Better late than never! Bargains on deadline day
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- Gudjohnsen is at Britannia for talks after they reached an agreement with Monaco.
- Manchester United starlet Tom Cleverley has joined Wigan on loan for the season despite Fergie saying he was going nowhere. Just goes to show you can't trust a word that man says
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British record signing Robinbo cuts ties with Manchester City after joining AC Milan on four-year deal
Farewell: Robinho is surrounded by media as he arrives in Milan
Robinho has left Manchester City to sign for AC Milan on a permanent basis.
The Brazilian was expected to join the Italian giants on an initial loan deal but Milan agreed a long-term switch, with the forward signing a four-year deal.
Robinho arrived at City in 2008 as the British record signing in a £32.5million move from Real Madrid, but he failed to settle or show his obvious talents in the Barclays Premier League.
Initial reports suggest City could eventually receive up to £22m from Milan, with add-ons, while Robinho may have halved his £160,000 a week Eastlands wages by moving to Italy.
Milan had been expected to sign only Zlatan Ibrahimovic or Robinho, but the fact that the former joined from Barcelona on loan without a fee up front left cash for another swoop.
The Italians are also close to cashing in on Marco Borriello, who is in last-minute talks over a move to Roma worth almost £11m, having been linked to Liverpool and Juventus earlier in the day.
Robinho turned down a move to Turkey earlier this month and told City he was only interested in moving to Italy or Spain.
A bid from Barcelona failed to materialise but he could not conceal his delight when turning up for his medical in Milan today.
''I hope to meet my new team-mates and become champions with them,' he said. 'I am really happy to be here. Milan are a fantastic club. I hope to show that our attack is the strongest in Europe.
'I haven't spoken to Pato or Ronaldinho yet, but I hope the negotiation ends well and I can't wait to meet them. To the fans I say that I am very happy.'
More to follow...
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DEAL! LIVERPOOL: Emiliano Insua joins Galatasaray on a season-long loan deal, and rumours that the defender may have been on his way out of Anfield have proved to be spot on!
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DEAL! ARSENAL: Armand Traore has left Arsenal to join Juventus on a season-long loan deal, and the defender finalises the move after spending the day in Turin!
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HEADLINES: Konchesky joins Liverpool, Cole could follow...Robinho signs for Milan in permanent deal... Gudjohnsen set to join Diao at Stoke... Gyan completes record switch to Sunderland... Schwarzer will stay at Fulham... Hleb and Beausejour sign for Birmingham... Stokes signs for Celtic...
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Better late than never! Clubs go to the wire in bid to land bargains on deadline day
Best foot forward: Paul Konchesky goes through his medical before signing for Liverpool
While Liverpool's doctor waited in vain for a green light to put Carlton Cole through a medical, Robbie Keane was left in limbo over a move to Turkey.
The Spurs striker had even been the target of late interest from Manchester City, who would have considered a swap deal with Roque Santa Cruz.
Liverpool's Ryan Babel, meanwhile, was said to be in a helicopter heading for West Ham when Tottenham declared an interest. Soon after, however, he was tweeting: 'I'm going nowhere.'
Harry Redknapp, disappointed not to have landed Babel, was on his way home when Spurs chairman Daniel Levy suggested he could sign Rafael van der Vaart from Real Madrid - £10million cheaper than was being asked 24 hours earlier.
'I was ready to go home when the chairman contacted me at around 4pm and said we had a chance of Van der Vaart,' said Spurs boss Redknapp. 'He's a quality player, so I said, "Let's give it a crack and push on." He was going to Bayern Munich on Monday for £18m. Then he became cheaper and we could get him for less. It's a last-minute job, but I'm hopeful.'
The bid was lodged by 6pm, which means the Premier League will extend the deadline to allow the transfer to be completed. It was one of those days. Redknapp had been looking for Babel's pace.
'We were interested this morning, we felt he had pace and is lightning quick. We made an enquiry, but it never got close,' said the manager.
Liverpool would not sell unless West Ham dropped their asking price for Cole. It was a mixed day for Redknapp as he awaited confirmation on Van der Vaart. Keane was last night considering a £7m move to Besiktas on a deadline extended to 5pm today, keeper Stipe Pletikosa signed in, Scott Parker stayed put at West Ham and Everton resisted all proposals for Steven Pienaar - despite a sweetener of David Bentley on loan.
Park footballer: Gyan is a Sunderland man after the Black Cats splashed out £13m
Fulham were another club who were interested in Bentley, but ran out of time. Everton, however, did agree to allow Joseph Yobo to join Fenerbahce on loan. Sunderland delivered the biggest signing of the transfer window's last day with Asamoah Gyan's £13m arrival from Rennes.
Stoke and Birmingham were among the biggest movers as fans were left asking of their clubs: 'Why did we leave it until the last day and a mad scramble?'
A recession and a demand for greater austerity will provide the answer as many owners appeared determined to hold on to their cash.
Even so, a late scramble saw agents and managers complain of a backlog of faxes at Premier League headquarters.
While Santa Cruz waited and might have joined either Fulham or Spurs, Robinho's £16m departure to AC Milan meant the Paraguayan must hope he makes Manchester City's 25-man squad.
'I'm staying and happy to fight for my place,' said dazed Santa Cruz. But a relieved Robinho grabbed the No 70 shirt and dreamed of teaming up with Ronaldinho and Zlatan Ibrahimovic as he declared: 'Milan are a fantastic club. I hope to show that our attack is the strongest in Europe.'
The second coup of the day went to Alex McLeish as Birmingham signed Club America's Chilean winger Jean Beausejour hot on the heels of Spartak Moscow captain Martin Jiranek and Barcelona's Alexander Hleb on a year's loan.
Hleb was courted by big clubs but revealed: 'There were many interested - Liverpool, Tottenham and Benfica. Birmingham apparently wanted me more than anyone else, so they were my preference.'
Agent Willie McKay, acting on behalf of Monaco, guided Eidur Gudjohnsen into the grateful arms of Stoke and Jermaine Pennant ended his brief reign in Spain with Real Zaragoza by moving to the Britannia.
And Stoke completed a hat-trick by signing Portsmouth's Marc Wilson, with Liam Lawrence and Dave Kitson going the other way.
Sunderland offloaded Martyn Waghorn to Leicester and Teemu Tainio to Ajax to make way for Gyan's arrival but Liverpool's hopes came to nothing. No Cole. No Mario Gomez. At least Paul Konchesky finally arrived from Fulham.
It brought to a close a summer in which Premier League sides spent the lowest amount for four years, with only one club guilty of the 'kamikaze' spending that so irritated Sir Alex Ferguson.
That was Manchester City, responsible for more than a third of the top flight's £330m outlay. Their £129m spree was a rare sign of excess in a sedate market.
Premier League clubs spent a quarter less than last year, the lowest total since 2006. Chelsea continued last summer's relative thrift as Ramires (£18m) and Yossi Benayoun (£6m) were the only senior players to arrive, while Manchester United spent £23.4m on Bebe, Chris Smalling and Javier Hernandez.
But City bucked the trend. If the arrivals of £200,000-a-week Yaya Toure, World Cup-winner David Silva and Mario Balotelli raised eyebrows, James Milner's £26m move showed the strength of the club's intentions. This is a club who can pay threequarters of Craig Bellamy's wages after his loan move to Cardiff and watch Robinho join AC Milan for half the fee paid two years ago
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arsenal still din sign a GK.
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Chelsea also...
