Zaha Joins Cardiff On Loan
Manchester United forward Wilfried Zaha has joined Welsh outfit Cardiff City on loan for the rest of the season. The 21-year-old has found game-time hard to come by under new United boss David Moyes, and will now team up with former Red Devils striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as he tries to guide his new club off the foot of the Premier League table. Zaha joins a host of new players, including Fabio, Kenwyne Jones, Magnus Wolff Eikrem, Mats Moller Daehli and Jo Inge Berge who have joined the Welsh club this transfer window. – Full Story via Kickoff
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has defended his much-criticised deadline-day signing of Kim Kallstrom – insisting the crocked Swede was worth the punt because he came at such a cheap price. Kallstrom signed on loan from Spartak Moscow last Friday, with Wenger desperate for midfield cover because of injuries to Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere and Mathieu Flamini suspended for three games. – Full Story via Metro
Brendan Rodgers has hit back at Dnipro claims that Liverpool had only themselves to blame for failing to sign Yevhen Konoplyanka. A move for the £15million-valued attacker collapsed late on deadline day, with the Ukrainian club alleging the Merseysiders did not send the funds on time to complete the deal. However, Reds boss Rodgers insists Reds representatives in Ukraine could not have done anything more to secure the 24-year-old’s signature. – Full Story via Metro
Manchester United misfit Anderson has revealed that a lot of players want to quit David Moyes’ side. The Brazilian midfielder failed to impress the new boss this season – making just three starts – and was shipped out on loan to Fiorentina in the January transfer window. However, with United struggling in the league, and the likes of Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand and Patrice Evra all out of contract at the end of this season, Anderson has revealed Moyes is facing a mass exodus at Old Trafford. – Full Story via Metro
Germany midfielder Lewis Holtby has signed for Fulham from Tottenham Hotspur on loan until the end of the season. The 23-year-old only joined Spurs last year, but has struggled to hold down a regular first team position, and is keen to play regularly for the rest of the campaign in a bid to earn a spot in Germany’s World Cup squad. – Full Story via Kickoff
Chelsea have signed 19-year old French defender Kurt Zouma from Ligue 1 outfit St Etienne for an undisclosed fee, in the region of £12-million. The tall France Under-21 international has penned a five-and-a-half-year deal with the Blues, but will remain at his French club on loan for the rest of the season. – Full Story via Metro
Manchester City will be without star striker Sergio Aguero for until March as they prolific Argentine has been ruled out of action for a month. The forward damaged a hamstring in his side’s 5-1 drubbing of Tottenham on Wednesday, just three games after returning from a month’s layoff owing to a calf problem. – Full Story via Kickoff
Racing Santander’s players refused to take part in their Spanish Cup clash with Real Sociedad on Thursday evening in protest of unpaid wages. The third tier outfit had announced earlier in the week that they would not play the match if the entire board of directors did not resign, as they have not received their wages since September last year. – Full Story via Daily Mail
Italian giants AC Milan have signed Queens Park Rangers winger Adel Taarabt on a loan deal, with an option to buy at the end of the season. Taarabt, who was on a season-long loan at Premier League club Fulham, joins the Rossoneri after failing to win the favour of new Cottagers boss Rene Meulensteen. Taarabt becomes the fourth player to join Milan in a busy January transfer window for the struggling side, who have also brought in Adil Rami, Keisuke Honda and Michael Essien as they look to climb the domestic standings and overcome La Liga joint-leaders Atletico Madrid in the Champions League. – Full Story via Kickoff
Nigeria captain Joseph Yobo has joined Norwich City on a loan deal from Turkish outfit Fenerbahce. Yobo previously spent a decade at Everton, making 258 appearances for the Toffees between 2002 and 2012. Santos president Luis Álvaro de Oliveira has refuted comments made by Neymar’s father claiming his club knew about a €10-million payment made for the Barcelona superstar three years ago. Neymar Senior admitted to receiving a payment for his son from Barcelona in 2011, which was paid to his company N&N. – Full Story via Kickoff
Former Barcelona midfielder Seydou Keita has signed a six-month contract with Valencia, making a return to La Liga after leaving two years ago. “Midfielder Seydou Keita has agreed to join Valencia on a permanent basis, through to June 30th of this year with an option for an additional season,” read a statement on Valencia’s official website.
