As it Happened: Transfer Deadline Day

by James McMahon & Robert Wright

Email all your thoughts, rumours and general ramblings to sportonline@rte.ie

6.07pm News still filtering through about done deals. Wigan have confirmed the signing of Franco Di Santo on a three-year contract
from Chelsea for an undisclosed fee.

6.03pm Ian Harte has signed for Reading.

6.00pm Big Ben chimes in London and the transfer window is now SHUT.

5.58pm Report coming through that Rafael van der Vaart could be on his way to Tottenham from Real Madrid. Need to get the transaction done any second now.

5.56pm BBC reporting that Robinho has joined Milan on a four-year-deal.

5.55pm Blackpool have signed signed striker DJ Campbell for an undisclosed fee from Leicester.

5.54pm Asamoah Gyan's move to Sunderland is completed.

5.51pm Birmingham have signed Spartak Moscow captain Martin Jiranek for an undisclosed fee. The club have also completed the deal to bring Chile winger Jean Beausejour on a
three-year contract for an undisclosed fee from Club America.

5.50pm 10 minutes to go. Will Hodgson get the striker he wants. Doubt it now

5.44pm Rennes' Ghanaian striker Asamoah Gyan deal to join Sunderland is nearly complete. The Black Cats parting with big money here.

5.33pm INSUA on the move - Emiliano Insua has joined Galatasaray on a season-long deal.

5.26pm Juventus have signed Armand Traore on a season-loan deal from Arsenal. The 20-year-old made nine league appearances for the Gunners last term.

5.16pm Leeds United have completed the permanent signing of Adam Clayton from Manchester City. The 21-year-old midfielder arrived at Elland Road on loan at the start of the month.

5.04pm BABEL GOING NOWHERE - Ryan Babel has now come out and said that he is staying at Anfield, despite talk of him going to either Tottenham or West Ham. He has now spoken out on Twitter regarding rumours on his immediate future.
'I'm going no where. LFC all the way. YNWA!!! (You'll Never Walk Alone),' he wrote.

5.03pm Reading have signed Blackburn defender Zurab Khizanishvili on loan for a second time.

4.59pm Stephen from Dublin has been to say that it;s the worst deadline day yet and he blames the recession. The downturn is all encompassing.

4.54pm Robinho has signed for AC Milan on a permanent basis. Deal confirmed on Milan website.

4.36pm Stoke City have reached an agreement with Monaco for the season-long loan of Eidur Gudjohnsen.

4.19pm Jean Beausejour has arrived at Birmigham City to sign a deal after moving from Club America.

4.04pm Celtic have reportedly paid £1.2million for Stokes.

4.00pm With 2 hours to go on deadline day - Wigan have signed Tom Cleverley on a season-long loan from Manchester United.

3.55pm CELTIC COMPLETE STOKES DEAL
Celtic have completed the signing of Anthony Stokes from Hibernian on a four-year deal. The Republic of Ireland international becomes Celtic manager Neil Lennon's 11th signing of the summer. The 22-year-old striker, who has won three caps for his country, was top scorer for Hibs last season with 23 goals

3.53pm Keith McCormack has been disappointed with today's activity and says: 'There have been bigger transfers on the last day of the Leinster Senior League than there has been today.'

3.49pm News from the Irish camp ahead of the Armenia game - Paul McShane has withdrawn from the squad due to a hamstring injury. He has returned to his club. He may be back for the Andorra match seven days from now.

3.46 CLUBS STEER CLEAR OF BIG-MONEY DEALS
Premier League clubs' spending on players this season is heading for a four-year low. Unless any big surprise deals are done, spending on transfers by English top-flight clubs is expected to total around £330million this summer - down 25% on last year and the lowest sum since 2006.

Manchester City will account for more one third of the total spent - they have splashed out £126million - and the club's Brazilian forward Robinho is expected to sign at AC Milan today - he is in Italy undergoing a medical.

Tottenham, meanwhile, have signed Croatian goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa on a season-long loan from Spartak Moscow.
Birmingham have allowed striker Marcus Bent to join midlands rivals Wolves on a four-month loan deal.
Blackpool have signed 19-year-old winger Matt Phillips from Wycombe for an initial fee of £325,000. The England Under-19 player could eventually cost the Seasiders close to £700,000.
The biggest signing in terms of money could be Sunderland's purchase of Asamoah Gyan from Rennes. The Ghana striker has arrived in the north-east but a deal has yet to be agreed.
Birmingham are also pursuing former Arsenal midfielder Alexander Hleb, who is currently out of favour at Barcelona.
The Premier League's overall summer transfer spending peaked at £500million in 2008, and was down to £450million last year. In 2006, the figure was £263million.

