The coronavirus pandemic has made the transfer market uncertain, but there was still plenty of action on deadline day. With the window closed across the major leagues in Europe, you can check out the latest major completed transfers across Europe.
TOP STORY: Garcia threatens to leave Man City for free
Manchester City failed to reach an agreement with Barcelona over the sale of Eric Garcia before the window closed on Monday.
This has led to the centre-back telling the board that he will leave in in January or wait until next June and head off as a free agent, according to Fabrizio Romano.
The 19-year-old has his heart set on playing for Barcelona and is not willing to accept City standing in his way, according to the report, adding that Garcia won’t be changing his mind.
In light of this, it will be interesting to see how Pep Guardiola chooses to use Garcia in the coming months.
LIVE BLOG
10.20 BST: Arsenal’s signing of Thomas Partey from Atletico Madrid was one of the biggest deals on deadline day. ESPN FC’s Stewart Robson believes the Ghana international is just the player that the Gunners need to strengthen their midfield.
1:44
Stewart Robson says Thomas Partey’s arrival at Arsenal makes the Gunners serious top-four contenders.
09.48 BST: Manchester United have made contact with Mauricio Pochettino to sound him out about taking over from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as manager, the Daily Star reports.
Pochettino, 48, has been out of work for almost a year, after Tottenham sacked him last November just five months after he led them to the Champions League final.
The Argentine coach was regularly been linked with the United job during his time at Spurs, who heaped the pressure on Solskjaer on Sunday with their stunning 6-1 win at Old Trafford.
That was United’s second defeat fron their first three Premier League games of the season, and they were fortunate to claim a 3-2 win at Brighton via a penalty that was awarded by VAR after the final whistle had blown.
The Daily Star reports that senior United officials have met with representatives of Pochettino and that, while executive vice chairman Ed Woodward is not considering sacking Solskjaer yet, he expects a significant upturn in results soon.
– Marcotti: Solskjaer must answer for United woes
09.19 BST: Luka Modric has reiterated his desire to retire at Real Madrid and said it’s up to the club to decide his long-term future.
The 35-year-old midfielder, who has started the La Liga season in excellent form, has just a year left on his contract at the Bernabeu.
“Of course I would like to stay at Madrid, but it doesn’t only depend on me,” he told COPE radio on Monday night. “It depends what the club wants. I feel good and I think I have a lot of football in me… My desire would be to end my career at Madrid and renew if possible.”
“I don’t want to be a problem for the club or the coach,” he added. “I don’t want to be a burden, I’ve always had a good relationship with the club and I’m sure we’ll reach an agreement whatever it may be, if I renew or go somewhere else.”
08.54 BST: Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Ander Herrera said he encouraged his former teammate Edinson Cavani to sign for Manchester United.
Cavani signed for United on Monday as a free agent after his contract at PSG, where he became the club’s all-time top goal scorer, expired in the summer.
Herrera, who played at Old Trafford from 2014 until he signed for PSG in the summer of 2019, told El Larguero: “He asked me for my advice, and I told him that United is one of those teams that you cannot say no to. The pity is that he is not going to be able to enjoy the fans. Old Trafford is unique.”
Meanwhile, Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez said he spoke to Cavani before leaving the player out of his squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Chile and at Ecuador.
“He hasn’t worked with a team for some time, and that made us think of the risk that this could have for a player that hasn’t had much activity to arrive to the national team and play as he feels he has to,” Tabarez told a news conference. “He was finalising his professional situation with a club. Had I called him up, he would have had his mind in many places, and that’s no good for any player.
“I spoke to ‘Edi,’ and he understood it. It’s just the circumstances. Once we return from Ecuador, I will make up the next list, and if everything goes well, we will have Cavani.”
0:48
Stewart Robson has his say on Man United signing 33-year-old Edinson Cavani.
08.21 BST: Germany’s 2014 World Cup hero, Mario Gotze, remains a target for Hertha Berlin, according to kicker.
Gotze, 28, has been a free agent since his contract at Borussia Dortmund expired in the summer, and as such, he is still able to sign for a new team this season, despite the transfer deadline passing on Monday.
However, kicker reports that Hertha, who have been interested in signing Gotze for several weeks, remain unsure if the midfielder is up to the level required for the club to compete in the Bundesliga.