A referee in Argentina threw away his yellow card in favour of only red cards because a friendly match became so dirty. After dishing out eight bookings by the 78th minute of a ‘friendly’ match between Argentine rivals Estudiantes and Gimnasia, referee Carlos Maglio became so fed up that he gave his yellow card to the fourth official. Maglio warned players that only reds would be given for bad tackles until the end of the match. – Full Story via Kickoff
Libya, Nigeria and Ghana dominate the CAF CHAN Team of the Tournament. The tournament, hosted by South Africa was won by Libya via penalty shoot-outs on Saturday evening, with Ghana finishing as runners-up and Nigeria ending third after beating Zimbabwe 1-0. The three teams have three players each making the side, with the other two coming from Zimbabwe, who lost the third-placed play-off to the Super Eagles. University of Pretoria defender Buhle Mkhwanazi was the only South African to be named among the substitutes. – Full Story via Kickoff
CAF CHAN Team of the Tournament
Goalkeeper: Mohamed Abdaula (Libya)
Defenders: Ali Salama (Libya), Partson Jaure (Zimbabwe), Odunlami Kunle (Nigeria), Joshua Tijani (Ghana)
Midfielders: Kudakwashe Mahachi (Zimbabwe), Mohamed Elgadi (Libya), Jordan Opoku (Ghana), Christantus Ejike (Nigeria)
Forwards: Rabiu Ali (Nigeria), Seidu Bansey (Ghana)
Substitutes: Stephen Adams (Ghana), Peter Moyo (Zimbabwe), Buhlebuyesa Mkhwanazi (South Africa), Mohsine Moutaouali (Morocco), Yahaya Mohammed (Ghana), Abdelsalam Omar (Libya), Ibourahima Sidibé (Mali), Hardy Binguila (Congo), Jean-Marc Makusu Mundele (DR Congo), Erwin Nguema (Gabon), Samuel Ainooson (Ghana)
Fulham boss Rene Meulensteen says he will call on Sir Alex Ferguson to help the Cottagers survive the drop. Meulensteen’s side are currently rock-bottom of the Premier League following their 3-0 defeat to Southampton at the weekend. Despite their precarious-looking position, Fulham remain just four points from safety, but with a string of tough games coming up over the next few weeks. However, boss Meulensteen says he will continue asking advice from the retired Ferguson, under whom he worked during his time at Manchester United. – Full Story via Metro
Real Sociedad striker Carlos Vela has rejected the chance to play for Mexico at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. After a meeting between Vela and coach Miguel Herrera and other Mexican officials on Monday the Mexican FA then released a statement saying: “He did not show the kind of dedication required to play for the national team. Therefore, Carlos Vela will not be called-up.” The last time the striker played for his country was in February 2011 this after falling out with ‘then’ coach Jose Manuel de la Torre. – Full Story via Kickoff Nigeria
Paris Saint-Germain striker Edinson Cavani is set to spend three weeks on the sidelines after picking up a hamstring injury. The Uruguayan was substituted 76 minutes into his side’s 2-0 Ligue 1 victory over Bordeaux on Friday, and a club official later confirmed the club’s record signing will be out for three weeks. The 26-year-old will now miss a host of important matches for the Parisian club, including their top-of-the-table clash against Monaco this weekend. – Full Story via Kickoff
An angry mob of Corinthians supporters broke into their side’s training ground on the weekend, venting their frustration at the Brazilian club’s form of late. The irate fans used wire-cutters to break through the mesh around their club’s Sao Paulo base – which will be used as Iran’s training centre for the World Cup later this year – and attacked some of Corinthians’ players and the coach. Local media report that the invading fans manhandled coach Mano Menezes, striker Emerson Sheik and former AC Milan forward Alexandre Pato, the club’s record signing. – Full Story via Kickoff
