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Transfers: Festy Ebosele completes move to Istanbul Basaksehir and Villa eye Rashford

Festy Ebosele is on the move
Festy Ebosele is on the move

Republic of Ireland international Festy Ebosele has completed a move to Istanbul Basaksehir from Udinese.

The 22-year-old wing-back has penned a three-and-a-half-year deal with the Turkish Super Lig club, who are currently seventh in the table.

Istanbul Basaksehir ended St Patrick's Athletic's Conference League journey in the summer when they prevailed in a two-legged play-off. However they subsequently failed to make it to the knockout stages.

Ebosele spent the first part of this campaign on loan at Watford. He had initially agreed to stay at Vicarage Road for the season but cut short his stay to seal a switch to Istanbul.

Danny Mandroiu: 'Rovers was top of my list'

Danny Mandroiu has committed his future to Shamrock Rovers after signing a new multi-year deal.

Mandroiu returned to the Hoops last summer following a spell at Lincoln City. He was initially signed until the end of the year, but Shamrock Rovers confirmed on Friday that he is staying at Tallaght Stadium long term.

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery says Ollie Watkins wants to stay at the club after Arsenal made a bid for the striker.

Watkins was the subject of a rejected offer from the Gunners earlier this week, reported to be £60m.

The striker reacted by scoring in Wednesday's Champions League win over Celtic, tellingly tapping the badge in celebration.

However, fellow striker Jhon Duran has joined Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr in a deal understood to be worth up to £71m.

Arsenal are keen on Ollie Watkins

Duran's move to Al Nassr was confirmed on Friday, with the fee for the Colombia international the second biggest Villa have received behind the £100m Manchester City paid for Jack Grealish.

His departure means Villa are looking for attacking recruitments.

With that in mind, the Birmingham club are said to be exploring the possibility of signing Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford before Monday's deadline.

Rashford has been frozen out of Ruben Amorim’s squad at Old Trafford, with the United boss saying after Sunday’s win over Fulham he would rather select 63-year-old goalkeeping coach Jorge Vital.

Villa are looking for attacking players and boss Unai Emery has identified the 27-year-old as a target.

Any move would likely be a loan deal and Villa would have to find a way of financing Rashford’s hefty wage demands if the player was interested in a switch to Villa Park.

Millwall have made Wolves midfielder Luke Cundle their fourth signing of the January transfer window.

The Lions have landed the 22-year-old on a long-term contract for an undisclosed fee understood to be in the region of £1m.

Cundle rose through the youth ranks at Molineux and made his Premier League debut in the 2-0 win at Tottenham in 2022.

He follows Ajay Matthews, Tristan Crama and Aaron Connolly into the Den this month as Millwall look to confirm their Championship safety.

Championship strugglers Plymouth have signed Ukraine international defender Maksym Talovierov for what the club says is a record fee.

The 24-year-old, who has joined the Pilgrims from Austrian club LASK, has signed a three-and-a-half year contract at Home Park.

Plymouth did not disclose the size of the transfer fee but it is understood to be in excess of £1.5m.

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