Ozil to Arsenal confirmed.
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I liked Ozil, hope he flops now.We come not to play.Comment
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Boo - Ozil talking about his move to Arsenal. Must have been on the drink already as he's talking about winning titles!Comment
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Manchester United transfer news: Deal for Athletic Bilbao midfielder Ander Herrera hangs in balance amid Spanish tax issue - plus Marouane Fellaini deal remains uncertain
Midfield star understood to be keen of £30.5m move
IAN HERBERT
MONDAY 02 SEPTEMBER 2013
Manchester United’s hopes of driving through the £30.5m transfer of Ander Herrera from Athletic Bilbao appeared to be fading tonight, as Marouane Fellaini’s bid to join the club from Everton descended into acrimony and Leighton Baines’s hopes of making the same move appeared to be lost.
An extraordinary climax to the window, which raised serious questions about United's buying strategy, saw them desperately seeking a way through the complexities of the Spanish tax system, which thwarted their attempts to secure 24-year-old box-to-box midfielder Herrera. With that deal in doubt, Real Madrid's Sami Khedira entered the picture as a possible back up option. It is understood that United - whose pursuit of a midfielder has turned into a disaster after the failure to secure Barcelona's Cesc Fabregas - enquired about Khedira this morning without making a firm offer. Though United were hopeful of securing Herrera in late afternoon, sources close to the player felt the prospects of a move were fading five hours later.
Fellaini, whose signature had appeared more straightforward, was forced to drive to Everton's Finch farm training ground and lodge a transfer request with manager Roberto Martinez. Baines appeared to be resigned to staying at Everton after chairman Bill Kenwright dug in his heels and rejected a £15m bid for the player - the sixth bid for the full back to have been tabled by United this summer. A joint bid for the two players of nearly £38.5m - tabled by United in the last 48 hours- is still not enough for Kenwright, who wants at least £26m for Fellaini and £18m for Baines. His reluctance is compounded by the failure to secure the Porto midfielder Fernando as a £15m replacement for Fellaini.
After the rejection of a £26m bid for Herrera last week, United lodged a £30.5m bid early today which triggered the player's buy-out clause. That created potential for a huge logistical problem, because the only way for Herrera to trigger the buy-out clause would be to pay out the sum in full himself and seek reimbursement from United, whose payment to the player would accrue VAT at 21 per cent - a further £4.5m. Experienced football lawyer Ian Lynam, of the Charles Russell practice, said tonight that the hurdles involved in Herrera laying his hands on the money to buy out his contract would be insurmountable in the eleventh hour of a transfer widow. But the obvious way around the problem would be United agreeing to pay the fee into the La Liga's offices, which hold Herrera's contract, and just agree a club-to-club deal later. This was the solution Bayern Munich reached when when signing Javi Martinez from Bilbao last summer.
Manchester City's pursuit of Martinez was derailed because of the tax problem. But the problem can be overcome between two clubs with cordial relations. The buy-out clause, which all Spanish players have, is a way of preventing Barcelona and Real Madrid marching in and buying smaller clubs' best players.
There were conflicting reports tonight concerning the arrival of three United 'emissaries' - as the Spanish media described them - at La Liga's offices. One media organisation said a United contingent had left without securing the Herrera deal.
Everton were confident that they had persuaded Chelsea's Romelu Lukaku to sign from Chelsea on a season's loan, having allowed Victor Anichebe to talk to West Bromwich Albion. The club also retained hope of singing Wigan Athletic's James McCarthy, regardless of the outcome of Fellaini's late break for Old Trafford.
The view from Goodison Park was that Fellaini's transfer request made no material difference, since the price United had been offering was too low. The evaporation of hopes that Brazilian Fernando also affected the Belgian's hopes of leaving. Martinez was hopeful enough of securing the player to travel to London for a work permit hearing early today. But Everton's valuation was considered too low and sources in the Portuguese city said that the player did not want to leave for club of Everton's standing
It was clear from early in the day that Baines would not be leaving, with the premium valuation Kenwright has put on him a reflection of his talismanic role at the club as well as his individual contribution.
By 9.30pm, United's only activity had been sending Nick Powell out to Wigan Athletic on loan and Dutch youngster Marnick Vermijl to NEC Nijmegen in his own country, on loan for the season.
Stoke City manager Mark Hughes secured Steven Ireland from Aston Villa. Liverpool's hopes of securing Shay Given came to nothing.Thanks very much for beingComment
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Stan Collymore @StanCollymore
COMPLETED!!
Sessegnon done to WBA
@talkSPORTComment
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Got this text off a Scum mate:
"Joke mate. Think his buyout clause was around £20m until it expired around 2 weeks ago!
Pathetic effort by Gollum & Woodworm the new Chief Exec on all attempted deals so far.
Embarrassing."
I replied:
"Cheer up, it's not all doom & gloom- you might be able to coax Phil Neville outta retirement."
Radio silence in response.
crackoff:
3rd place. Worst champions ever.
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Seeing Cazorla and ozil link up will be pretty frightening for a lot of teams. If arsenal had planned this window a little better they could have made themselves challengers this year IMO.K ris90210Comment
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Quite the statement from Arsenal paying that amount for Ozil and his wages.
Not what they need like but an excellent player.Comment
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Ah, I bet RedCafe is a great place to be right now. 
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Lukaku to Everton seemingly likely but the Fellaini deal seems to be on fire on most accounts!
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They've bought an excellent player but at the detriment of the entire team IMO. There are so many problem area's in Arsenals team that Ozil will not fix all their problems.Comment
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Weird stories about why the Herrera deal went wrong.
Man United impersonators turned up to broker the deal by all accounts.Comment
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