“Just waiting on confirmation of Said Benrahma’s move to West Ham,” writes Jacob Steinberg. “Barring a drastic last-minute change of events, he’ll join for £30m today. It’s £25m plus £5m in add-ons. It would be a surprise to see West Ham go for King too.”
Bournemouth and Josh King: Jason Tindall is tense as he waits to see how many, if any, high profile players he loses by today’s 5pm deadline, with speculation abounding regarding the futures of Josh King and David Brooks among others.
“In terms of outgoings, you can never predict anything in terms of transfer windows,” said a visibly fidgety Tindall in his press conference this morning. If something pops up at the last minute that you’re not expecting, then circumstances change. I’m not expecting a busy window, sitting here right now.”
King has made no secret of his desire to leave Bournemouth and has described the last two months of uncertainty as the worst of his life.
“Honestly, I don’t know what’s going to happen,” he told Norwegian TV during the international break. “There’s a lot that’s happened. I could have written a book about what’s happened the last two months and it had definitely become a bestseller. If I’m to be honest, it’s been the two worst months of my life. But I can’t give a reason.
“If it had been up to me, I would have already signed for a club and started the season, played four games and been in top form. I think the club would rather me be here but, as I said, I felt like I had done mine and been loyal to the club for many years. We had an agreement between us after what happened in January.”
Manchester United were interested in King, but signed Edinson Cavani instead. West Ham have had what Bournemouth described as a “derisory” offer for the striker rejected, but may move for him again today. The Premier League club have also been linked with Brentford’s Said Benrahma and are reported to have agreed personal terms with him.
Harry Wilson: Liverpool’s Wales midfielder is expected to leave the club today and there’s no shortage of interest in the 23-year-old. Nottingham Forest, Cardiff City, Swansea City and Derby County are all believed to be interested in securing his scrawl, but reports from Wales suggest he is currently undergoing a medical with Cardiff ahead of a £1.2m season-long loan deal. Should Wilson move to Cardiff, Swansea will try to bring in Bristol City’s Kasey Palmer instead.
Manchester United: Ole Gunnar Solskjær has been addressing the ladies and gentlemen of the press about Harry Maguire’s woes before his side’s trip to Newcastle tomorrow night.
“Football is very ... very ... you’re in the spotlight all the time,” he said. “When Harry is in the No ranked team that beats Belgium, that’s a normal day. And then you get the headlines when you get the sending-off, that’s just football for you. There’s so many ups and downs that we’ve got to deal with individually and as a group.
“Harry has got great resilience, I know he’ll bounce back. He wants to play, he wants to work his way out of the last couple of games he’s been criticised for. He picked up a knock just before he came off [against Denmark] so I’m just hopeful he’ll be fit. We had a look at him yesterday and we’ll give him a test today.”
Celtic v Rangers: The first Old Firm derby of the season takes place at lunchtime tomorrow, when Celtic will entertain Rangers at an empty Celtic Park. Their manager Neil Lennon has been talking about how weird an experience it will be for both sets of players to go about their business in spooky silence.
“I think it’s very difficult for this generation of players to go through what they’re going through,” he said. “We’ve adapted as well anyone but it’s a huge ingredient that’s going to be missing: the electricity, the atmosphere, the rawness, the noise, the colour ... it’s going to be a derby like we’ve never seen before. We’re on a good run and we want to maintain that consistency.”
Crystal Palace: Wayne Hennessey was forced off with injury after becoming Wales’s most capped ever goalkeeper when representing his country for the 94th time against Bulgaria on Wednesday night. His injury means Crystal Palace could move for Stoke City’s Jack Butland, who is looking for a fresh start elsewhere after falling behind Adam Davies in the Stoke City pecking order. Butland has also been linked with Liverpool and Southampton.
Taking care of business: A number of players could move from the Championship to the Premier League before stumps at 5pm, with Watford winger Ismaila Sarr among the bigger names expected to move. Manchester United had a deadline day bid for the 22-year-old rejected on the most recent deadline day and may up their bid in an effort to get him to Old Trafford. Brentford winger Said Benrahma, Bournemouth midfielder David Brooks, Norwich midfielder Todd Cantwell and Swansea centre-back Joe Rodon are among others who could find themselves getting promoted from the Championship before the day is out.
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