create any expectation in my mind. The club was clear in the situation.
“What I heard from the club was the that the player wanted to leave. It was clear he was not going to be here this season.”
Tottenham head coach Ange Postecoglou remained tight-lipped on potential transfers before their trip to Burnley but did pay tribute to Hugo Lloris ahead of his anticipated departure on Friday.
Spurs are set for a busy end to the summer transfer window with frantic negotiations taking place on a number of incoming and outgoings.
Ex-captain Lloris made clear back in June his desire for a new challenge after 11 years at the Premier League club, and there is a growing expectation he will leave Tottenham before the 11pm deadline, the PA news agency understands.
Talks have taken place with Lazio this summer and there has been interest from the Saudi Pro League, while Roma have been speculated as a possible destination this week.
Lloris only has one year left on his contract and if no suitor can be found before the English transfer window closes on Friday night, PA understands the Frenchman may depart Tottenham by mutual consent with the final 12 months of his deal likely to be terminated.
When asked about the 36-year-old, Postecoglou said: “I have only been here a couple of months but Hugo has been excellent throughout the whole process.
“There is no doubt he has had an outstanding career and contribution to this football club. He has been the captain for quite a long time and been very professional, obviously working with (Rob) Burchy and the other goalkeepers.
“He has been helping the others, Vic (Guglielmo Vicario) being the new goalkeeper, so I have nothing negative to say about him and I wouldn’t.
“There has been nothing other than him being very, very professional about everything.”
Lloris is one of several players set to leave before 11pm, with Sergio Reguilon joining Manchester United on a season-long loan, which includes a break clause in January.
Centre-back Japhet Tanganga has agreed to sign for Bundesliga new boys Augsburg on loan, with an obligation to make the switch permanent for £6million euros if they stay in the German top flight or the defender makes a certain number of appearances.
Talks have taken place with Fulham over Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s departure while Tottenham will listen to offers for Eric Dier, Davinson Sanchez, Tanguy Ndombele and Bryan Gil.
Meanwhile, an agreement has now been reached with Nottingham Forest for the signing of attacker Brennan Johnson, who has been given permission to travel for a medical, PA understands.
Johnson will sign in a £45m deal but Postecoglou stayed tight-lipped on any activity, adding: “I’m in a position where other people are in control of incomings and outgoings.
“I’m not really in the loop until things are concluded. For me to talk about potential players, where that’s ins or outs, when it may or may not happen is not my place.
“The countdown clock says nine or 10 hours. We’ll find everything out in the next short period and we’ll go from there.”
While Spurs are eager to trim their bloated squad by 11pm, some will fail to secure moves and may find themselves left out of the club’s 25-man list, which will need to be submitted to the Premier League on September 25.
Postecoglou was adamant the door is not closed on anyone, saying: “No one’s not been integrated, no one hasn’t been training with the team. I’m not isolating anyone at the moment.
“Players have got their own reasons for making these decisions but ultimately, come the deadline, we’re going to have to name a 25-man list and we’ve got more than that at the moment, so some people are going to miss out.
“It’s up to them to decide the next step. From my perspective, we haven’t excluded anyone from training.”
Pep Guardiola is recovering well from his recent back operation, Manchester City assistant boss Juanma Lillo has said.
The City manager is currently out of action after undergoing surgery last week but is expected to return after the upcoming international break.
Lillo took charge of the side for the treble winners’ Premier League trip to Sheffield United last week and remains at the helm for Saturday’s visit of Fulham.
“I speak very regularly with him, not just in footballing terms but professional terms,” Lillo said at a press conference on Friday.
“He’s much better and things are taking place in the way that they should do. All of us are delighted and are really looking forward to him getting back.”
Lillo was in contact with Guardiola throughout City’s victory at Bramall Lane last Sunday and during preparations for this weekend’s encounter.
“It’s the same as the previous game,” said Lillo. “With Pep there would be more energy but we’re in contact with him all the time.
“We share our responsibilities well, we have our roles very well defined by him and we will continue on the right path but he obviously continues to have input.
“We’re not quite finished in our preparation for the game.”
Defender John Stones is nearing a return to action after a thigh injury.
The England international was expected to be sidelined until after the international break but Lillo has delivered a positive update on his condition.
