EPL Transfers: Essien signs for Real, Spurs get Lloris, Dempsey

If you are a fan of a selling club, then you’ll hate this day. But if your club is expected to buy a few players, then today’s the day to bite your nails and rub your hands in glee. Here’s how an exciting transfer deadline day panned out. Andy Carroll signs for West Ham on loan | Juventus sign Arsenal’s Bendtner | Man City’s De Jong heads for AC Milan | Esteban Granero joins QPR from Real Madrid | Man City sign Swansea’s Scott Sinclair | Charlie Adam signs for Stoke | Van der Vaart completes return to Hamburg | Berbatov signs for Fulham | Dempsey, Lloris sign for Spurs | Madrid sign Essien | City sign Garcia THE MORNING AFTER Everton capture Oviedo and Kennedy: Some pressure will be off Leighton Baines and that lovely left foot of his. Brian Oviedo, who can play at left-back and left-wing has signed for Everton after a prolonged issue with his work permit. They’ve also signed 17-year-old Matthew Kennedy from Kilmarnock. Another fine talent under the stewardship of David Moyes. Read the Telegraph report here . Villa sign three players on deadline day: Eurosport has reported that Aston Villa have signed three players in a late swoop last night. Belgian talent Christian Benteke— a long term target has finally signed for Villa. Chesterfield’s youngster Jordan Bowery also joins along with Crewe’s Ashley Westwood. Westwood was skipper at his previous club and said after the move: " I see myself as a Michael Carrick-type of player, someone who stays out of the limelight and keeps it simple, retaining the ball and laying it off to team-mates." Fulham bolster attack with Dejagah: Fulham may have lost Dembele and Dempsey, but they’ve signed Berbatov and Ashkan Dejagah who will certainly add some spice to the attack. Martin Jol on Berbatov: “When he’s not scoring goals, he’s ingenuity will help our attack.” Dos Santos ends Spurs nightmare: Giovanni dos Santos, who came amid a lot of fanfare from Barcelona a few seasons ago and barely made it to the team has finally made a choice and moved to Real Mallorca. The fee is undisclosed but we’ll keep an eye on his Mexican tricks. Hope they work in Spain. TRANSFER WINDOW IS SHUT 3.00 AM: DONE DEAL! Manchester City have nabbed Javi Garcia from Benfica for a £16 million. So those thinking that Jack Rodwell will easily get into the team now that Nigel de Jong is gone are wrong. Roberto Mancini has decided to splurge on another defensive midfielder in the squad. 25-year-old Garcia though, has some flair and could put Gareth Barry’s career on the back-burner. 2.45 AM: DONE DEAL! It’s finally sorted! Clint Dempsey is a Tottenham Hotspur player from on. The in-demand American has been holding out for a move to a top club and he finally gets it. Spurs’ style of play will also suit him. Great piece of business by AVB after a few daft sales. 2.30 AM: DONE DEAL! HUGEEEEE!! Hugo Lloris, France’s top goalkeeper has joined Tottenham Hotspur from Lyon. Does that mean Andre Villas-Boas has brought an end to Brad Friedel’s career? Lloris will certainly not be an understudy to Brad and could don the gloves as soon as this weekend. [caption id=“attachment_439197” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Essien will be reunited with Mourinho at Real. Reuters[/caption] 2.00 AM: DONE DEAL! This one’s big. Michael Essien, who was expected to sign for Arsenal has gone to Real Madrid to be reunited with Jose Mourinho. That would add cover for Xabi Alonso’s position. Sami Khedira’s place in the starting XI could also be under threat. In other news, Yossi Benayoun has also been loaned out to West Ham. The Israeli has been wasted at Chelsea and this could resurrect his career. Both pieces of news in this Guardian report . 1.30 AM: DONE DEAL! The calm before the storm is over. Joey Barton has finally completed his loan from QPR to Marseille. Any bets on when he will be shown his first red card? But QPR fans need not worry about a combative replacement. Stephane Mbia has signed for the Rangers and becomes their umpteenth new player this season. Click here for the BBC report report. The calm before the storm 11.10 PM: DONE DEAL! Exciting winger Gaston Ramirez has signed for Southampton. From what we know of the 21-year-old lad, he is a great dribbler of the ball and can, on his day, pull off the most amazing tricks ever. The Saints are certainly going to get his name on the back of their shirts. 