English Premiership
City sign Sinclair, Maicon
2012-08-31 16:21
Scott Sinclair (Gallo Images)
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Everton's Bafana Bafana midfielder Steven Pienaar scored an amazing goal against Aston Villa in the English Premiership.
London - Manchester City completed a double swoop for Inter Milan defender
Maicon and Swansea winger Scott Sinclair as the Premier League champions
set the pace in the frantic final hours before the transfer window
closes on Friday.
With only a few hours left to bring in new
players before the window shuts until January, England's top-flight
clubs are engaged in a frenzy of last-minute wheeling and dealing.
City
boss Roberto Mancini has endured a frustrating time in the transfer
market since the end of last season, but there has been a late flurry of
activity at Eastlands and his 6 million move for Sinclair was followed
by the surprise capture of right-back Maicon for 3 million, as well as
the arrival of former Arsenal goalkeeper Richard Wright on a free
transfer.
Mancini may not be satisfied with just those three deals
and he has also been linked with bids for Benfica midfielder Javi
Garcia and Fiorentina defender Matija Nastasic.
To make room for
his fresh recruits, Mancini sold Nigel de Jong to AC Milan, while
Paraguay striker Roque Santa Cruz could be on the move to Malaga.
Fulham
boss Martin Jol sealed a significant coup for his club as he signed
Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov from Manchester United for 5 million.
Berbatov
rejected interest from Juventus, Fiorentina and Tottenham to be
reunited with Jol, who worked with the forward at Spurs.
"I'm delighted to have signed for Fulham and I look forward to playing under Martin Jol once again," Berbatov said.
"As soon as I was aware of Fulham's interest my decision to join was an easy one to make."
Jol
also brought in former England left-back Kieran Richardson from
Sunderland, who then landed Tottenham defender Danny Rose on loan as a
replacement.
Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers continued his Anfield
clear-out as Scotland international Charlie Adam was sold to Stoke for 4
million, while fellow midfielder Jay Spearing joined Bolton on a
season-long loan.
Rodgers has been looking to bring in American
forward Clint Dempsey from Fulham and that deal could still be on even
though Aston Villa have had an offer accepted by the Cottagers.
"We're hopeful of adding to the squad. There are a number of players we're looking at," Rodgers said on Friday.
Across
Merseyside, Everton are close to signing Bryan Oviedo from FC
Copenhagen after agreeing a fee for the Costa Rica defender.
Tottenham
also look set for a busy day after Holland midfielder Rafael van der
Vaart headed to Germany to re-sign for his former club Hamburg and
Mexico forward Giovani Dos Santos agreed a move to Real Mallorca.
That
could prompt a significant spending spree from Spurs boss Andre
Villas-Boas, who is reported to be interested in Porto midfielder Joao
Moutinho and Lyon goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, who was reported to be at the
club's training ground to finalise his transfer.
Swansea, needing a
replacement for Sinclair, are hoping to sign Valencia winger Pablo
Hernandez for 5.5million and the Spaniard is undergoing a medical at the
Liberty Stadium.
Arsenal allowed South Korea striker Park Chu-young to go out on loan to Celta Vigo with a view to a permanent switch.
Nicklas
Bendtner also looks to be heading out of the Emirates Stadium as the
Denmark striker is reportedly undergoing a medical with Italian
champions Juventus.
QPR boss Mark Hughes has already signed a host
of new players since the end of last season, but he is still in the
market for more and confirmed that Marseille defender Stephane Mbia is
en route to London for a medical.
Mbia, 26, could join QPR as part
of a swap for Joey Barton, who has been in the south of France for
talks with Marseille this week.