Transfer news and speculation, 20 August

Ipswich Town's manager, Jim Magilton, has confirmed that the proposed transfer of the Newcastle United striker Shola Ameobi has been called off because of injury. The two clubs had agreed a fee for the 26-year-old and he underwent a medical at Portman Road on Monday. However, after the detection of a hamstring injury which is unlikely to clear up before the end of the transfer window, Magilton has decided to shelve the transfer. "It's disappointing but you have to be careful with hamstring injuries," the Ipswich manager said. "We don't want a repeat of last season when Shefki Kuqi joined us and suffered a hamstring injury in his first game." Ameobi spent six weeks on loan at Stoke City last season as he struggled to make an impact on the first team at St James' Park. The squad of the Magpies' manager, Kevin Keegan, is in a state of flux following the departures of Peter Ramage, Stephen Carr, James Troisi, David Rozehnal, Lamine Diatta and Abdoulaye Faye this summer. With Alan Smith's future also the subject of speculation, there are concerns that Keegan's resources could be severely stretched, with the strikers Michael Owen and Mark Viduka both missing Sunday's 1-1 draw at Manchester United through injury.

Pizarro signs loan deal with Bremen

Claudio Pizarro has completed a loan switch from Chelsea to Werder Bremen. The Peru striker scored 29 goals in 56 games for the German club between 1999 and 2001 before moving on to Bayern Munich. At Bayern he scored a further 71 goals in six seasons before concluding a free transfer switch to Chelsea last summer. However, his first season in the Premier League did not go according to plan and he made only a handful of starts for the Blues and he has now sealed a return to the Bundesliga on loan for a season.

Rising star Davies is Pulis's sixth signing

Stoke City manager Tony Pulis has made his sixth signing with the recruitment of the highly-rated defender Andrew Davies for an undisclosed fee. The 23-year old has signed a four-year contract just eight months after joining Southampton from Middlesbrough following a spell on loan. The chief executive Tony Scholes said: "Andy comes to us with considerable Premier League experience for a player of his age. He is another valuable addition to Tony Pulis' squad."

What the fans are saying

Thumbs up for JT

This is a good 'football' decision. In my opinion [Steven] Gerrard would make the best 'press conference' skipper and JT the best 'on field' leader with Rio [Ferdinand] as the best compromise option. This choice makes the most footballing sense.

Bridgejunky – cfcnet.co.uk

Bitter Red Devils

Terry is good at bottling penalties – He is perfect for the England captaincy!

Coca Cola – redcafe.net

England's best?

[Emile] Heskey is still the best centre forward England has... and he's proved it.

jb4wiganfc – BBC 606

Yesterday's completed moves:

Andrew Davies (Southampton) to Stoke City; £1.3m

Owain Fon Williams (Crewe Alexandra) to Stockport County; Undisclosed

Clayton Donaldson (Hibernian) to Crewe Alexandra; Undisclosed

Ian Craney (Accrington Stanley) to Huddersfield Town; Undisclosed

John Sutton (Wycombe Wanderers) to Motherwell; Free

Nacer Barazite (Arsenal) to Derby County; Loan

Liam Dickinson (Derby County) to Huddersfield Town; Loan

Krystian Pearce (Birmingham City) to Scunthorpe United; Loan

Lenny Pidgeley (Millwall) to Woking; Loan

Scott Wagstaff (Charlton Athletic) to Bournemouth; Loan

Drewe Broughton (Unattached) to Rotherham United; Signed