There are only a few hours left until the winter transfer market closes and nobody wants to be left behind. Most of the clubs around the world are working hard to reinforce themselves or drop ballast before 11:59 p.m. tonight. Many want to get resources that allow them to continue to shine, but in many cases the reinforcements intend to give a twist to their ranking situation.
This is the case of Chelsea. The English team has broken the market with an investment above what is imaginable. At the moment, it has already spent 208 million euros, according to data from the Transfermarket website, on eight signings and it is still pursuing a few more. The proper name of the day at Stamford Bridge is Enzo Fernández. The Argentine could travel to London if Benfica accepts an offer, which according to various media amounts to 120 million euros.
The London team needs to refloat its qualifying situation and that is why it has invested 70 million in the Ukrainian Mudrik, 38 in Madueke and Badiashile, 30 in Malo Gusto, 12.5 in Andrey Santos, 12 in Fofana, and 11 in Joao Félix. In total, 208 million euros.
Another of the surprises on the last day of the market seemed to be the signing of Francisco Alarcón, Isco, by Union Berlin, a modest player who has become big and is now second in the Bundesliga. The Andalusian had traveled to Germany and passed the medical examination, but at the last minute the deal fell apart.
“During the course of the talks, we realized that our negotiating partner was no longer willing to move within the framework originally discussed,” Isco’s representation agency Gestifute told Bild. The German newspaper also quotes Union Berlin’s sports director, Oliver Ruhnert, who has confirmed that the deal has been broken: “We would have liked to see Isco with us, but we have our limits. Contrary to previous agreements, these were exceeded today , reason for which the transfer was not made.
The Sky pay channel details that Isco’s contract with Union will have an option for one more year. Isco has been without a team since December and his last team was Sevilla after having gone through Valencia and Real Madrid where he arrived in 2013.
This morning the loan of Joao Cancelo to Bayern Munich from Manchester City was also made official. A dispute with Pep Guardiola has ended with the player leaving the English team. Cancelo, 28, joined “on an initial agreement until the end of the current season,” Bayern said. The German club has the option to make the transfer permanent for a price of 70 million euros ($76 million).
Cancelo, who has scored five goals and assisted 11 more in 98 Premier League appearances for City, will give Bayern more defensive defense and an additional attacking threat. “João is a player we have been thinking about for a long time because we really appreciate his qualities. He fits perfectly into our system with his attacking style of play and dynamism, and his mentality and experience fit our team very well,” Bayern sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic said.
Another winger, in this case the Spanish Pedro Porro, has said goodbye to Sporting de Portugal to sign for English Tottenham Hotspur, where he will pursue his “dream”, but he stressed that he is “very grateful” to the Portuguese club. “I am very happy for this step, but I am leaving a club that has given me everything. I am very grateful. I hope everything goes well for them,” he declared at the Lisbon airport before leaving for London.
Porro, 23, signs for Tottenham after weeks of long negotiations between the two clubs. The Extremaduran winger, a native of Don Benito, joined Sporting on loan from Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City and quickly became one of the key figures of the Portuguese team. After two years on loan, Sporting decided to permanently sign Porro, who is now saying goodbye to Lisbon after 12 goals and 20 assists in 98 games.
On the other hand, the winger Héctor Bellerín has no longer trained this Tuesday with FC Barcelona and has traveled to Lisbon to pass the medical examination and sign for Sporting de Portugal, becoming Porro’s replacement. Bellerín, who ends his contract with Barcelona at the end of the season, did not count for Xavi Hernández.
It will be the third casualty for the Catalan team, after the withdrawal of Gerard Piqué and the departure of Memphis Depay to Atlético de Madrid. The winger arrived at Barcelona at zero cost, but he never established himself in the position.
On the other hand, Bryan Gil has already signed with Sevilla to complete his second spell at the Nervión club. The left winger arrives on loan from Tottehma until the end of the season. “I am very happy and excited to return to the club that saw me grow. I will have to earn Sampaoli’s confidence to play as many minutes as possible”, he declared in his presentation.
Bryan Gil, 21 years old and an absolute international on four 4 occasions, arrived at Sevilla’s youth academy at the age of 12, in the juvenile category, made his debut with the first team in January 2019 with Pablo Machín as coach and, after two loans to Leganés and to Eibar, he was transferred two summers ago to Tottenham for about 25 million euros plus the pass of the Argentine winger Erik Lamela.
After serving on loan at Valencia between January and May of last year, the winger from Barbate (Cádiz) returned to London, but this season he has not hatched with Spurs either, with whom he has barely added 185 minutes of official competition distributed in eight sections of different parties.
The Andalusian club also incorporates the Franco-Senegalese Pape Gueye, 24, until the end of the season. He is a defensive midfielder with great experience despite his youth, as evidenced by the fact that he played the last World Cup in Qatar with the Senegal team, with which he reached the round of 16 and was eliminated by England.