3.41pm Fergal Moore wants us to remove the Ferguson/Torres pic. He claims it's blasphemous. Gearóid Fox is also of the same view insofar that he wants to have it down.

3.36pm BOLTON BRING IN YOUNSTER
Bolton have signed Benfica forward Rodrigo Moreno on a season-long loan, subject to the player receiving international clearance.
The 19-year-old, a Brazil-born Spain under-19 international, only joined the Portuguese club last month on a five-year deal from Real Madrid but he has moved to the Reebok Stadium to gain experience. He is reunited with former Real team-mate Marcos Alonso, who joined Bolton in July.

3.34pm KONCHESKY COMPLETES REDS MOVE
Defender Paul Konchesky has been reunited with former manager Roy Hodgson after finally completing his move to Liverpool from Fulham. The 29-year-old has signed a four-year contract, with Reds reserve team players Lauri Dalla Valle and Alex Kacaniklic moving in the opposite direction as part of the deal.

Konchesky was at Anfield to watch his new team's victory over West Brom on Sunday but the completion of his deal was held up by negotiations and medicals for Dalla Valle and Kacaniklic.
The two-cap former England international, who played under Hodgson at Fulham, will provide much-needed competition for Fabio Aurelio at left-back.

3.32pm Liverpool's club doctor is in London if a deal is done quickly for Carlton Cole.

3.30pm Ian Thompson has contacted us to say that Paul Konchesky has signed a 4 year deal with Liverpool FC. News courtesy of LFC TV. Will confirm when we get confirmation.

3.29pm Birmingham City are expecting to sign a striker before the dealine. Alexander Hleb St Andrews deal completed.

3.29pm Brian McCannon has e-mailed and says: 'if Liverpool get £9 mil for Ryan Babel then it will be the greatest transfer coup since Liverpool off-loaded Traore as a supposed 'left back for £2 MILLION to Harry Redknapp's Portsmouth following the Miracle of Istanbul.

3.19pm Liverpool's David Ngog has been spotted in Madrid Airport, with Jose Mourinho also in the building enjoying a Subway BLT.

3.17pm Derrick MacHale has news about Peter Crouch. 'Live sighting of PC in official LFC courtesy car from airport...' Which airport?

3.13pm Colm Humphries is back in touch and adds: 'My brother has just txt me again saying his mate John works beside Goodison Park and has seen Micheal Carrick, get out of a car. Could the medical be completed and Carrick is now going to sign the paper work at the Stadium??? Stay in touch, Colm.

3.10pm Mick O'Dwyer for Aston Villa? Special flight laid on from Farranfore to Birmingham Airport.

3.08pm Scott Parker is staying at West Ham. Tottenham were keen on his services

3.07pm Keith O'Brien reckons that Dublin goalkeeper Stephen Cluxton could be on his way to Liverpool. Now Keith I know somebody in the International Bar - it's a stand-up comic venue and I.......

3.04pm Sunderland's working hard to get the Asamoah Gyan deal sorted. might go the wire.

3.03pm IMPORTANT NEWS - Robinho is really happy to be in Milan.

3.01pm £10million is what West Ham are looking for if Carlton Cole leaves. Mark Schwarzer is staying at Fulham. In the nPower Championship, Tommy Smith is close to a switch from Portsmouth to QPR.

3.00pm Thanks to Adam Roche for his complimentary comments about the tracker.

2.54pm With Babel possibly going to West Ham, Carlton Cole may be Liverpool bound. John Lennon Airport is a busy place today. Com Humphries has contacted us and says: 'My brother works in Liverpool airport and he said he has seen Roman
Pavluychenko leaving the arrivals lounge around 20 minutes ago plenty of time for a medical and to get the deal done.' Thank God for all the bothers, cousins etc that have been e-mailing in.

2.53pm Anthony Stokes has completed his medical at Celtic. Deal done and dusted.

2.50pm BREAKING NEWS - Talk now that Ryan Babel may be going to West Ham. Courtesy of Sky News.

2.49pm Just want to tell Conor McManus that no news has emerged on the talk that Paddy Madden may leave Bohs for Derby.