Phil Foden and Manuel Akanji have recovered from illness but Kevin De Bruyne is a long-term absentee.
Lillo said: “Phil is completely recovered from his illness, Manu’s problem was more for prevention rather than anything serious. He’s more or less there and John is more or less there as well.”
Rasmus Hojlund is fit to make his debut this weekend and Erik ten Hag says Sergio Reguilon could feature at Arsenal having trained with Manchester United ahead of his loan move.
Denmark international Hojlund joined United at the start of August for a fee rising up to £74million from Atalanta, but the 20-year-old has yet to feature, due to a back complaint.
But Ten Hag says the striker is fit to feature at Arsenal, when new goalkeeper Altay Bayindir and left-back Reguilon will also be available for selection.
United have agreed a loan deal with Tottenham for the left-back, and the Dutchman revealed he had trained with his new team-mates ahead of the announcement of the move.
“Yes (Hojlund will be available),” Ten Hag said.
“He had a good training week so tomorrow we have the final training. But he is doing well, responding well, so, yeah, he will be available for Sunday’s game.
“(Bayindir) will be in the squad as well, Altay, so happy. Now we have the keeper group fully there. We covered every position so I think we have a very good keeper group with the arrival of Altay.”
Asked if Reguilon could be involved at the Emirates Stadium, the United boss said: “He is here, he trained. Yes (he will also be available for Sunday).”
Reguilon comes in after United went from too many options at left-back to too few when Luke Shaw’s muscle injury compounded the absence of Tyrell Malacia and recent exits. The Spain international was linked with a move to Old Trafford three years ago and spent last season on loan at Atletico Madrid.
“He’s a very experienced player, played for big clubs, played already a lot of games in LaLiga, Premier League, so, yes, I think very good background,” Ten Hag said.
“We have seen he can play very intense football, so we are happy while we had a problem with Luke Shaw injured, Tyrell Malacia injured, therefore long-term out. So I think we responded very well on that emergency situation.”
On top of deadline-day moves for Bayindir and Reguilon, progress has been made in United’s move for Fiorentina’s Sofyan Amrabat.
The 27-year-old midfielder starred at the World Cup for Morocco and previously played under Ten Hag at Utrecht.
“There are so many rumours, but it’s nice, eh?,” the United boss said when asked about Amrabat.
“I think we have done good business, we constructed a strong squad and we are ready to go in to the fight.”
Pushed again on Amrabat, he said: “I can’t tell (you much) because I don’t know if he can sign, so if we have news, we will report it immediately.”
There could be outgoings as well as incomings before the day is out, with multiple clubs looking at Mason Greenwood, Eric Bailly and Donny Van De Beek.
However, Harry Maguire and Scott McTominay look set to stay, having been subject of interest this summer.
“If you see the schedule, it’s tough, it’s really condensed,” United boss Ten Hag said.
“When you see last season the World Cup, crazy season, the season takes longer, two weeks longer. We played (the) FA Cup final one week longer.
“We had a short break, we had a really condensed pre-season again, so we need numbers. But also we need not only numbers, the numbers have to be quality.
“I think, yeah, with this squad we have depth and we have quality players and we can be in a variety of systems and we are happy with it.
“We are ready to go into the fight.”
Liverpool rejected a £150million offer for Mohamed Salah from Saudi Arabia Pro League side Al-Ittihad while Brighton completed the signing of Barcelona forward Ansu Fati.
Salah has been the subject of interest from the Middle East for some time and the PA news agency understands a verbal offer was made on Friday.
However, the club have rejected it out of hand and consider the matter closed as the forward is not for sale.
The offer is understood to have been £100m up front with a further £50m in add-ons.
Brighton have signed Fati on a season-long loan from the Catalan giants.
The 20-year-old Spain international made 36 LaLiga appearances last season for Xavi’s men as they went on to win the title.
“This is a great deal for all of us,” Brighton head coach Roberto De Zerbi said on the Premier League club’s website.
“I am sure Ansu will help us to reach a new target and we can help him get back to the level he deserves to be.”
Fati came through the Barcelona academy, making his senior debut in August 2019 and later became the club’s youngest goalscorer in both LaLiga and the Champions League.
