A flurry of activities on transfer deadline day finished with frozen-out England wingers Raheem Sterling and Jadon Sancho finalising loan deals with rival Premier League clubs.
lvan Toney also sealed a move from English Premier League club Brentford to Saudi Arabia on Friday.
While Sterling crossed the London divide to move from Chelsea to Arsenal, Sancho left Manchester United on loan once again to effectively replace his international teammate at Stamford Bridge.
Sterling was told by new Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca that he had no place in the squad and Arsenal swooped in to sign him.
This was following manager Mikel Arteta’s admiration of Sterling, having worked with the winger at Manchester City during his spell as assistant coach.
Sancho had been at odds with Manchester United manager Erik Ten Hag.
But, in spite of being an 85 million euros (93.90 million dollars) recruit, the Old Trafford club deemed it fit to let him go on loan a second time.
This was after his spell with former club Borussia Dortmund last season.
Also, Toney, once Brentford’s lynchpin in attack, has moved to A-Ahli for 40 million pounds (52.50 million dollars).
This was after the club cashed in on the striker who helped them gain promotion to the top-flight in 2021.
But Toney did his career no favours when he received an eight-month ban for 232 breaches of betting rules, which saw him miss half the 2023/2024 season.
“I’m happy he has an opportunity to try something new in his life and career,” Brentford coach Thomas Frank said.
“We thank him for so many magic moments and wish him all the best for his next chapter. Ivan leaves as a Brentford legend.”
Arsenal were quite busy with players leaving on deadline day as goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale made a permanent switch to Southampton.
This forced the north London club to sign Neto on loan from Bournemouth.
Meanwhile, Eddie Nketiah became the latest academy player to leave Arsenal as he moved to Crystal Palace for around 30 million pounds.
Reiss Nelson also joined Fulham on loan.
Crystal Palace signed centre-back Maxence Lacroix, while Matt Turner arrives for a season-long loan.
Wolverhampton Wanderers had three incoming transfers on deadline day —- goalkeeper Sam Johnstone, midfielder Andre and winger Carlos Forbs.
Chelsea allowed Armando Broja to join Everton on a season-long loan with an option to make the move permanent in 2025.
Scotland midfielder Scott McTominay ended a 22-year stay at Manchester United, a club he joined when he was five years old, to make the switch to Serie A side Napoli for 30.5 million euros.
The Italian club also signed his Scotland teammate Billy Gilmou.
McTominay’s departure allowed Manchester United to sign their primary target Manuel Ugarte from Paris St-Germain on a five-year deal worth 50 million euros.
AC Milan added to their attacking options by
snapping up AS Roma striker Tammy Abraham on a season-long loan.(Reuters/NAN)