2.48pm Midfielder Salif Diao has returned to Stoke after signing a new two-year contract. The 33-year-old Senegal international's previous deal expired at the end of the season but his new agreement will also see him take on ambassadorial role in Africa and other parts of the world.

2.44pm John Reddington has been in contact and says that Clint Dempsey is currently doing a medical in Fulham and results being faxed over to Liverpool - fac!. John's cousin plays for Fulham reserves and Dempsey has been in saying goodbye to everyone. Knochesky and Dempsey will be liverpool players before 5pm. We will wait and see!

2.28pm Babel's replacement at Liverpool may well be Carlton Cole, who the Reds have been linked to for several weeks. Reports are coming in that Roy Hodgson has made an official offer to West Ham for Cole.

2.14pm And finally the deadline day madness kicks in! Sky Sports News report that Liverpool's Ryan Babel is currently on his way from Liverpool to Tottenham for transfer talks. Babel is making his way down to London in a helicopter no less, so let the frenzied speculation begin. Babel for Keane? Babel for Pavluychenko? Babel for a packet of crisps? That Harry Redknapp is a wiley wheeler dealer.

Incedently, if you haven't already, I recommend checking out Ryan Babel's twitter feed at http://twitter.com/ryanbabel which is clearly a work of post modern genius. Personal favourites include; 'I thought Jovanovic was a striker', ' Leggooo', and most recently and enigmatically, 'sigh'. He's deep is Ryan.

2.02pm Republic of Ireland international Marc Wilson is believed to be in Stoke for talks about a move from Portsmouth, with Liam Lawrence set to move the other way.

1.55pm Paul O'Sullvan lays down a solid marker for worst email of the day with this gem; 'It must the International deadline for League of Ireland clubs today as well; Some Brazilian winger called NAMA has been spotted in Dalymount Park this lunchtime.'

Mind you, maybe NAMA could sort out just who owns what parts of Dalymount.

1.41pm Fulham have just announced that Mark Schwarzer will be staying, despite some serious interest from Arsenal. With Shay Given staying put too, the Gunners' search for a decent goalkeeper looks to go on. Some vague reports about a late move from Arsenal for Tottenham's Carlo Cudicini, are most likely rubbish.

1.36pm Blackpool have signed Wycombe Wanderers winger Matt Phillips for an initial fee of £325,000. The 19-year-old has joined up with Ian Holloway's side after impressing for the England Under-19 side this summer and could eventually cost the Premier League side close to £700,000.

1.27pm Sunderland are still locked in talks over a £12million deal for Ghana striker Asamoah Gyan, who is still undergoing a medical at the Stadium of Light.

1.24pm An unhappy Owen Sweeney asks: 'Why no mention of Leeds United and their transfer dealing today?'

Well Owen, seeing as you asked so nicely. Leeds' central defender Lubomir Michalik, has joined Roddy Collins former charges Carlisle United on loan until 3 January. The Elland Road outfit have also signed Honduran international Ramon Nunez, who had been on trial at the club.

1.15pm Could Liverpool's striker problem be solved? James Bane thinks so. 'Roy Hodgson has just been spotted at Tallaght Stadium clutching a Liverpool jersey with 'Twigg 7' on the back.'

Well James, I don't want to call you a liar, but....I can't think of any other way to end that sentence. Still, Twiggy would probably be a better option than Carlton Cole. Petter Synnott, meanwhile reckons the Reds may have competition and says: 'Hibs have offered £80,000 for Gary Twigg, Rovers have asked for an increased offer.'

Speaking of Twigg (who is far too good for Hibs by the way), the Scottish striker should find out if his appeal against a daft two-match suspension from the FAI is successful or not today.

1.14pm Midfielder Salif Diao has returned to Stoke after signing a new two-year contract. The 33-year-old Senegal international's previous deal expired at the end of the season but his new agreement will also see him take on ambassadorial role in Africa and other parts of the world.

1.04pm Italy international Mauro Camoranesi has joined Stuttgart from Juventus. Camoranesi has signed a one-year contract with the Bundesliga side, having parted company with the Turin giants earlier today.

'Those who love Juventus will always remember Mauro Camoranesi with affection and gratitude,' read a statement from the club.

12.52pm Chelsea's Di Santo, or Franco Matías Di Santo to his mother, is currently undergoing a medical at Wigan Athletic ahead of a proposed loan move.

