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Friday’s transfer round-up: Maurizio Sarri hints at Gonzalo Higuain signing as Marko Arnautovic left out West Ham squad

Relive all of Friday's transfer news, gossip, rumours and done deals

Friday 18 January 2019 17:18 GMT
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January transfer window 2019: Premier League transfer round-up

It was a quieter Friday in the January transfer window as deals edged towards the line but not quite over.

Chelsea remain in hot pursuit of Gonzalo Higuain with a loan deal which would see the Argentinian join the Blues until the edge of the season still being negotiated, while Eddie Howe confirmed that no bids had been received for Callum Wilson.

Marko Arnautovic was dropped from Manuel Pellegrini's West Ham squad with the striker not in the right frame of mind to play after it was reported that his move to Shanghai SIPG had broken down. However, Chinese Super League rivals Guangzhou Evergrande are now also considering a move for the Austrian.

Relive all of Friday's transfer stories below.

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Good morning and welcome to today's Independent transfer live blog.

The January window is upon us with the Premier League’s biggest clubs set to spend, spend, spend as the sales re-open.

We'll bring you all the latest news plus all the done deals and the juiciest gossip throughout the day right here so don't touch that dial.

Without further ado, off we go.

Ben Burrows18 January 2019 07:40
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To Chelsea where their search for a striker could finally be over.

The Evening Standard reports the Blues hope to seal a deal with Juventus over a deal to bring Gonzalo Higuain to Stamford Bridge by lunchtime today so he's eligible to face Arsenal tomorrow.

There remains work to be done with the Argentine currently on loan at AC Milan and the Italian giants more keen on a permanent sale rather than a temporary one.

Ben Burrows18 January 2019 07:45
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Over to Liverpool where a surprise target has emerged.

Schalke's Weston McKennie is the object of Jurgen Klopp's affection with the Reds boss said to be a big fan of the USA international.

The Sun say the 20-year-old could be available for £20m.

Ben Burrows18 January 2019 07:53
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Tottenham are actively looking sign a forward on a permanent deal this January, in order to ease the pressure on a stretched squad after the injury to Harry Kane.

Although Kane himself is hopeful of another quick recovery like last season, the threat to Spurs’ season that the injury represents has led to a change of approach regarding the January market.

The club and Pochettino have realised the need to bring in another option - especially with Son Heung-Min on Asian Cup duty with South Korea - and have been meeting in the last few days to discuss potential options.

Tottenham have already resurrected previous interest in two Spanish-based attackers, Malcom of Barcelona, and Antonio Sanabria of Real Betis.

Ben Burrows18 January 2019 08:05
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Arsenal's Aaron Ramsey is set to join Juventus in the summer but could move even earlier than that.

The Welsh international is out of contract in the summer and with no new deal forthcoming is free to talk to foreign clubs with the Italian champions winning the race.

He'll join for nothing on July 1 as the likes of Bayern Munich, PSG and Real Madrid miss out with the Times reporting he's put pen to paper on a deal worth £300,000 per week.

Nice work if you can get it.

Ben Burrows18 January 2019 08:18
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Manchester United are ready to double Marcus Rashford's wages to close to £150,000 per week to keep him at Old Trafford.

That's according to the Mirror who say a host of Europe's top clubs are keen on the England international.

Ben Burrows18 January 2019 08:33
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West Ham have apparently had two offers for Genoa's Krzysztof Piatek rejected.

The Mail reports that the Hammers are interested in the 23-year-old Polish striker this month with AC Milan also keen.

Ben Burrows18 January 2019 08:46
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Back to Chelsea who look like they're going to be busy over the final fortnight of the window.

The Blues are said to be finally closing in on a deal for Zenit's Argentina international midfielder Leandro Paredes.

The move will cost upwards of £31m according to the Express.

Ben Burrows18 January 2019 09:00
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Premier League clubs are continuing to earn and spend more money than the rest of Europe with Manchester City the most expensively assembled squad in history, a Uefa report has revealed.

The European Club Footballing Landscape report, the 10th edition of the governing body's look at the financial health of clubs in its 55 member associations, shows that England's top-tier sides have the biggest revenue and the highest wage bills.

In 2017, Premier League clubs' aggregate revenue came to 5.3billion euros (£4.6bn), almost double that of La Liga (£2.5bn) and the Bundesliga (£2.4bn) and considerably more than Serie A (£1.9bn) and Ligue 1 (£1.4bn).

United top the list for total revenue, standing at £593million for 2017, less than £1m more than Real Madrid, though the Old Trafford club are projected to fall down the order in the 2018 list.

There are 13 Premier League clubs in the top 30 and that is down largely to television money, which accounts for 54 per cent of clubs' total revenue.

Ben Burrows18 January 2019 09:15
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Speaking this morning Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has confirmed that Marouane Fellaini has suffered an injury.

"He'll probably be (out) at least three or four weeks," Solskjaer said. "He's got a calf problem and that's sad because there's X factors in different players and we all know Felli's X factor.

"Then again, he'll be working hard to get back in when all the big games are coming as well."

That doesn't mean he'll be going into the transfer market, however, he says.

Ben Burrows18 January 2019 09:23

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