9.40 PM: Garcia, Moutinho, Dempsey deals not yet decided: Three big players are up for grabs. Man City should comfortably sign Javi Garcia… but the transfers of Moutinho and Dempsey are still to be concluded. We’re pretty sure the players themselves are shuttling from one place to the other to sort out contracts and registration in time to play this weekend. We’ll keep you updated. 9 PM: DONE DEAL! We’ve heard about this since quite some time and Pablo Hernandez has joined the ranks at Swansea. This is one exciting player and should really entertain the Welsh club’s fans. Well done Michael Laudrup! That’s what a club gets when they have such a huge football personality at the helm. 8.30 PM: QPR are not yet done: The Joey Barton- Stephane Mbia deal is yet to be concluded but it is believed that Mbia is undergoing a medical at Rangers with Barton doing the same at Marseille in France. Should be a delightful affair to see Joey in France. 7:50 PM: DONE DEAL! And here’s the bombshell. Manchester City have signed Inter Milan and Brazil right-back Maicon. Does this mean Pablo Zabaleta or Micah Richards will head for the exit door? Very possible. But be sure to see some marauding runs forward and some long shots from this bull of a defender. Click here for a Fox Sports report. [caption id=“attachment_438979” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Reuters[/caption] 7.15 PM: DONE DEAL! Now the deals are quickly falling in place. Dimitar Berbatov has finalised his move to London club Fulham. Add him to the signing of Petric, and Fulham suddenly look a force to be reckoned with. Wonder if the Bulgarian will play a more retreated role with Moussa Dembele no more to do that for the Cottagers. Click here for the BBC Report. 6.45 PM: DONE DEAL! Rafael Van der Vaart has completed his return to German club Hamburg. The playmaker made his name in the Bundesliga with the team and they have parted with £10 million for his services. Spurs need to find someone to quickly fill the gaps now. Click here for the Daily Mail report. https://twitter.com/HSV/status/241529813469380610 6.05 PM: Eurosport are saying that Manchester City have signed Brazilian right-back Maicon. We’ll awaiting confirmation. 5.50 PM: Tottenham are movers and shakers: This one’s purely from the rumour mill, but considering that it’s usually right… Spurs fans have the right to jump in joy. Hugo Lloris and Yann M’Vila could play at the White Hart Lane if all is to go well. There is stiff competition for M’Vila though, with City also in the hunt. 5.40 PM: DONE DEAL! Charlie Adam signs for Potters: Very odd. A player coveted by a host of top clubs last season has ended up at Stoke City. So he went from promoted club to top club to mid-table club. Well, click here for confirmation. 5.30 PM: Tottenham to swoop on Moutinho: Joao Moutinho, who was oh so impressive at Euro 2012, could be the man who replaces Luka Modrid at Spurs. More on this as we hear. 5.20 PM: DONE DEAL! Fulham sign Kieran Richardson: Versatile ex-Man United player Richardson has signed for Fulham from Sunderland. The player can play at left-back, left-wing, centre-midfield, support striker etc. We haven’t seen him in action as goalkeeper yet. 5.10 PM: Dempsey says no to Villa:  We guessed so. And The Metro has a report  which says that the American is holding out for a move to a top club. He certainly has the quality… it’s just about whether there’s enough time left for him to make the move. 4.50 PM: DONE DEAL! Man City sign Sinclair: Manchester City have signed Scott Sinclair from high-flying Swansea for a fee of around £6 million. While he was guaranteed a start at Swansea, it looks unlikely he’ll be playing as often at City. Even David Silva doesn’t get into the first team! 4.40 PM: Arsenal still pondering: It looks like Arsenal are still pondering over whom to sign. They have been linked with Cheik Tiote and Michael Essien, but nothing concrete yet. Arsene Wenger also said that the Gunners are looking for reinforcements up front… nothing on that too. 4.30 PM: Liverpool eye Daniel Sturridge: With Andy Carroll now gone to West Ham, Liverpool are eyeing the silky left-footed Sturridge from Chelsea. Chelsea, who have a habit of selling/loaning their young stars could be left with only one striker on their books if this happens. And that striker is Fernando Torres. 