12.50pm 'Dean Windass has been seen in Birmingham airport with Doug Ellis holding a card with his name on it,' or so says
Cathal Collier. Unforunately Doug Ellis isn't involved in football anymore and Dean Windass has retired from the professional game, so it's a bit of a mystery as to what they're up to.

On second thoughts, it's probably best not to think about it.

12.43pm Star of transfer deadline day 2008 Robinho, is looking to revisit past glories and make another headline move at the last minute. He's just turned up in a big swanky car in Milan and looks likely to make the move from Manchester City to AC Milan.

12.39pm We've had a spate of emails (OK three) claiming that Turkish side Besiktas are interested in making an offer for Robbie Keane. Sounds dodgy to me, I can't see any Tallaght lad going to Turkey and ending up anywhere but Kusadasi or Gumbet.

Maybe Bodrum if they're loaded.

12.34pm Ohhh, we've been decieved by Harry Redknapp! Despite his claims that Tottenham would not be making any late deals, Spurs have signed goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa from Spartak Moscow on a season long loan.

The Croatian international has gone on to win 80 caps for the senior national side. It still doesn't mean that Redknapp is a 'wheeler dealer' though. Honest.

12.25pm Manchester United have been quiet, almost.......too quiet. It's not hard to imagine Fergie sitting in a darkerened room, perhaps listening to The Smiths and plotting, well, something.

12.16pm Scott Parker has strolled up for training with West Ham, which makes any move to Tottenham look increasingly unlikely. Carlton Cole's future remains unclear however, and if Liverpool were to improve on their £7million bid, it may well be enough to land the striker.

12.10pm Dubious email rumour time. 'Birmingham City midfielder Craig Gardner is currently travelling to meet Everton representatives to discuss a possible £4m- £6m move. According to relatives of the player anyway,' claims Morgan Keating.

Meanwhile Ethel Cardew is hoping the see the Littlest Hobo, played by Robbie Keane, turn up at Parkhead. "You haven't had mention of Robbie Keane going to Celtic again at all - don't rule it out! Remember the transfer deadline in the SPL isn't until midnight whereas the EPL one ends at 5pm so we could have a few big name delas deals being thrashed out for the Bhoys all the way up until midnight.'

Think Anthony Stokes move to Celtic will probably rule out a Keane move to the Bhoys myself.

12.05pm Transfer deadline morning is over! We're moving into transfer deadline afternoon here folks and you can almost smell the excitement.

Harry Redknapp is on Sky Sports News playing down the prospect of any last minutes moves from Tottenham. Whatever they do, they better not call him a 'wheeler dealer' though. He doesn't like that.

11.57am In non-fictional player news, Juventus have announced that they have released French full-back Jonathan Zebina and signed his compatriot Armand Traore on a season-long loan from Arsenal.

Italian news agency Ansa claim that Juve have paid Arsenal €500,000 to take 20-year-old left-back Traore on loan from the Gunners.

11.54am A very dubious email from Cathal McHale claims: 'Rumours abound that Georgie Weah's second cousin has been spotted in Heathrow with a West Ham jersey on and a pair of George's hand me down boots.'

No mention on whether Swiss striker Dewtie Frei or Serbian international Secku Ritichek have been spotted there though.

11.38am Reports that former Chelsea and Barcelona striker Eidur Gudjohnsen is set to join Stoke City on a season long loan deal from French club Monaco. Fulham are also interested, but Tony Pulis' side appear to have the edge.

11.32am Sligo Rovers' striker Padraig Amond is set to complete a move to Portuguese top flight side Pacos Ferreira this afternoon.

The Sligo frontman has flown to Portugal ahead of the deadline and will sign for an undisclosed fee.

11.24am Not transfer related but former Spanish international striker Fernando Morientes has hung up his boots today to become consultant for Spanish television station Telecinco. Cracking player in his day.

11.21am Big money move from the nPower Championship where Reading's Icelandic attacking midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson has joined German side Hoffenheim for a fee reported to be between €5million and €7million.

11.05am Liverpool seem to be occupying the thoughts of many of you lot this morning, with Alan O'Kelly and Eanna Ryan insisting, nay demanding, that Roy Hodgson sign a new striker. There's also an impassioned defence of Lucas in there somewhere, while Ciaran Murphy is foaming at the mouth and howling about a £10million return to Anfield for Robbie Keane.

