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Manchester City have completed the signing of Crystal Palace defender, and captain, Marc Guehi, for £20m. Guehi had been garnering interest from other clubs such as Liverpool, Arsenal and Bayern Munich but Pep Guardiola’s side have won the race for the centre-back by paying a fee in this window rather than waiting for his contract to expire in the summer.
Liverpool are now looking at alternatives to Guehi, such as Inter Milan’s Alessandro Bastoni and Borussia Dortmund’s Nico Schlotterbeck, while Chelsea have opened talks to sign star Rennes defender Jeremy Jacquet, and are also reportedly interested in Lucas Paqueta. Reports from Brazil say the West Ham midfielder prefers to return to his home country but a switch to another European club hasn’t been ruled out.
In a month that has already seen Ruben Amorim and Enzo Maresca lose their jobs, there could yet be more high-profile sackings on the horizon with Thomas Frank’s future at Tottenham under serious threat. Spurs fans turned on the Dane after suffering a dismal defeat to relegation contenders West Ham on Tuesday. Oliver Glasner’s job at Crystal Palace is also under consideration after the Austrian claimed he had been “abandoned” by the club in an extraordinary outburst following the Eagles’ loss at Sunderland.
Manchester United are looking to strengthen before the January transfer window closes. In midfield they have lined up Joao Gomes, Carlos Baleba, Marcos Llorente and Elliot Anderson as targets – Man City are also said to be interested in Anderson – while Nottingham Forest defender Murillo is being looked at to reinforce the defence. The club have also rejected several offers for defender Harry Maguire whose contract is expiring.
Follow all the latest transfer news, gossip, rumours and done deals in The Independent’s live blog below
Celtic favourites to sign Fofana
Celtic appear to be favourites to sign David Datro Fofana on a permanent deal after Chelsea recalled the striker from his loan spell.
Fofana was with Turkish club Fatih Karagumruk for the first part of the season but Chelsea are keen to sell him after the 23-year-old has made limited impact at Stamford Bridge since a £10m move from Molde in 2023.
Celtic are seen as favourites to secure his signature as they try to overhaul Hearts in the Scottish Premiership title race, although Championship side Derby are also said to be very interested in bringing him on board.
The Ivory Coast international has also had loan spells at Burnley, Union Berlin and Goztepe and nearly joined Charlton on deadline day in the summer but a deal couldn’t be sealed in time, necessitating his move to Turkey.
Will Castle19 January 2026 22:00
Tottenham boss Thomas Frank delivers defiant message amid sack rumours
The Spurs boss reiterated his confidence, saying: “I have just been feeling the trust along the way. I have said that after every match.
“I had lunch with Nick (Beucher), Johan (Lange) and Vinai (Venkatesham) today, so all good.
“I know it is part of the media circus and the only thing I am focused about is tomorrow. As long as we win football matches and make sure we do that, win enough, then everyone will support us.”
Will Castle19 January 2026 21:30
Harrison makes loan move to Serie A
Leeds winger Jack Harrison has completed his expected loan move to Fiorentina, the Premier League club have confirmed.
The 29-year-old, who has made just one Premier League start this season, has joined the Italian outfit for the remainder of the campaign.
La Viola hope the arrival of the former Manchester City youth player can give them a lift in their battle against relegation. They are currently 17th in Serie A, above the relegation zone only on goal difference.
Harrison joined Leeds on a permanent deal in 2021 but has since had two loan spells at Everton.
A statement from Leeds read: “Everyone would like to wish Jack well during his time away from the club.”
Will Castle19 January 2026 21:00
Quinten Timber leaves Feyenoord under a cloud after Robin van Persie bust-up
Quinten Timber is on his way out of Feyenoord after a spat with boss Robin van Persie.
Timber, who is the twin brother of Arsenal star Jurrien, has been with Feyenoord since 2022 and his contract was up at the end of the season anyway, but has now agreed a move to Marseille after publicly criticising Van Persie.
Fabrizio Romano reports that the midfielder has agreed personal terms with the Ligue 1 side and negotiations between the clubs over a fee are at the final stage.
Van Persie benched Timber for the home game against Sparta Rotterdam at the weekend, citing his lack of work ethic and the player hit back after the game, saying: “I think it’s a shame what the coach said, that it happened this way. It’s happened a few times now that the coach doesn’t protect the player. You can have an opinion, but say it to my face. This was the limit.”
Will Castle19 January 2026 20:30
Liverpool turn to Schlotterbeck after Guehi disappointment
We reported earlier that Liverpool are eyeing Alessandro Bastoni after missing out on Marc Guehi and another name that could solve their centre-back need is Nico Schlotterbeck.
In December, it was reported that Liverpool had chatted to Schlotterbeck’s representatives and that interest could now be reignited given Guehi will soon be a Man City player.
The 26-year-old German is reportedly not interested in renewing his contract at Dortmund, preferring a transfer away, and is currently valued around £50m.
Will Castle19 January 2026 20:00
Arsenal interested in Ayyoub Bouaddi
Arsenal are supposedly increasing their interest in Lille youngster Ayyoub Bouaddi.
Reports in France say that the 18-year-old midfielder, who has been linked with the Gunners for some time, could be the subject of a January swoop with Mikel Arteta’s side taking “formal steps” towards signing the player.
The France under-21s star has been superb for Lille and has attracted interest from Chelsea in the past, with PSG also throwing their hat into the ring. Bouaddi recently extended his Lille contract until 2029 to strengthen the bargaining position of the club.
Will Castle19 January 2026 19:30
Chelsea ‘willing to sell’ Enzo Fernandez, with Real Madrid lurking
Chelsea are willing to sell midfielder Enzo Fernandez for the right price, alerting Real Madrid to a potential opportunity.
Madrid have long been admirers of Fernandez, who is said to be open to a move to the Spanish heavyweights, and Chelsea are now considering selling, according to reports from Teamtalk.
The Argentine international, who lifted the World Cup with his country in 2022, signed from Benfica for £106.8m back in 2023 but is not thought to be entirely off-limits for a sale, providing Chelsea’s valuation is met.
Real are keen not to miss out on their man as they did with Martin Zubimendi joining Arsenal from Real Sociedad last summer.
Will Castle19 January 2026 19:00
Oleksandr Zinchenko set for Arsenal exit
Oleksandr Zinchenko’s loan deal with Nottingham Forest did not really work out but the Arsenal man looks set for another temporary exit, this time to Dutch giants Ajax.
According to Dutch publication De Telegraaf, the two clubs are finalising the finer details of a loan deal until the end of the season.
The 29-year-old has made just 10 appearances in all competitions while on loan at Forest and he will leave the City Ground imminently.
Will Castle19 January 2026 18:39
Scott Parker plays down Ekdal rumours
Reports have linked Burnley defender Hjalmar Ekdal with a move to Nice but Scott Parker has played down that speculation.
“At this present moment in time, Ekdal’s been in and around things,” he said.
“There may be an option there, but at this present moment in time, that’s not something that we’re really active on, but again, we’ll see how things go.”
(AP)
Luke Baker19 January 2026 18:00
West Ham still keen on Charlie Cresswell
West Ham remain interested in Toulouse’s Charlie Cresswell despite Wolfsburg pushing hard to try and sign the centre-back.
That’s according to Sky Sports, who say the French club will not listen to offers below £22m and therefore they have rejected offers from Wolfsburg so far.
Cresswell, 23, was of interest to West Ham in the summer and they are weighing up several options for a new centre-back this month.
Charlie Cresswell has starred for Toulouse (REUTERS)
Luke Baker19 January 2026 17:25