4.15 PM: Kaka’s future still in the air: Well, with Alex Ferguson saying that there will be no major signings anymore, it looks like Kaka will need to stay put at Real Madrid and come on as a sub for Luka Modric. If he makes the bench, that is. 4.05 PM: Why is no one signing Emile Heskey? The burly striker is a free agent… come on… someone? 3.40 PM: DONE DEAL! Bolton sign Spearing, Sunderland sign Rose: Both are loan deals. Jay Spearing is a pretty decent player but minutes at Anfield wouldn’t come as easily as they would at Bolton. Rose will also get a chance to prove himself at Sunderland. 3.20 PM: Aston Villa’s Dempsey bid accepted: Our view is that Clint Dempsey should either go to a club which plays in Europe or stay put at Fulham. Martin Jol will have to use his best player if he stays. But Villa? That move would certainly a bad choice. But for all you know, this move may certainly happen. 3.10 PM: Van der Vaart move almost done: German newspaper Bild is reporting that Van der Vaart’s move to Hamburg is done. We will confirm when we get official word from Tottenham. Click here for the report. 2.45 PM: DONE DEAL! Juventus confirm Bendtner signing: Juventus, after failing in their attempts to sign Dimitar Berbatov from Manchester United, have opted for Nicklas Bendtner. He had a fair Euro 2012 and was looking to move anyway. Eurosport have confirmed the deal . 2.30 PM: Liverpool’s Charlie Adam having medical at Stoke: One of Liverpool’s top performers from last season could be sealing a move to Stoke. That will be quite the story because Liverpool are short of midfielders. Remember, Lucas Leiva is also out injured for about three months. Interesting developments at Anfield. 2.25 PM: Van der Vaart heading for Spurs exit? Twitter is buzzing with news about Van der Vaart moving back to Hamburg. Spurs’ asking price may be a stumbling block though. https://twitter.com/themichaelowen/status/241406244471062528 2 PM: Arsenal in Essien pursuit: This is the move which will really stir up things in the transfer market. Of course, there’s been the Luka Modric move to Real Madrid and the Robin van Persie to Man United deal… but for Arsenal to snatch Essien from rivals Chelsea would be HUGE!! Reports say that a loan is most likely to be worked out. Read the Daily Mail copy here . 1.30 PM: DONE DEAL! Man City’s De Jong joins AC Milan: The rumour-mongers this season have had a great record. After a report on The Express , it has emerged that Nigel de Jong— combative midfielder and kung-fu fan has joined AC Milan. Milan have been signing players right, left and center (they’ve signed Bojan and Niang a couple days back) after Thiago Silva and Zlatan Ibrahimovic left. The gap for Clarence Seedorf also needs to be plugged. [caption id=“attachment_438029” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] When can I leave? Getty Images[/caption] 1 PM: DONE DEAL! Andy Carroll’s Liverpool nightmare over— at least for this season: £35 million pound striker Carroll has joined West Ham on loan for the 2012-13 season. “It’s great to be here at West Ham and all signed up - I just can’t wait to get started now,” Carroll said. Full BBC story here . https://twitter.com/ESPNFC/status/241425806407135233 12.25 PM: DONE DEAL! Real’s Granero to ply trade at QPR: Why doesn’t this news surprise us? It’s because QPR have been on a buying spree like none other. Esteban Granero, pretty highly regarded at the Bernabeau has joined on a four-year contract. He adds to Julio Cesar, Junior Hoilett, Rob Green, Jose Bosingwa, Park Ji-Sung and Ryan Nelsen. 12 noon: Del Piero to become an Aussie? If reports are to be believed, then the legendary Alessandro del Piero is set to sign for Sydney FC, who play in the Australian A-League. This should be quite a treat. Full report here . 11 AM: Blackburn get Rhodes in record signing: Blackburn Rovers are in the news for the right reasons. They’ve managed to sign Jordan Rhodes, who scored 40 goals last season for Huddersfield in League One for a record £8 million. Click here for the full story.