The transfer window entered its final days as something actually happened, with Arsenal signing defender Gabriel from Villarreal 5.22pm GMT Right, let’s have a little summary of what has happened today. Or not, as the case may be. 5.06pm GMT Not transfer news, but that old rascal Diego Costa has been charged with violent conduct after the ankles of assorted Liverpool players got in the way of his descending studs last night. The sky blue half of Manchester is bogling. 5.00pm GMT Wigan, Wigan, Wigan. It’s where it’s at.Hearing that Leeds and Wigan are close to a deal for Jason Pearce. Waiting for confirmation but sounds like that one is happening. #lufc 4.50pm GMT It’s all starting to get slightly lively at the end of the day. Our own Dominic Fifield checks in with a Crystal Palace update, with the promise of more to come:Crystal Palace’s busy squad strengthening ahead of next week’s transfer deadline is to continue with the imminent arrivals of Jordon Mutch from Queens Park Rangers and Pape Souare from Lille to bolster the club’s battle against relegation. Negotiations also continue with Manchester United to make Wilfried Zaha’s loan spell back at the club permanent. 4.48pm GMT And some more details on the Gabriel deal are here. 4.45pm GMT A wee addition to the Gabriel news is that not only has Joel Campbell joined Villarreal on loan for the rest of the season, which we knew about, he’s also signed a new ‘long-term’ Arsenal contract, which we did not. 4.42pm GMT Back firmly in the land of speculation, a land in which we are far more comfortable, reports on Argentinean radio suggest that AC Meeeeeeeeelan are sounding out Dungeon Master-a-like Alejandro Sabella for their manager’s gig, should it all go mammaries up (or more mammaries up, perhaps) for Pippo Inzaghi. 4.37pm GMT It's official - @Arsenal have signed Gabriel from Villarreal! Full story here: http://t.co/PTmDsbDkvj #WelcomeGabriel pic.twitter.com/PgkgL21j6GAn actual DONE DEAL! I mean, it’s a deal we all basically knew had happened/was going to happen, but still, beggars, they cannot be choosers in this world of transfers. 4.35pm GMT Since there’s the square-root of eff-all else happening, have a look at this clip of a ‘104-year-old’ running 100m in just under 20 seconds, and wonder whether he really is that old. We may have found the exact opposite of Kanu. 4.24pm GMT White hot news from Guardian Scandinavian correspondent/football editor Marcus Christenson, and Mr Ola Kamara has signed for Molde after his contract with Austria Vienna was terminated recently. Oh yes. That’s right. 4.13pm GMT DONE DEAL! Could be a busy few days at Crystal Palace with the likes of Papa Soare, Jordon Mutch and Wilf Zaha signing, but one man is heading out of Selhurst Park, and that man is Stuart O’Keefe. He’s done one to Cardiff for an undisclosed fee, and this is what he had to say about the whole affair: 4.09pm GMT Another quick round of ‘football club names as films’? Glad you asked:@NickMiller79 The Columbus Crew, a Fast and Furious spinoff@NickMiller79 Abergavenny Thursdays. A gritty documentary about unemployment in South Wales in the Eighties 4.06pm GMT Hhhhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyyyyoooooooooo - here’s the Fiver, from your pal and mine Paul Doyle:Throw a pig’s head at Sepp Blatter and he’d no doubt think it is the first course in another epic Fifa swankfest, one followed by swordfish fricassé, truffled wildebeest and sevruga caviar on a bed of handmade penne and lashed servants. Throw a swine’s bonce at Luis Figo, however, and he’d immediately recall the gruesome way that Barcelona greeted him when he returned to Camp Nou with Real Madrid back in the day. Figo, you see, used to be a gifted and enormously popular and unpopular footballer, and that is pretty much all the Fiver knows about him. Yet we still reckon he would have more legitimacy as Fifa boss than Herr Blatter.Funny we should mention that actually, because since we wrote those opening lines over last night’s kebab this morning, Figo has only gone and declared his candidacy for the upcoming Fifa presidential elections! 3.48pm GMT Hello, Sky Sources. Our old friend. The trusty compadre. The one constant in this crazy, mixed-up muddled-up shook-up world. A warm blanket, a welcoming hug from a lifelong pal. A mug of soup, a roaring fire in winter.Or, from where word reaches us that PSG fancy taking Emmanuel Adebayor on loan. Because another grumpy and half-arsed forward is the best way to turn their season around. 