Manchester City, Chelsea and Manchester United were all doing early business.
City completed the signing of Matheus Nunes from Wolves.
After overcoming some minor sticking points in final negotiations over an initial £47.3m deal on Wednesday night, both clubs were able to come to an agreement on a £53million move – a club-record sale for Wolves.
The 25-year-old Portugal international was keen to move to the Etihad Stadium and did not train with Wolves in order to push the move through.
Midfielder Tommy Doyle, 21, heads the other way, joining the Molineux club on a season-long loan with the option to make the switch permanent next summer.
Doyle’s exit follows that of fellow City academy product Cole Palmer, who has joined Chelsea on a seven-year contract.
The PA news agency understands Chelsea will pay an initial £40million for the 21-year-old with an additional £2.5m in possible add-ons.
Manchester United confirmed the signing of Turkey international goalkeeper Altay Bayindir from Fenerbahce.
The 25-year-old has signed an initial four-year contract at Old Trafford, with the option of a further year.
Bayindir is the second goalkeeper signed by the Red Devils this summer and will provide competition to fellow new arrival Andre Onana.
“It is a huge honour to join Manchester United and become the first Turkish player to represent this incredible club,” Bayindir said in the statement announcing his signing.
United could add further recruits on deadline day, with a loan move for Tottenham full-back Sergio Reguilon close to completion.
Nottingham Forest signed Arsenal full-back Nuno Tavares on a season-long loan, with the option of making it permanent.
“Forest is a historic club which won two European Cups and to be part of it makes me really happy,” he said.
“I’m really happy to stay in the Premier League as it’s the best league in the world and I’m thankful to Forest for giving me that opportunity.”
Forest forward Brennan Johnson continued to be linked with a move to Tottenham.
Aston Villa brought in French defender Clement Lenglet on a season-long loan from Barcelona.
The centre-half spent last season on loan at Spurs, making 35 appearances in all competitions.
Manchester City grabbed the early headlines on transfer deadline day as they completed the signing of Matheus Nunes from Wolves.
After overcoming some minor sticking points in final negotiations over an initial £47.3m deal on Wednesday night, both clubs were able to come to an agreement on a £53million move – a club-record sale for Wolves.
The 25-year-old Portugal international was keen to move to the Etihad Stadium and did not train with Wolves in order to push the move through.
Nunes told the club’s official website: “I’m so happy to be joining Manchester City, the champions of Europe and a club I’ve admired for a long time.
“The opportunity to work under Pep Guardiola, one of the greatest managers ever, and alongside some of the best players in the world was something I couldn’t turn down.
“I’ve learned so much during my season at Wolves and I’m excited to continue improving in the Premier League, a division which brings the best out of me.”
Midfielder Tommy Doyle, 21, heads the other way, joining the Molineux club on a season-long loan with the option to make the switch permanent next summer.
Doyle’s exit follows that of fellow City academy product Cole Palmer, who has joined Chelsea on a seven-year contract.
The PA news agency understands Chelsea will pay an initial £40million for the 21-year-old with an additional £2.5m in possible add-ons.
“I’m excited to get started and it feels great to sign,” Palmer told his new club’s website.
“I’ve joined Chelsea because the project here sounds good and because of the platform I will have to try to showcase my talents. It is a young and hungry squad and, hopefully, we can do something special here.”
It takes spending in the 16 months since the club was acquired by Todd Boehly’s Clearlake Capital consortium to over £1billion, with Palmer the 12th player through the door during the summer transfer window.
Manchester United confirmed the signing of Turkey international goalkeeper Altay Bayindir from Fenerbahce.
The 25-year-old has signed an initial four-year contract at Old Trafford, with the option of a further year.
Bayindir is the second goalkeeper signed by the Red Devils this summer and will provide competition to fellow new arrival Andre Onana.
“It is a huge honour to join Manchester United and become the first Turkish player to represent this incredible club,” Bayindir said in the statement announcing his signing.
United could add further recruits on deadline day, with a loan move for Tottenham full-back Sergio Reguilon close to completion.
Nottingham Forest signed Arsenal full-back Nuno Tavares on a season-long loan, with the option of making it permanent.
