Brum, City and Utd enter market

Birmingham, Manchester City and Manchester United have all made their first move's in the January transfer window. Birmingham have completed the signing of former Chelsea and Blackburn striker Chris Sutton from Celtic. Sutton, 32, has left the Bhoys by mutual consent and has joined Birmingham until the end of the season. "It's obviously a huge disappointment to lose a player of Chris' quality," said Celtic boss Gordon Strachan. "The club has granted Chris his wish to move on and I would like to wish him all the best for the future." Birmingham have also missed out on Sutton's former Celtic team mate Henrik Larsson from Barcelona.


Manchester City have also made their first move in the market by securing the services of former Bordeaux winger Albert Riera on loan until the end of the season from Espanyol with a view to a permanent move. The 23-year-old has struggled to establish himself at Espanyol since arriving from Bordeaux last summer. "We saw the opportunity when things hadn't worked out there to bring him in," said City boss Stuart Pearce. "He's on loan until the summer and if things work out well for him here we might well keep him on beyond that." Riera, who has been given the number 19 shirt, could go straight into City's squad for Saturday's FA Cup game against Scunthorpe if the club receive international clearance.

Manchester United have splashed the cash today by completing the signing of Serbia & Montenegro international defender Nemanja Vidic from Spartak Moscow for a fee of £7 million. Vidic, 24, has been granted the work permit he had been waiting for and is now expected to join up with his new team-mates on Friday. Manager Sir Alex Ferguson told MUTV: "Good defenders win you things. "This lad is really natural and athletic. You need good defenders and that is exactly what this lad is."

Man United are also closing in on a deal for Monaco defender Patrice Evra. United's chief executive flew to the Principality on Thursday and met with both Monaco and the player's representative Frederico Pastorello. Evra's move is now being described as some '75 percent' complete and Pastorello predicts Monday should see the move finalised. "We had a meeting in my office with David Gill and Monaco as the two clubs and us talked," Pastorello told skysports.com. "It went very well and we expect something to be done by the weekend, you could say it is 75 percent done. "There are a few details to sort out about the deal but by Monday we would hope to be in a position to finalise things. "We also need time to think about a few things with the contract and the details of the deal."

All these moves sound good and all the players are very very decent. The two Man United deals are great and I also believe the Man City move is a good one because it dosen't cost a penny. Chris Sutton is a good player and I think that he will do well at St. Andrews.

If you have any rumours or any other transfers that have been made please tell me them by leaving a comment.

Chelsea, Pompey and Reds in transfer market

Chelsea, Portsmouth and Liverpool have all made new signings todayafter the transfer window opened 4 days ago. Chelsea have completed the loan signing of Portugese midfielder Maniche. The 28-year-old joins from Russian side Dynamo Moscow until the end of the season and is eligible to play in the Champions League knockout stages.Blues boss Jose Mourinho has indicated that Maniche will be Chelsea's only recruit in January.He said: "We will sign nobody or one player in the window. If we sign one player he will be a midfield player."Mourinho's need to further bolster his midfield heightened following Michael Essien's injury during the Blues' 3-1 triumph at West Ham on Monday.


Portsmouth have completed a deal to sign Poland striker Emmanuel Olisadebe until the end of the season. The 27-year-old had returned to Greek side Panathinaikos after failing to impress in a trial at Fratton Park last week - but the move was revived. Details of the transfer were not revealed but Olisadebe said: "It feels good to be back after my trial here."I am excited about the prospect of playing in the Premier League which is the best in the world."

Meanwhile, Portsmouth's on loan Frenchman, Laurent Robert, has joined Portugese side Benfica ending his loan stay at the South coast club. Newcastle paid £10.5m for the 30-year-old in 2001 but he left the club in the summer following a series of arguments with boss Graeme Souness. And he has now signed a three-and-a-half year contract with Ronald Koeman's Benfica side.Robert said: "This is a super club. To be able to play in the Champions League is fantastic and that's why I am here."He added: "They showed a lot of interest in me. I am very happy to be here.

And finally, Liverpool have completed the signing of Villareal's Dutch right back Jan Kromkamp and Josemi is going in the other direction. Krompkamp, 25, has passed his medical and will be officially unveiled at Anfield on Thursday. He could make his debut against Luton Town in the FA Cup on Saturday after a rule-change over the eligibility of new signings in that competition. Josemi, 26, wrapped up his part of the move on Monday. Speaking at a news conference in Spain, Josemi said: "Myself and my family are really happy to be returning."He added: "I'm thankful to Villarreal for giving me this chance."


I think the Kromkamp move and the Maniche move are the best move's out of them all but the Robert deal is a bit dodgy because Robert isn't a great player and I think he will struggle to get into the Benfica team. The Portsmouth signing being honest I know nothing about Olisadebe. Keep looking at the blog because there will be much much more transfer news over the next few days.