Transfer roundup: Wilshere leaves West Ham after agreeing to cancel contract
Jack Wilshere’s disappointing spell at West Ham is over after the former Arsenal midfielder agreed to cancel his contract by mutual consent. It is understood that West Ham will give Wilshere, who had entered the final year of his £100,000-a-week deal, the bulk of his wages to leave. The 28-yearold has struggled with injuries since moving to the London Stadium two years ago and faces a fight to resurrect his career after becoming a free agent.
Wilshere was once regarded as one of the most exciting young talents in England only for injuries to stop him from fulfilling his potential at Arsenal. He moved to West Ham after leaving the Emirates on a free transfer and signed a three-year deal on the insistence of Manuel Pellegrini. West Ham’s board wanted to give Wilshere a one-year contract because of his injury record but bowed to the former manager’s demands.
Wilshere took to social media last night to explain the situation. He wrote: “Unfortunately despite all of my best efforts and intentions, it has not worked out as expected. I have been fully fit for a large period of time at the club, including over the course of the last eight months – training hard every day – but unfortunately have not been given the opportunity to play. Although I am of course frustrated that I was not able to fully showcase what I am capable of at West Ham, I remain convinced I can still contribute at the very top of the game. I am still incredibly hungry, ambitious and desperate to play football.”
West Ham could allow
Felipe
Anderson to join Porto on loan but they want the Portuguese side to pay the Brazilian winger’s £115,000-a-week wages. Porto have until 25 October, when their window shuts, to complete the deal. Jacob Steinberg
Rüdiger and Tomori stay put at Chelsea
Antonio Rüdiger saw a move to Milan collapse and could not facilitate a switch to Tottenham, leaving him to stay and fight for his Chelsea place, at least until January. The 27-year-old Germany centre-half, whose contract runs until June 2022, thought that he was primed to join Milan. Paolo Maldini, their technical director, had spoken to him and told him that he was looking forward to his arrival at San Siro.
But Milan would back out of the deal to have Rüdiger reassessing his options. Paris Saint-Germain had held discussions with his representatives last week but it came down to whether he could arrange a loan to Spurs with the deadline approaching. The deal floundered when Chelsea, who loaned Ruben Loftus-Cheek to Fulham last night, insisted that he signed a oneyear contract extension to protect his value and Rüdiger refused.
Chelsea are loath to let players who have entered the final two years on their deals to leave on loan. Rüdiger’s attitude is that he will take his chances at Stamford Bridge, where Frank Lampard has added to his central defensive options with the addition of Thiago Silva. He also has Kurt Zouma, Andreas Christensen and Fikayo Tomori for the positions.
Tomori turned down the chance to join West Ham on loan late last night. Lampard must also contend with his squad containing three left-backs after Chelsea were unable sell Marcos Alonso and Emerson Palmieri, both of whom were available following the arrival of Ben Chilwell.
Internazionale were unable to afford a loan deal for Alonso, who was available following a half-time row with Lampard during last month’s 3-3 draw with West Brom, and Juventus could not reach an agreement with Chelsea to sign Emerson on loan. David Hytner and Jacob Steinberg
Spurs’ Sessegnon joins Hoffenheim on loan
Ryan Sessegnon has joined Hoffenheim on loan for the remainder of the season as he seeks the regular football that has so far eluded him at Tottenham.
The 20-year-old left-sided player moved to Spurs from Fulham in a £25m deal in the summer of 2019 only to make just 12 appearances in all competitions last season. His one goal came against Bayern Munich in a Champions League dead-rubber.
Sessegnon’s situation has worsened this season, with him having made only one match-day squad – at Lokomotiv Plovdiv in the Europa League, when he did not get off the bench. His prospects at Spurs were hurt when they signed the left-winger Steven Bergwijn in January and they added a new left-back, Sergio Reguilón. David Hytner
Leeds seal deal for Raphinha
Wide players are vitally important in Marcelo Bielsa’s hallmark 4-1-4-1 formation and although predominately left-footed, Raphinha is comfortable on either flank.
The pacy Brazilian winger completed the formalities of his move from Rennes last night for an initial £17m, potentially rising to around £22m. The price is regarded as something of a bargain in France – not to mention a coup for Victor Orta, Elland Road’s highly rated director of football.
Having arrived in Yorkshire on a flight from Brittany on Sunday evening, Raphinha spent the day undergoing a medical and finalising personal terms.
Raphinha, who helped Rennes secure Champions League football last season, has agreed a four-year deal, subject to international clearance. The 23year-old is Leeds’ fourth major signing this window following the arrivals of the forward Rodrigo and defenders Robin Koch and Diego Llorente.
Leeds, who turned the loans of the winger Hélder Costa and goalkeeper Illian Meslier into permanent deals in July, have spent in the region of £100m since winning promotion back to the Premier League. Raphinha will wear the No 18 shirt and could make his debut when Leeds take on Wolves on 19 October. Bielsa is expected to make a move for Norwich’s Todd Cantwell. Louise Taylor
Rangers and Celtic beef up midfield options
Steven Gerrard finally got his midfield wish as Rangers beat the transfer deadline to sign the South African Bongani Zungu, while Celtic also made a late swoop for the Milan and Uruguay left-back Diego Laxalt. Zungu’s move finally came on a season-long loan deal. PA Media