“Forest is an historic club which won two European Cups and to be part of it makes me really happy,” he said.
“I’m really happy to stay in the Premier League as it’s the best league in the world and I’m thankful to Forest for giving me that opportunity.”
Forest forward Brennan Johnson continued to be linked with a move to Tottenham.
Aston Villa brought in French defender Clement Lenglet on a season-long loan from Barcelona.
The centre-half spent last season on loan at Spurs, making 35 appearances in all competitions.
Eddie Howe has told his Newcastle players they have to believe they can top their Champions League group after being pitched into battle with three of Europe’s giants.
The Magpies, who will play in the competition for the first time in 20 years this season, will face French champions Paris St Germain, seven-times winners AC Milan and 1997 champions Borussia Dortmund as they attempt to reach the last 16.
Nevertheless, TV pundit Owen Hargreaves, a Champions League winner with both Bayern Munich and Manchester United, insisted after the draw the Magpies could emerge from Group F as winners “if they get it right”.
Howe said: “You have to believe that, yes. I’m not necessarily sure that should be the expectation, but I think we can.
“I’ll let other people talk about what can and can’t happen. All I’m really focused on is what we can do internally, and that’s be our best.
“Going back to the Liverpool game, for a long part of that game, I thought we were really, really good and you can still lose the game against high-quality opposition if you switch off for a couple of moments like we did, so we’re going to be feeling those effects again against elite teams.
“We’re going to have to be concentrated and at our best right through the game to win.”
Howe watched Thursday evening’s draw, which handed summer signing Sandro Tonali a return to former club Milan, with his staff and while there was a realism in their reaction, there was excitement too.
Asked what their response had been, the 45-year-old said with a smile: “There was a bit of silence… for about an hour. No, there was silence for about 10 seconds.”
He added: “When the dust settles down, you look at it with pure excitement, really. There’s no negativity from any of us internally towards the draw.
“When you add it all together, I think it’s been a great thing.”
For all the understandable excitement on Tyneside, Howe will push the Champions League to the back of his mind in the short term at least with important Premier League fixtures to come at Brighton on Saturday and then against Brentford at St James’ Park after the international break before the Magpies launch their European adventure.
He said: “I don’t want to dampen it down, but the Premier League is huge for us and we still have games before the Champions League starts, so the Champions League will only really come into my focus when it’s our next game.”
Defender Sven Botman is a doubt for the trip to the Amex Stadium having undergone a scan on the ankle he damaged during last weekend’s 2-1 defeat by Liverpool, as is midfielder Joelinton with a knee problem.
Meanwhile, Howe has admitted his players may need to stay away from Newcastle city centre late at night after club captain Jamaal Lascelles was caught up in a violent incident in which he appeared to be acting as peacemaker.
He said: “It would be nice in theory for us to be in the city centre with our people, but the reality is it’s probably not the best place for us to exist late at night.”
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp loves his reinvented midfield and believes the club have done good business this summer.
The £35million signing of Bayern Munich’s Ryan Gravenberch, with the deal expected to be finalised before the deadline after the 21-year-old flew to Merseyside for his medical on Thursday, will complete a total rejuvenation of the Reds’ engine room.
Klopp was always planning to revamp his midfield this summer but even he did not expect to change the whole unit, only for the departures of Jordan Henderson and Fabinho to Saudi Arabia to force him into a radical overhaul.
Argentina’s World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister and RB Leipzig’s Dominik Szoboszlai were early arrivals as part of the planned revamp, but the addition of Wataru Endo and Gravenberch, who was a long-term target but was considered unavailable, came much later than expected after Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia both turned them down for a move to Chelsea.
“We pretty much had to reinvent the team. The midfield is all ready and will be completely new,” he said.
“We had to do that in a season where we didn’t qualify for the Champions League, which has a massive impact.
“I know people expect it to be different but it is how it is. I really think we did good business, the players we brought in are really good, will help the team.
“We are less experienced but that is normal, but we are full of desire and I love this team.”
Mac Allister, who was initially asked to play an unfamiliar holding role, and Szoboszlai have both settled in quickly, which was to be expected as they had a full pre-season to adapt to Klopp’s methods.
