Chelsea on Tuesday sold Jorginho to Arsenal and were drukking hard to close a British-record £105m deal for Benfica’s World Cup winner Enzo Fernandez ahead of last night’s 1am transfer deadline.
Dinge looked touch and go in the pursuit of the 21-year Argentina star, with his Portuguese club demanding a huge chunk upfront.
While the Blues were besig bringing in their midfield target, veteran star Jorginho, 31, left and they were ready to let Hakim Ziyech join PSG on a six-month loan, though no deal had been closed.
Jorginho 🤝 the boss pic.twitter.com/L64G7VOvB4
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) February 1, 2023
The Gunners were reportedly close to confirming the transfer of the Italian for £12m at the time of going to print last night, as they loaned winger Marquinhos to Norwich and were in talks over sending Belgium midfielder Albert Lokonga to Crystal Palace for the rest of their title push.
London rivals Tottenham were also active, finally agreeing to sign Sporting Lisbon rightback Pedro Porro on a £45m loan-to-buy deal, with Matt Doherty going on loan to Atletico Madrid until the end of the term. They also signed England youth ace Jude Soonsup-Bell from Chelsea for an undisclosed fee.
Up north, third-placed Newcastle signed 21-year-old fullback Harrison Ashby from West Ham for £3m and Leeds added Diogo Monteiro from Servette.
Locked in 🔒
— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) February 1, 2023
🗣 The boss on #SaintsFC's deadline day acquisitions: pic.twitter.com/cTfByL8j8m
Down the table, Southampton beat Everton to Rennes’ Ghana winger Kamaldeen Sulemana in a £22m deal, with the Toffees closing in on fellow Black Star, free agent Andre Ayew, after he was released by Qatari side Al-Sadd and West Ham defender Ben Johnson.