Brian McDermott is back working at Leeds just three days after getting the sack. The former Reading boss appeared to have been given his marching orders by the club’s new prospective owner Massimo Cellino last Friday. McDermott missed Saturday’s 5-1 victory over Huddersfield but the club have since done a U-turn and insisted the 52-year-old remains in charge. The almost farcical situation has arisen with the club in the midst of a messy takeover. – Full Story via Metro
Manchester United are weighing up a summer move for William Carvalho after sending scouts to watch the Sporting Lisbon midfielder again at the weekend. David Moyes will be handed a substantial transfer kitty to overhaul his squad at the end of the current campaign and a dominating midfielder remains a priority. Carvalho has drawn comparisons to Patrick Vieira in some quarters due to his powerful presence in the middle of the park. Carvalho, who has also attracted attention from Arsenal and Chelsea, will not come cheap, however. The midfielder is under contract until 2018 and is believed to have a whopping £37million buyout clause in his current deal.– Full Story via Metro
The January transfer window saw a few interesting movements around Europe both on and before transfer deadline day
List of major January deals:
England
Juan Mata to Manchester United from Chelsea (£37.1m)
Kim Kallstrom to Arsenal from Spartak Moscow (loan)
Nemanja Matic to Chelsea from Benfica (£21m)
Mohamed Salah to Chelsea from Basel (£11m)
Kurt Zouma to Chelsea from Saint Etienne (£12.5m)
Aiden McGeady to Everton from Spartak Moscow (undisclosed)
Nikica Jelavic to Hull City from Everton (undisclosed)
Lacina Traore to Everton from Monaco (loan)
Konstantinos Mitroglou to Fulham from Olympiacos (£12.5m)
John Heitinga to Fulham from Everton (free)
Wilfried Zaha to Cardiff from Manchester United (loan)
Fabio da Silva to Cardiff from Manchester United (undisclosed)
Federico Macheda to Birmingham City from Manchester United (loan)
Marco Borrielo to West Ham from Roma (loan)
Abdul Razak to West Ham from Anzhi Makhachkala (undisclosed)
Kenwyne Jones to Cardiff from Stoke (swap)
Peter Odemwingie to Stoke from Cardiff (swap)
Stephen Ireland to Stoke from Aston Villa (free)
Jonas Gutierrez to Norwich from Newcastle (loan)
Luuk de Jong to Newcastle from Borussia Monchengladbach (loan)
Joseph Yobo to Norwich from Fenerbache (loan)
Jermain Defoe to Toronto from Tottenham Hotspur (£6m)
Spain
Phillipe Senderos to Valencia from Fulham (permanent)
Sergio Canales to Real Sociedad from Valencia (permanent)
Seydou Keita to Valencia from Dalian Aerbin (permanent)
Mohamed Mamine Sissoko to Levante (free agent)
Diego to Atletico Madrid from Wolfsburg (permanent)
Italy
Michael Essien to AC Milan from Chelsea (free)
Keisuke Honda to AC Milan from CSKA Moscow (free)
Dani Osvaldo to Juventus from Southampton (loan)
Gael Kakuta to Lazio from Chelsea (loan)
Anderson to Fiorentina from Manchester United (loan)
Michel Bastos to Roma from Al Ain (loan)
Victor Obinna to Chievo from Lokomotiv Moscow (loan)
Adel Taraabt to AC Milan from Fulham (loan)
Helder Postiga to Lazio from Valencia (loan)
Marco Motta to Genoa from Juventus (loan)
Germany
Andres Guardado to Bayer Leverkusen from Valencia (loan)
Milos Jojic to Borussia Dortmund from Partizan Belgrade (permanent)
Kevin de Bruyne to Wolfsburg from Chelsea (€21m)
France
Yohan Cabaye to Paris-Saint Germain from Newcastle (£23m)
Dimitar Berbatov to Monaco from Fulham (loan)
M’Baye Niang to Montpellier from AC Milan (loan)
Jordan Ayew to Sochaux from Marseille (loan)