The manager expects them to make bigger strikes, although he conceded Endo will take longer after only arriving from Stuttgart mid-August, but believes they have the capability to match the successes of the players they have replaced.
“The natural skill-set is obvious but we had to replace the most successful midfield in the young (recent) history of this club,” added Klopp ahead of Sunday’s visit of Aston Villa.
“Fabinho, Henderson, Milner, Gini Wijnaldum a few years ago. All had big parts in the team. Naby (Keita), (Alex) Oxlade-Chamberlain, they all played big parts in that midfield.
“In our best periods I remember you asked me the question if we had enough of a goal threat from this midfield when we scored all the goals from the front line.
“I think we have much more goal threat in midfield now but the work-rate these guys put in, the stability they gave us was second-to-none and that is what we have to create as well.
“We will see how we do that because we can play different systems, we have to think about that during the season definitely.
“But I think it is clear the players we brought in have real quality, are young and in a super way really excited about the opportunity of being here, so that’s a cool mix.”
Manchester City have signed Wolves midfielder Matheus Nunes on a five-year deal.
After overcoming some minor sticking points in final negotiations over an initial £47.3m deal on Wednesday night, both clubs were able to come to an agreement on a £53million move – a club-record sale for Wolves.
Nunes became Wolves’ record signing when he joined from Sporting Lisbon for an initial £38m last summer on a five-year contract with the option of a further 12 months.
https://twitter.com/ManCity/status/1697543082848268419/photo/1
However, the 25-year-old Portugal international was keen to move to the Etihad Stadium and did not train with Wolves in order to push the move through.
Nunes told the club’s official website: “I’m so happy to be joining Manchester City, the champions of Europe and a club I’ve admired for a long time.
“The opportunity to work under Pep Guardiola, one of the greatest managers ever, and alongside some of the best players in the world was something I couldn’t turn down.
“I’ve learned so much during my season at Wolves and I’m excited to continue improving in the Premier League, a division which brings the best out of me.
“I’m really excited to get going, meet the fans and hopefully be a part of plenty more success at City.”
Midfielder Tommy Doyle, 21, heads the other way, joining the Molineux club on a season-long loan with the option to make the switch permanent next summer.
Doyle’s exit follows that of fellow City academy product Cole Palmer, who has joined Chelsea on a seven-year contract.
The PA news agency understands Chelsea will pay an initial £40million for the 21-year-old with an additional £2.5m in possible add-ons.
It is understood a deal was struck on Wednesday for a player City had been keen to keep but were ultimately persuaded to part with by the size of Chelsea’s bid.
Chelsea and Manchester United made early moves on what looks set to be a busy transfer deadline day.
The Blues completed the signing of Manchester City forward Cole Palmer on a seven-year contract.
The PA news agency understands the club will pay an initial £40million for the 21-year-old academy graduate with an additional £2.5m in possible add-ons.
“I’m excited to get started and it feels great to sign,” Palmer told his new club’s website.
“I’ve joined Chelsea because the project here sounds good and because of the platform I will have to try to showcase my talents. It is a young and hungry squad and, hopefully, we can do something special here.”
It takes spending in the 16 months since the club was acquired by Todd Boehly’s Clearlake Capital consortium to over £1billion, with Palmer the 12th player through the door during the summer transfer window.
United confirmed the signing of Turkey international goalkeeper Altay Bayindir from Fenerbahce.
The 25-year-old has signed an initial four-year contract at Old Trafford, with the option of a further year.
Bayindir is the second goalkeeper signed by the Red Devils this summer and will provide competition to fellow new arrival Andre Onana.
“It is a huge honour to join Manchester United and become the first Turkish player to represent this incredible club,” Bayindir said in the statement announcing his signing.
United could add further recruits on deadline day, with a loan move for Tottenham full-back Sergio Reguilon close to completion.
Nottingham Forest signed Arsenal full-back Nuno Tavares on a season-long loan, with the option of making it permanent.
“Forest is an historic club which won two European Cups and to be part of it makes me really happy,” he said.
“I’m really happy to stay in the Premier League as it’s the best league in the world and I’m thankful to Forest for giving me that opportunity.”
Manchester City defender Taylor Harwood-Bellis headed out on loan to Championship outfit Southampton.
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