Gotze has struggled with form and fitness during spells at Bayern Munich and Dortmund in the years since he scored the winning goal in extra time of the 2014 World Cup final against Argentina.
07.30 BST: Jean-Clair Todibo and Rafinha left Barcelona on Monday, but the club failed to bring in any deadline day signings, as they came up short in their attempts to sign Eric Garcia and Memphis Depay.
Todibo, 20, joined Benfica on a two-year loan deal worth €2m — the Portuguese club also have an option to sign the defender for €20m in the future — and Rafinha has moved to Paris on a three-year deal worth up to €3m in performance-related add-ons.
But City and Barca failed to reach an agreement as Garcia, 19, awaited developments from Madrid, where he’s based with the Spain national team. Sources have told ESPN that Barca believed City would reduce their asking price for Garcia, given that his contract expires next summer, but a middle ground was never reached. The Blaugrana can sign him for free at the end of the season, but for now, he remains at the Premier League side.
Despite personal terms being agreed with Lyon striker Depay, 26, sources always told ESPN that the signing would be impossible if Ousmane Dembele didn’t move to Manchester United.
Barca and United did hold talks over the French forward but wanted very different deals. Barca wanted a permanent move, and United only wanted to take Dembele, whose three years at Camp Nou have been plagued by injuries, on loan.
07.00 BST: Deadline Day is over, and the window is closed, but you can see what went on here.
Here’s a snapshot of the major deals that were done.
– Manchester United added experience up front with deal for free agent Edinson Cavani and signed his fellow Uruguayan Facundo Pellistri, 18, from Penarol on a five-year contract.
– United were busy, as they landed Brazilian left-back Alex Telles from Porto for €15m and agreed a €41m deal to sign teenage winger Abad Diallo from Atalanta in January
– Arsenal spent the most on one player, as Thomas Partey joined for his release clause of €50m from Atletico Madrid, with Lucas Torreira joining the Spanish club on loan.
– Bayern signed their former winger Douglas Costa on loan from Juventus, added a €10m right-back in Marseille‘s Bouna Sarr and picked up striker Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting on a free transfer.
– French champions Paris Saint-Germain completed the signing of midfielder Rafinha Alcantara from Barcelona.
– Juventus signed Fiorentina winger Federico Chiesa in a potential €50m move. Juve will pay a total of €10m over the two seasons of the loan, with €3m for the 2020-21 campaign and €7m for the following term. The Bianconeri will pay a fee of €40m to make the deal permanent payable over three years, which could rise by a further €10m.
– Everton signed Norwich and England U21 defender Ben Godfrey on five-year deal for around £20m.
0:48
Stewart Robson has his say on Man United signing 33-year-old Edinson Cavani.
PAPER TALK: (by Danny Lewis)
AC Milan already have eyes on January deals
Calciomercato is reporting that AC Milan are already looking ahead to January. Their first port of call is to ensure that they tie goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and forward Hakan Calhanoglu to new deals in an attempt to prevent either of them from leaving for free in the summer.
Following that, signing a centre-back is the priority, with Mohamed Simakan and Ozan Kabak, of Strasbourg and Schalke, respectively, the preferred options.
However, Milan are seeing the added time as an opportunity to scout out further options before making a move.
Khedira destined for Juventus exit next year
Sami Khedira might not have left Juventus this transfer window, but it seems certain that he will in a year.
Calciomercato is reporting that the German refused to terminate his contract, with the Serie A champions looking to save on wages.
In addition to that, Khedira has stated that he will not be renewing his contract, which ends in 2021, which means that he will be free to leave Juventus soon.
There is also little hope of reconciliation between the player and club, as it is being reported that the midfielder won’t be included in Andrea Pirlo’s Champions League squad.
Tap-ins
— Xherdan Shaqiri will be staying at Liverpool until January at least, reports Goal, as Liverpool are refusing to let him leave on loan. The club turned down loan moves to Roma and Sevilla in January, and there have been no concrete offers for the Switzerland international to make a permanent switch this time around.
— Milot Rachica’s proposed move from Werder Bremen to Bayer Leverkusen faltered in the final moments. According to kicker, the two clubs failed to agree on the purchase option that would have been attached to the proposed loan move. Therefore, the Kosovo international will be staying at Bremen for now, though there seems to be a chance that there will be another move made for him in January.
