Chelsea are yet to make any firm moves on their potential interest in the Aston Villa striker Jhon Durán, and are not planning a move for Karim Benzema as things stand.
West Ham made a loan enquiry for Duran which was knocked back as Villa would prefer to have a replacement sorted first, with Unai Emery’s side still in the hunt in three different competitions.
Crystal Palace are one of the Premier League clubs expected to spend over the next week, and David Ornstein reports that they have made an £18.5m bid for Blackburn midfielder Adam Wharton. Rovers are thought to have turned the offer down, and would want to keep Wharton at Ewood Park on loan until the summer if a fee could be agreed.
Let’s kick off with a deal that might finally be done today: Kalvin Phillips is expected to complete his move to West Ham on a loan until the end of the season, with an option for a permanent deal in the summer. The former Leeds player is due to sign his Hammers contract and be registered in David Moyes’ squad, although they don’t play again until next Thursday against Bournemouth, so there’s no big rush.
Welcome back. It’s deadline day in a week’s time, but barring a sudden change of pace, this window will not come close to the blockbuster spending frenzy of last January.
£388m has been spent so far this month across Europe’s big five men’s leagues, which sounds like (and is) a lot of money, until you compare it to the £966m outlay of a year ago.
So, this window has more a slow-burning, arthouse vibe, one for the true transfer heads. Not much has happened, nobody’s really sure what happens next, but it’s bound to get interesting soon, right?