Elsewhere, Karl Byrne has some tasty rumours as he claims Stephen Pienaar will join Tottenham and that Di Santo will leave Chelsea for West Brom. That last one is almost dull enough to be true. Almost.

10.55am Our very own Tony O'Donoghue has confirmed that all members of the Republic of Ireland squad have reported for morning training, which appears to pour cold water on many of the rumours linking squad members with transfers.

It's also gives me the chance to mercilessly taunt Fionn O'Sullivan who emailed in with the claim that 'Robbie Keane has been seen at Liverpool's John Lennon Airport'. I'm going this one slide Fionn, but you have been warned.

10.44am Birmingham City have confirmed striker Marcus Bent has joined Wolves on a four-month loan deal. Meanwhile, former Arsenal midfielder Alexander Hleb is understood to be on the verge of a move to Birmingham.

10.42am More Liverpool news as reports are coming in that Mario Gomez's club Bayern Munich have rejected an approach for the striker to move to Anfield on loan.

The player's agent yesterday revealed that he was keen on a Premier League move but unless Liverpool are willing to buy him outright, it looks unlikely.

10.33am Some good or perhaps bad news for Liverpool fans - Brazilian midfielder Lucas wants to stay.

The illustrious Stoke City had been linked with a bid for the often maligned midfielder, but it appears that he has no intention of leaving Liverpool.

10.25am So back in the real world, Lyon have announced the signing of Senegal defender Pape Diakhate on a season-long loan from Dynamo Kiev.

9.54am Manchester United fan Mick Callinan has emailed in with the hope that Everton's Jack Rodwell will join United with Michael Carrick going the other way. I don't think there's much to that one outside of tabloid talk, but stranger things have happened.

The enigmatically named "corkmarkin", meanwhile claims 'Cristiano Ronaldo has been seen outside Old Trafford and is on the verge of a sensational return to Manchester United.'

Except he hasn't has he "corkmarkin"? If that's even your real name! You're a very bad person.

9.40am Fulham fullback Paul Konchesky is milling around Anfield, with a move to Liverpool appearing to be imminent. Liverpool's Finnish youth striker Lauri Della Valle looks set to go the other way in a player plus cash deal.

While Konchesky isn't exactly the kind of signing to get hearts fluttering, he is a significant improvement for Liverpool and would go a long way to solving their leftback problem.

Manager Roy Hodgson, is still chasing a striker, with Bayern Munich striker Mario Gomez and West Ham's Carlton Cole being two of the prime suspects.

9.24am With several Republic of Ireland internationals being linked with moves, manager Giovanni Trapattoni has confirmed that players will be allowed to leave their training camp to discuss any possible transfers or undergo medicals.

Surely Robbie Keane couldn't be on the move again? Aston Villa and West Ham have been hovering around, but come on, how many clubs can one player have? Unless of course, he's going for the full set of Premier League sides.

9.08am Sunderland may be ready to break their transfer record with the signing on Ghanaian striker Asamoah Gyan. The frontman has been spotted at Sunderland's Stadium of Light Stadium, but talks are reported to be on-going between the Black Cats and the player's club Renne.

9.04am One of the wilder rumours doing the rounds last night was that David Moyes was on the verge of leaving Everton for Aston Villa, after a flurry of bets of the Scot to take over at Villa Park. Definately not one to put much faith in though.

8.54am The Sky Sports News yellow ticker of hype creaks into life to let us know that Shay Given and Emmanuel Adebayor will be staying at Manchester City. Good job they've just had some comfortable new benches installed in the dug-out at Eastlands.

The news is slightly surprising considering Given's earlier hints that anything other that being the number one goalkeeper would see him leave. Fulham and Arsenal were linked but City were unlikely to make it easy for him to go.

8.45am Well at least we had some real transfer news overnight. Republic of Ireland international Anthony Stokes is on the verge of a move to Celtic, while USA manager Bob Bradley is out of the running for the vacant Aston Villa managerial seat after he signed a new deal with the USA.

Elsewhere Klaas Jan Huntelaar, who had been linked to Liverpool and Tottenham among others, has joined Bundesliga club Schalke.

8.38am 'It's the most wonderful time of the year.' In fairness Andy Williams probably didn't mean transfer deadline day when he sang that, but you take what you can get. Time to grab a cup of coffee, wipe the sleep from your bleary eyes and settle in for the pinacle of daftness that is the close of the football transfer window.