3.35pm GMT DONE DEAL!And boy oh boy it’s a biggie of a whopper. Young Sunderland striker Mikael Manrdon has joined Shrewsbury on loan until the end of the season. Proof. 3.17pm GMT Jurgen Klopp is optimistic that Marco Reus will stay at Borussia Dortmund, despite them floundering at the ugly end of the Bundesliga this season. He said in Die Welt:The boys are 100 percent here and I have a positive feeling that the player we are talking about (Reus) will stay a bit longer. 2.55pm GMT Confirmation of a whisper from earlier....@salvatorebocch has joined #ACMilan on loan until 30 June 2015! #weareacmilan pic.twitter.com/kwNqYOjVes 2.52pm GMT Some transfer news from our correspondent in the North East, Louise Taylor, who reports:Newcastle United are close to signing three highly rated teenagers but are concerned that Moussa Sissoko is seeking a move away from the club.David Concha and Jorge Meré, two Spaniards, and the MK Dons midfielder Dele Alli look set for moves to Tyneside before next week’s transfer deadline – although they will almost certainly be loaned back to their current clubs for the remainder of the season.Everybody knows my agent. So if there is something, they will call him directly.I don’t tell myself that I absolutely want to leave or not. If it is going to happen, then it will. I am good at Newcastle. I continue to work hard so that I have the opportunity one day to play for a very big club. I want to stay in the Premier league and play for one of the big clubs in England. You never know what might happen tomorrow, but I would prefer to stay in the Premier League. 2.44pm GMT Bournemouth are nothing if not persistent. In fact, if they were someone pursuing a target of their romantic affections rather than a football club keen on a football player, the police would probably be involved by now.According to the Birmingham Mail, the Cherries have had a fourth - fourth! - bid for young winger Demarai Gray rejected, this one worth around £3.5million and change. 2.38pm GMT DONE MOTHEREFFING DEAL!And it’s the big one we’ve all been expecting. Wigan the unlikely stars of today.CONFIRMED: We are delighted to announce the signing of Callum McManaman. Full story here http://t.co/QAfK3rhNWD #wba pic.twitter.com/LQiN1Qcvv8 2.36pm GMT Brace yourselves for a slew of ‘football club names as films’, you lucky punters. 2.28pm GMT Doesn’t sound like Everton is going to be a particularly busy place these next few days. Roberto Martinez told the club’s website:January is not the place to find solutions (in the transfer market). Our moment of form, we want to change, but the solutions are in the squad.There are players coming back from injury to create the competition in the squad and I don’t feel it is the window to bring solutions for us...With Arouna Kone being fully fit, I see him as a replacement for Samuel’s position and it is more about trying to get the players back from injury... 2.18pm GMT Hot, hot, hot on the heels of Wigan agreeing a fee for Billy McKay, they’re shipping one out the door, now. Specifically Adam Forshaw, who’s on his way to Middlesbrough.Malky Mackay texte...sorry, said: “A surprise bid came in for Adam, and it was a very good one that we felt was acceptable to us. He said he wanted to talk to them and that being the case, we gave him permission to talk to them. 2.12pm GMT More from the ‘football club names as films’ riff, now.Craig Fawcett has three suggestions:@fraz74 @NickMiller79 Between Chicago Fire, SJ Earthquakes, Colorado Rapids...lots of potential natural disasters in MLS.@NickMiller79 Dulwich Hamlet could be quiet Hitchcock thriller@NickMiller79 How about the cop buddy film - Hampton and Richmond 2.08pm GMT Wigan have agreed a fee for Inverness Caledonian Thistle forward Billy McKay. You know how we know? Because Inverness Caledonian Thistle chairman Kenny Cameron has said so:Following an approach from Wigan Athletic FC late yesterday afternoon and following discussions with the management team, the board of Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC agreed to allow Billy Mckay leave to travel to DW Stadium for discussion of personal terms with a view to an immediate transfer.Billy has never hidden his ambition to compete at the highest possible level and has always conducted himself in a professional manner in this regard. We are grateful to Wigan Athletic FC for the courtesy shown in speaking to us before opening their discussions with the player. 