Greeted by Sky Sports News as he and his wheelie case trundled through Manchester airport en route from China yesterday, Odion Igalo described his surprise deadline day move to Old Trafford as “a dream come true”. But while the Nigerian striker begins his loan spell brimful of wide-eyed optimism, for others the end of the January transfer window marked a time for reflection, no shortage of salty tears and possible recriminations regarding the deals that threatened to materialise but ultimately didn’t.
Mesut Özil is reported to have been the subject of a bid from an unspecified club in Qatar that was prepared to pay his famously hefty wages, but while the Mirror say the midfielder and his manager Mikel Arteta were open to the offer, the lateness of it left little or no time for Arsenal to find a replacement, prompting their superiors to veto any move.
Having seen Internazionale pull out of a reported deal to end his Chelsea purgatory, Olivier Giroud is not best pleased and a source close to the French striker claims the Italian club’s “attitude towards Olivier was very disrespectful”. Speaking before his side’s win over Udinese on Sunday night, Inter’s chief executive, Beppe Marotta, had a different story, telling Italian reporters that “we wanted to close a deal with Chelsea, but they did not want to sell Giroud”. Who to believe?
Still at Paris Saint-Germain despite being linked with moves to Chelsea, Manchester United and Atlético Madrid, Edinson’s Cavani’s brother and agent has said the striker had his heart set on a move to Spain and would have happily taken a pay cut to play for Diego Simeone. “Cavani was willing to receive less [money] than with PSG,” said Walter Guglielmone. “Atlético could not cover the total economic cost of the operation and PSG did not want to lower the amounts [they were] asking for.”
Atlético’s president, Enrique Cerezo, subsequently confirmed the Spanish side had been priced out of a deal for the Uruguayan, stating they were “not here to be robbed” by PSG, who are understood to have been looking for a fee of €30m (£25m) for a player whose contract expires in June.
In other ageing-striker-going-nowhere news, Fernando Llorente remains at Napoli despite January speculation suggesting he might make a surprise return to Tottenham. Both Inter and Barcelona are also believed to have had approaches for the 34-year-old’s services rejected, with his current employers reluctant to let him go as they are concerned about the fitness of Dries Mertens.
With his team running away with the title, Jürgen Klopp didn’t feel the need to do much business during the January window, but insists Liverpool’s recruitment department have not been resting on their laurels. “We are constantly in talks and exchanging ideas about what happens in the long term,” he said. Klopp is believed to have made the signing of Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund a priority and the healthiness of his relationship with his former club is unlikely to harm his chances of landing his teenage target. Liverpool are also being linked with Lille midfielder Boubakary Soumaré, who rejected a move to Newcastle last month.
