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Leicester sign Youri Tielemans on loan from AS Monaco

The youngster joins from the Ligue 1 club having enjoyed an impressive 18 months in France

Thursday 31 January 2019 21:03 GMT

The 10 strangest January deadline day transfers

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1/10The 10 strangest January deadline day transfers

The 10 strangest January deadline day transfers

Andrey Arshavin – Zenit to Arsenal, 2009

The deal to sign Russian international midfielder Arshavin, who went on to score 23 goals in 105 appearances for the Gunners, was a long drawn out dramatic affair that appeared would never cross the line on deadline day ten years ago with the deal not officially ratified until February 3 owing to the Premier League checking whether all necessary paperwork had been completed in time.

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The 10 strangest January deadline day transfers

Benjani Mwaruwari – Portsmouth to Manchester City, 2008

Lots of layers to this one, so bear with me. Reports have it that Zimbabwe striker Benjani fell asleep in Southampton airport on deadline day subsequently missing two flights on his way to signing for City, causing the deal to almost be scuppered as time nearly ran out to get the paperwork sent off. It was later sanctioned by Premier League officials but only after City had tried to back out of the deal.

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The 10 strangest January deadline day transfers

Peter Odemwingie – absolutely nowhere, 2013

Odemwingie, who had a transfer request to leave West Brom rejected days earlier while the club also rejected a bid from QPR, drove to Loftus Road seemingly in the belief that a transfer was imminent. The only problem was, it wasn’t. In a bizarre misunderstanding, Odemwingie was barred from entering and had to drive all the way back without his desired move.

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The 10 strangest January deadline day transfers

Rafael van der Vaart – Real Madrid to Tottenham, 2010

It was an anxious wait to see if Dutch midfielder van der Vaart would join Spurs in 2010 when a paperwork problem, as always seems to crop up, put the move in jeopardy. The Premier League, though, granted special dispensation for the transfer to go through after looking into the technical problems that hampered it.

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The 10 strangest January deadline day transfers

Andy Carroll – Newcastle to Liverpool, 2011

Fresh from losing Fernando Torres to Chelsea in a record-breaking £50m transfer to Chelsea earlier on deadline day Liverpool pressed the big red button labelled ‘PANIC’ and signed Carroll for a club record £36m, the paperwork eventually being completed just minutes before the deadline.

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The 10 strangest January deadline day transfers

Mike Arteta – Everton to Arsenal, 2011

Players have also swayed late moves in their favour as in 2011 with Everton midfielder Arteta. The Spaniard had been the subject of several early offers from Arsenal, deemed too low, but Arteta played his hand very late on deadline day, telling Everton he wanted to leave and would take a pay cut if necessary.

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The 10 strangest January deadline day transfers

Hatem Ben Arfa – Newcastle to Hull (loan), 2014

Hull left it very late to complete the signing of Ben Arfa on loan in January 2014. The Frenchman was given permission to leave Newcastle late on deadline day and, to make matters worse, he got lost on his way to Hull, but eventually turned up at 11.30pm.

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The 10 strangest January deadline day transfers

Benik Afobe – Bournemouth to Wolves (loan), 2018

Deadline day confusion can become too much sometimes and this proved the case for Bournemouth man Afobe who revealed that he cried tears of joy after his return to Wolves was confirmed 20 minutes before the window shut in 2018, with the deal pendulum swinging between being on and off several times on the day.

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The 10 strangest January deadline day transfers

Jack Hendry – Dundee to Celtic, 2018

Dundee defender Hendry was another to be signed on deadline day with mere moments to go as Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers left it extremely late in dramatically swooping for the rival defender with bitter enemies Rangers prepared to hijack the deal on the day as it appeared that Celtic were going to miss out.

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The 10 strangest January deadline day transfers

Louis Rooney – Plymouth to Hartlepool (loan), 2017

It might not be the most headline of signings on a January transfer deadline day but it may be one of the latest. With just 17 seconds to go before the 11pm deadline the deal to sign striker Rooney was officially finalised.

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Leicester City have announced the loan signing of midfielder Youri Tielemans from AS Monaco in a deal until the end of the season, with Adrien Silva moving in the opposite direction.

Tielemans, who completed his medical on Wednesday, arrives at the King Power with a reputation as one of Europe’s young rising stars having enjoyed an impressive 18 months in France.

The 21-year-old has started 20 of Monaco’s 22 league games this season, scoring five goals and creating a further 19 chances.

He joined the Ligue 1 club from Anderlecht in 2017 for £22million.

Speaking to Leicester’s official website, Tielemans said: “I’m really excited to get going. The Premier League is one of the best leagues in the world and when I was young, I always watched Premier League games. I’m really happy to be here and I’m excited to get started.

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“It’s a big family. Everybody is really kind and really good with me. I think it will be really good here.”

Tielemans started his career with Anderlecht, signing his first professional contract in July 2013, aged just 16.

He went on to make his Champions League debut three months later, becoming the youngest Belgian player to ever feature in the competition.

Tielemans made 185 appearances for Anderlecht in all competitions over four seasons, scoring 35 goals, and helped the side to two Belgian Pro League titles.

Tielemans went on to join Monaco in the summer of 2017, making 55 league appearances for the side to date.

On an international level, the youngster made his debut for Belgium in November 2016 and was part of the nation’s 2018 World Cup squad.

Silva, meanwhile, joins Monaco on loan until the end of the season after failing to make an impact at Leicester since arriving from Sporting Lisbon for £22m in 2017.

The Portugal international is highly rated by Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim.

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