2.01pm GMT “Queens Park Rangers sounds like an episode from The Blackadder I,” offers Ashwin Vishwanath. Not bad, not bad at all. 1.59pm GMT And Fraz gets the ball rolling by answering his own question...@NickMiller79 The obvious one is Queen of the South A romantic western starring Howard Keel 1.54pm GMT For lack of much else to talk about, here’s a new game:@NickMiller79 There is an MLS team called Montreal Impact who sound like a 70s disaster movie The Montreal Impact starring Charlton Heston@NickMiller79 what other obscure football teams sound like 70s films 1.52pm GMT “Please tell me that café in Thailand had Anfield wraps on the menu?” guffaws Mark Jelbert. One hopes. Tom? 1.51pm GMT Looks like AC Meeeeelan are set for another signing, with Mattia Destro heading that way from Roma. Adriano Galliani is quoted in Gazzetta dello Sport as rather coyly declaring that the deal is not yet done, but don’t you worry about it son, it will be. Apparently the initial deal will be a loan for around €700,000, then will be made permanent with a fee of around €16million being paid in instalments. But they’re still haggling over that. Fun! 1.42pm GMT Preach@NickMiller79 There's so little going on, soon you'll be forced to write about proposed "swapsies" between Pannini Sticker afficionados, 1.35pm GMT DONE/EXTENDED DEAL!Big striker Matt Smith has extended his loan deal at Bristol City from Fulham until the end of February. Look, it’s what we’ve got, OK? 1.33pm GMT Tom Watts has word of another football-themed eatery: “I hung out daily at the Anfield cafe in Phuket Town, Thailand back in Dec 2012. Had great food, aged locals and an absolute storm of scarves from across the world hanging from the ceiling, Gerrard pictures everywhere as well as a sign that looked like it had been scalped from the stadium itself. “Run by a really nice Thai family who despite their devotion have never actually been to Liverpool. Almost broke their hearts when I told them I support Arsenal. A few more details here.” 1.11pm GMT Interesting one from Le Progrès in France, who report that Manchester City and St Étienne over a ‘youth academy partnership agreement’, whatever that might mean. Well, actually, it probably means City get the pick of the French club’s kids while they send their own purchased youngsters out to Ligue 1 on loan. But we shall see. 1.05pm GMT And almost as soon as my rump hits the chair, we have our first nomination. Oh yes they do sir, yes they do.@NickMiller79 Do restaurants count? http://t.co/bpUo26xoqJ 12.59pm GMT I once went to a Figo-themed bar in Portugal, which was full of photos of the great man and burnt English people enjoying that classic Portuguese dish: a full English. Been to a footballer-themed restaurant? A Peter Reid-themed pop-up? A Barry Venison bar? Do let Nick know, via email or on the Twitter. He’s back from lunch. Save him. Bye! 12.47pm GMT Aaaaaand, it turns out Figo is completely and utterly legit (I think): 12.40pm GMT So it turns out that the whole Luís Figo-wanting-to-become-Fifa-president thing is true! Here is what he’s told CNN. I care about football, so what I’m seeing regarding the image of FIFA - not only now but in the past years - I don’t like it.I’ve been talking with so many important people in football - players, managers, president of federations - and they all think that something has to be done.I think no one is untouchable in this life. If you think like that you are wrong. Of course [Blatter] is a person that is running the organisation for so long, since 1998, and a lot of people can be the favourite but I can say for me it is a fantastic challenge to try and convince the people to follow me and support me. 12.36pm GMT Hello world. Michael Butler here just jumping in for Nick Miller, who on his way to get some well-earned lunch. What better way to slip into a seamless transfer narrative than to remind Newcastle fans of Xisco: the Spanish striker signed on a £50,000-a-week contract by Dennis Wise and co back in 2008 for £5.75m. 12.20pm GMT Forget the votes, it’s Ginola v Figo in a handsome-off for the Fifa presidencyStrong rumours that Luis Figo is about to declare for Fifa presidency. CNN may tell us more in 10 minutes... 