Gareth Bale doesn’t want to join Tottenham, James Rodriguez wants Liverpool move: Premier League transfer news – 1 February 2018

Yes, the January transfer window might be over, but the sea never runs out of water. It just keeps sending transfer-related news for the rest of us. One would have thought that there would be a dearth of news today, but just read on to know how wrong that notion is…

---

#5 Completed Deadline Day deals

By the time some of the Deadline Day deals were concluded, most of our readers would have been asleep and could have missed out on the news of any player changing clubs.

However, worry not! I am here to save you and here are the Premier League deals that were confirmed on Deadline Day:

Eliaquim Mangala [Manchester City - Everton] Loan

Alexander Sorloth [FC Midtjylland - Crystal Palace] Undisclosed

Jordan Hugill [Preston - West Ham] Undisclosed

Islam Slimani [Leicester - Newcastle] Loan

Andy King [Leicester - Swansea] Loan

Badou Ndiaye [Galatasaray - Stoke City] £14m

Andre Ayew [West Ham - Swansea] £18m

Jack Withers [Boston United - Swansea] Undisclosed

Lucas Moura [Paris St-Germain - Tottenham] £23m

Didier Ndong [Sunderland - Watford] Loan

Olivier Giroud [Arsenal - Chelsea] £18m

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang [Borussia Dortmund - Arsenal] £56m

#4 Liverpool and Tottenham

James wants a new challenge, reports say

While Liverpool may not have signed anyone after losing Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona, it hasn’t stopped the rumour mill from generating new rumours about them. Indeed, the January window might have just got over, but rumours never die.

According to the good folks at El Gol Digital, James Rodriguez wants to try his luck in England next season and has chosen Liverpool as his preferred destination. The Colombian has been in form for the Bavarians but wants to try a new challenge.

Meanwhile, Bild report that Tottenham will pursue Jann-Fiete Arp in the summer. Arp has been phenomenal this season for Hamburg and he is only just 18 years-old.

#3 A bit of London

Ozil has signed a new deal with Arsenal

This is a strange bit today because none of the reports here really link these teams with new players. Rather, there are just a few updates and a bit of controversy.

According to Bild, Mesut Ozil rejected Manchester United, PSG and Barcelona to sign an extension with Arsenal.

Meanwhile, it has been claimed that West Ham recruitment director, Tony Henry, has a policy against signing African footballers, something that the club will now investigate, say Standard Evening.

Finally, Leander Dendoncker was heavily linked with a move to the Hammers, but the talks broke down after Anderlecht pulled out of the deal, according to The Guardian. Failure to sign him and racism claims—this has been one torrid window for the Londoners, hasn’t it?

#2 Manchester madness

Mahrez has been pushing to leave Leicester

The transfer window is over, but Manchester madness isn’t. And we can only thank the Blue Skies for this. I know for sure that there are some people who follow this space religiously (use the comments section to show your allegiance) and love this madness as much as I do.

Anyways, according to Sky Sports, Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City tried to sign Riyad Mahrez on Deadline Day in a cash-plus-player deal worth £65 million, which fell short of Leicester City’s valuation of £95 million.

However, in his post-match press briefing, Pep Guardiola told Sky Sports, “He's a Leicester player. Everybody knows we were trying but we cannot afford, in this moment, this amount of what they are asking."

"We tried to do it in the summertime, we tried to do it now, but like summer, they locked the door and we can go to the summer and holidays."

"It was not possible. With [Aymeric] Laporte yes, with the other one no. We are going to see what happens in the summer."

Ahem. Make of it what you want!

#1 Manchester madness part II ft. Tottenham Hotspur (again)

Bale is a heavily active transfer rumour character

My word. Just imagine. The transfer window has just ended, but instead of the madness ending, it has increased to such a level that I have to divide it into two parts. Anyways, there are two very interesting bits about the Manchester club today.

First: Independent have a slightly alternative take towards Ozil signing an extension with the Gunners as they claim that the signing of Alexis Sanchez changed Mourinho’s mind about signing the German.

Second: Diario Gol states that Real Madrid want to use Gareth Bale in a part-exchange deal to land Harry Kane. Bale, however, may have different plans as he wants to return to the Premier League, but play for Manchester United instead of the club of his formative years.