12.17pm GMT Hey, remember that Gareth Bale stuff we mentioned back in 1972, just after this transfer blog started? Well, here’s more of it. 12.11pm GMT Here’s Malaga’s Pepín, who is shortly to become Roma’s Pepín, rocking up at the airport in Italy today.#Roma arriva Pepín, il '96 talento preso dal Malaga: qui per @DiMarzio, con l'amico #Bartra all'aeroporto in partenza pic.twitter.com/gDt7nbdU6M 12.08pm GMT DONE DEA...no, hang on, wait - NEARLY DONE DEAL AFTER THE COMPLETION OF ASSORTED ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURESBREAKING: Just received word from #BHAFC delegation at FA that Beram Kayal granted work permit. More to follow at http://t.co/79awb2jl1R. 12.00pm GMT Taking a break from all this heady transfer news, here’s Brendan Rodgers talking about last night’s defeat to Chelsea. He doesn’t seem to be a big Diego Costa fan.He is in every sense a wrestler: an opponent who looks constantly for a way to apply his strength to your weaknesses, mental and physical. With Liverpool pressing high up the pitch in one of those familiar fast starts, Chelsea were briefly rattled. Passes went astray. Nemanja Matic seemed to be the only player in possession of a defensive instruction manual and Liverpool were finding space on the flanks, with Raheem Sterling a menace cutting in from the left. At which point, enter Diego part one. 11.52am GMT If anyone was worried about Villarreal’s defence after the departure of Gabriel to Arsenal, then worry no more. Looks like they are all set to announce the signing of a replacement, namely Espanyol’s Ivory Coast defender Eric Bailly. That’s according to AS, anyway. 11.48am GMT Not technically transfer news, but it doesn’t look like things will be getting exciting at Aston Villa/Paul Lambert will be sacked soon. Chief executive Tom Fox (great name, Tom), told the BBC:When things aren’t going well, fans bay for that type of blood. That’s not the way that I or the owner are going to make a decision. It’s a false narrative.”I think football’s a funny business and I think to put it all on the manager, again, that’s a bit of a false narrative. There’s a lot of things happening at this football club, and clearly what happens on the pitch is a focal point. Clearly the manager is the one person who can really influence that, so everyone focuses on it. 11.40am GMT ...AKING NEWS! BREAKING NEWS! BREAKING NEWS! BREAKI....According to Sky Sources, Juan Cuadrado will be moving to Chelsea this summer, but only if they stump up the full €35million (about £23.9million) release clause in his contract. Plot, thickening. 11.37am GMT Garry Monk wants to get stuff done, it’s just he’s not quite sure what or when yet. The Premier League’s premier ‘he looks like he could be an estate agent’ manager told the South Wales Evening Post:I am trying to push to see what we can do and the chairman is doing the same. But as usual we have to wait on other clubs and players to see if things are going to go through. We have identified targets and hopefully we can add some more quality. 11.26am GMT Looks like Chelsea will add to their coterie of youngsters who can start checking out Air BnB in Arnhem, for 18-year-old Partizan Belgrade midfielder Danilo Pantic seems to be on his way. The child himself said:In the situation we are now in, going to Chelsea would be the best solution for me and for Partizan. I am not sure when I will be back in Belgrade, I believe in the next day or two, and a transfer should be done this week. 11.15am GMT Feedback.@guardian_sport @NickMiller79 Stick this old story up you're jacksie 11.07am GMT DONE DEAL! AC Meeeeeelan have completed the loan signing of defender Salvatore Bocchetti from Spartak Moscow, for the rest of the season. And yer man said:“I haven’t spoken to Inzaghi yet, but I am happy they wanted me and very happy to be back in Italy, as it’s what I wanted. I hope to get back into the Nazionale too. Full-back or centre-back? I am ready to do anything for Milan.” 11.00am GMT Mark Judd is, like Verbal Kint, the man with the plan: “Re: Gareth Bale dismissing a move to Old Trafford, perhaps if Man Utd offered to call their stadium ‘The Bale Old Trafford’ he might be tempted.”Like it. Perhaps ‘The Cuadrado Bridge’ could be a goer, too. Or ‘The Messi Etihad.’ Or maybe ‘The Cristiano Ronaldo City Ground.’ Any other suggestions? 10.58am GMT In lieu of any big breaking transfer news, sit back and have a read of Marcela Mora y Araujo’s paen to the retiring Juan Román Riquelme:Players such as Riquelme embody the reason I love football. Romantic notions of the role of the No10 in Argentinian football say this is the position where the thinking takes place: the player who pauses. His critics often dwell on the fact that he did not run much (César Luis Menotti: “Since when do you need to run to play football?”) and in Argentina many of his opponents have labelled him pecho frío, literally cold-chested, apparently a phrase born among the gauchos to refer to a horse unwilling to pull a heavy cart and much used in football to describe players who go missing or fail to give the impression of making much of an effort.In the tone of a professional obituary most of the Argentinian press have responded to his retirement by devoting ample column inches to Riquelme today,with La Nación offering a delectable infographic of his career in numbers whileOlé recall his first ever interview under the title “how the legend started” . 10.46am GMT Ameya Badwe is back, discussing something that has let him down in reality, as Camden Market did for me:“R. Morrison’s Reservoir Dog-esque picture has reminded me that I signed him when I was boss of Swansea in Football Manager 2013. He was brilliant at the top of my midfield diamond, but in reality after his burst onto the scene with West Ham he has let me down...horribly. Not signed him since.” 10.33am GMT Could San Iker Casillas play in the Major League Soccer? He doesn’t see why not:I have no problem in saying that I would like to play in the United States. I would like the experience of a different kind of football and if that happened tomorrow it would it would allow me to remember and value the time I’ve spent at Madrid. 10.30am GMT Did we have this yesterday? Good lord, it’s barely 10.30am and the bottom of that barrel is already in sight...BREAKING: A loan deal has been agreed with @ManUtd for midfielder Joe Rothwell. 10.24am GMT In the world of transfer inactivity, the low-level DONE DEAL! is king...Official: PAOK Salonica sign veteran Portugal centre-back Ricardo Costa. pic.twitter.com/iZPpPoi62T 10.22am GMT While the picture is a little creepy, here’s Ravel Morrison in Rome for his medical with Lazio.Ravel in Rome for a medical ahead of June move RT @Laziosiamonoi: Welcome #Morrison! http://t.co/h786ftRPIg #Lazio pic.twitter.com/JIm9VsRP6Z 10.20am GMT Dearie me. Dearie, dearie me...The Santiago Bernabéu stadium will be renamed the Abu Dhabi Bernabéu, according to the Spanish sports newspaper AS.The report has not been confirmed by Real Madrid and indeed the club has not yet explicitly announced that the stadium will change its name at all, but the president Florentino Pérez was caught on camera admitting to a member of the regional government that the stadium will be called whatever the Abu Dhabi investment group IPIC want it to be called. 10.18am GMT And something else from SportMediaSet.it, who reckon...well, I’m sure even if you’re not fluent in foreign you’ll get the gist of this one:Il Manchester United ha rinnovato il contratto di De Gea fino al 2020 con ritocco dell'ingaggio 10.17am GMT Truth, from David Flynn: “Ah Select magazine, it was such a superior publication to the somehow still running Q. Q had been a disappointment every month for quite some time when about two years ago one of its main features was The Stereophonics interviewed by Wayne Rooney. I haven’t bought it since.” 10.15am GMT Here’s an interesting one, from SportMediaSet.it, who have something for us on the future of Juan Cuadrado. BUT, in a twist to rival Citizen Kane, The Empire Strikes Back and the Sixth Sense (he’s dead, it’s a sledge, he’s his father, respectively), this update doesn’t involve Chelsea.No no, for they reckon the latest club to show an interest in the Colombian flyer is Manchester United, who according to them will make an offer of €29million plus Adnan Januzaj for Cuadrado. 10.01am GMT Amusing news (assuming you don’t work in the accounts department at Old Trafford) from your super soaraway Guardian this morning, as it looks like Crystal Palace could be on the verge of signing Wilf Zaha back for a mere £3million. David Hytner taps his nose and says:Palace intend to pay £3m for Zaha, who is on a season-long loan back at Selhurst Park, with a further £3m in add-ons which would be paid if the winger meets performance-related targets.But the deal stands to be some way short of the one that saw Zaha transfer from Palace to United in January 2013, although he was loaned straight back for the remainder of that season. 9.50am GMT Mikel Arteta has signed a new contract, according to his agent. And, let’s face it, he should probably know. Inaki Ibanez told Footmercato.net:“Mikel is no longer free next June, because he now has an extra year on his contract.” 9.44am GMT Our first fib of the morning, as Ameya Badwe emails in to try and grease the wheels:“I have some hot gossip for you. I was on the bus this morning when who do I see in Camden Market? Sami Khedira! Potentially here for a medical with Arsenal????? Me thinks so. (This is totally untrue but maybe a terrible rumor will send this window into hyperdrive!)” 9.37am GMT More bad news for adorably optimistic Manchester United fans, although this one isn’t quite as horses-mouthy as the Bale thing.Andrea Pirlo has been discussing his teammate and possibly most exciting young player in the world at present, Paul Pogba. He said in Telefoot, with translation via Football Italia:For whatever reason they chose not to give him a chance and that is a mistake they will have to live with now. I can’t see that he will ever return to Manchester United. When he first joined us in training at Juventus we knew there was something about him, and in just two years he has become one of the best players in the world. Of course he is going to have options, he knows that. You can’t play at the level he is and not attract attention. But he also knows that at Juventus he is already at one of the biggest clubs in Europe. I have spoken with him, and told him if he carries on working hard and makes the right decisions there is no limit to what he can achieve. 9.23am GMT “Rumour Mill, Rumour Mill, RUUUMOOOURRR MILLL! Rumour Mill, Rumour Mill, Rumour Mill...”Yes friends, it’s here, and this morning your oracle of the half-truths, the whispers and the word on the street brings us ‘news’ that: 9.12am GMT An early break from the carefree joy of transfer nonsense, to bring you the reasonably demoralising but inevitable news that agents have been coining it in again.Owen Gibson writes:Payments to agents acting on international transfers for clubs rose to £155m ($236m) in 2014 according to Fifa figures, with a booming English transfer market accounting for by far the largest slice.The study of the market in 2014 showed that despite the introduction of Uefa’s financial fair play rules, the booming broadcast market and growing commercial opportunities enabled English clubs to carry on spending. 9.04am GMT Let us begin with Gareth Bale, who has been talking to Marca about Manchester United. Is it good news for United fans? Well, no, obviously not, but if you like and youi really try hard you can take solace in the fact he didn’t absolutely, 100%, for certain rule out a move to Old Trafford.He said:I can’t imagine myself at Manchester United. In a recent interview they asked me if I was unhappy at Real and I told them I’m really happy here. I’ve got several years left on my contract, I’m enjoying myself, we’re winning trophies and I want to keep doing that here at Real. 9.04am GMT So then, here we are. This is the situation we’ve found ourselves in. All of us are gathered in this place, and we’ve got ourselves in the situation where we’re all talking about the movement of labour for cash, the trading of humans as if they’re stocks and shares and commodities to be shunted from Point A to Point B.If you look to your left and right, the chances are some people are doing something to benefit the world, but...well, sod it. Let’s face it - you or I will never do that, so let’s just enjoy this frippery, this stuff and nonsense where we pick things from the ether and make mild diversion from them. 9.04am GMT Nick will be here shortly. Continue reading...