Confirmed transfers 2012/13

[King Binny]

Facundo Roncaglia - Fiorentina (free transfer)

Fiorentina continue to step up activity in the transfer market by confirming a deal to sign 25-year-old Argentine defender Facundo Roncaglia.

The versatile right-sided defender, who can play at full-back or centre-back, joins from Boca Juniors on a free transfer and is understood to have signed a €500,000-a-season three-year contract.

On the same day the move has been confirmed via a statement on the club’s official website, the player has revealed his past life as a striker.

“As a child I played as a striker, when I was 11 there was a flea ahead of me who you could never snatch the ball from, that flea was Lionel Messi,” the 25-year-old told the Corriere dello Sport.

“I dreamed of becoming like Gabriel Batistuta, I liked how he moved in the middle of the area and every time I tried to emulate him on the pitch.

“It was complicated and I could never score. Then, I was asked to move to defence and begin all over again, I have not looked back since.”

Mounir El Hamdaoui - Fiorentina (undisclosed fee, reportedly 1m)

 

[King Binny]

Ayegbeni Yakubu - Guangzhou R&F

NIGERIAN striker Ayegbeni Yakubu insisted yesterday his move to China was made out of a fierce desire to help his ambitious new club, rather than the huge money on offer.

The former Blackburn Rovers striker is the latest in a series of Premier League footballers to join the Chinese Super League for reportedly enormous salaries, with Nicholas Anelka and Didier Drogba among other recent signings.

British media have reported Yakubu will be paid six million euros (US$7.3 million) a year to play for Guangzhou R&F, although the club has not commented on his salary and he said it was irrelevant.

"After hearing the club's plans, I realized I had to join. Money wasn't a factor," Yakubu said at a press conference to mark the official completion of his transfer, in remarks quoted by Chinese sports website 21cn.

Yakubu, 29, who signed a three-year contract with Guangzhou R&F, said Anelka's decision to join Shanghai Shenhua had sparked a lot of interest among other top players overseas in coming to China.

"Since Anelka arrived, more and more top-flight players are coming to China, and our arrival can help improve the quality of the nation's football," Yakubu said.

Anelka joined Shenhua on a two-year contract reportedly paying 234,000 euros (US$307,000) a week, however his presence has failed to lift his club from near the bottom of the table.

Drogba is set to join Anelka at Shenhua this weekend on a contract that press reports say is worth US$314,000 a week.

Yakubu suggested that any potential culture shock would be eased by the large Nigerian population in Guangzhou, China's third-largest city in the south that is home to thousands of African traders.

"I've heard that there are five thousand of my compatriots living in Guangzhou," he said.

 

[RolandG]

Liverpool have signed................

 

[King Binny]

Hayden Mullins - Birmingham

Blues have completed the signing of experienced midfielder Hayden Mullins from Portsmouth.

The 33-year-old, who can also play as a defensive sweeper or right-back, has put pen-to-paper on a two-year deal for an undisclosed fee.

The former England under-21 international becomes Lee Clark's third Blues signing in as many days.

Mullins, who joined Pompey in 2009, spent the last few weeks of the 2011/12 campaign on loan at fellow Championship side Reading, where he made seven appearances for The Royals during their promotion run-in.

Prior to his time at Fratton Park, he spent six years at West Ham United, and before that he was with Crystal Palace for five years.

He was voted Portsmouth's player-of-the-season at the end of 2010/11 season and gained an FA Cup runners-up medal with Pompey in 2010.

 

[Modo]

Liverpool have signed................

Rodgers first signing....an empty shirt.

 

[King Binny]

Joel Lynch - Huddersfield (free transfer)

Huddersfield Town has fought off competition from a host of interested clubs to sign ex-Nottingham Forest defender Joel Lynch on a free transfer.

The 24 year-old was out of contract at the City Ground and turned down a new deal with Forest before penning a three year contract in West Yorkshire.

Standing at 6' 1" tall, the former Brighton man is naturally a central defender, but has covered in the left full-back position during his career. Born in Eastbourne, Lynch made close to 100 appearances for the Seagulls before moving on loan to Nottingham Forest, who he later joined permanently for a £200,000 transfer fee.

Since moving to the City Ground in 2008, Lynch made 90 appearances - with 39 coming in last season's Championship campaign.

Lynch qualifies to play Wales thanks to his father, who was born in Barry. Although he is yet to make an appearance for his inherited country, he was named on the bench for a friendly against Mexico in May 2012.

Huddersfield Town Manager Simon Grayson is delighted to have Lynch as part of his squad for the 2012/13 season:

"This is a fantastic deal for the Club, because without going into too much detail around six to eight Championship and two Premier League clubs showed a very strong interest in Joel. We've had to be patient and we've worked very hard, but it's all worthwhile and we're delighted to have him here.

"Joel is a strong, athletic, left-sided centre half who can also play at left back. He's a good age and a great lad; he was a big influence in keeping Nottingham Forest up last season

"The fact that he has chosen to come to us is evidence that people are really buying into what we're trying to do here; it's a real coup for Huddersfield Town."

 

[Fabio]

Yakubu=29

 

[Hansern]

I think you have to calculate his age with dogs years.
29. Even other Nigerian fooballers must think he has stretched that one to much.

 

[LeTallecWiz]

Yakubu isn't interested in money? Noooooo ... You just want to try and compete for the UCL, right?

And Hayden Mullins!!!!

 

[RedZeppelin III]

you wonder why clubs don't insist on doing an MRI bone test to verify his proper age . A few years ago for the U17 world cup they age tested the nigerian team and something like 16 of the 30 or 35 players failed ! .

 

[Skullflower]

fucking hell. we still not signed anyone?

 

[Fabio]

So impatient skullfy

 

[King Binny]

Hugo Rodallega - Fulham (free transfer)

Fulham Football Club is delighted to welcome Hugo Rodallega on a three-year contract subject to the player obtaining a work permit. The 26-year-old Colombian international striker joins Fulham on a free transfer.

Speaking earlier today at the Motspur Park Training Ground, Hugo Rodallega said:

“I’m thrilled to have signed for Fulham Football Club. I wanted to stay in England and I’m delighted that I now have this opportunity with Fulham. I would like to thank the staff and fans of Wigan Athletic for three and a half wonderful seasons there. I’m looking forward to pre-season training with the rest of the Fulham squad and starting a new chapter in my career.”

Fulham FC Manager, Martin Jol, added:

“I am delighted that Hugo has decided to join Fulham. There has been a lot of interest in him from other top flight teams in England and abroad, so to be able to add his quality to our squad is a massive boost this early in our preparations for the new campaign. He is a great addition and I think he will contribute very well to our style and philosophy here.”

Replacement for Dempsey?

 

[irishred]

Nah they've lost Zamora, Pogrebnyak and Andrew Johnson recently, so they need forwards anyway.

 

[RolandG]

Weren't there supposed to be 2 exciting signings today? Macca, Count, updates please!

 

[Fabio]

Weren't they this week? It's only Thursday

 

[Oncy]

Mr Rogers will deliver. Have faith lads.

 

[RolandG]

Borini Fee

Liverpool agreed a fee of 12 million pounds ($18.5 million) with Roma for striker Fabio Borini, who would become Brendan Rodgers’s first signing as manager, the Daily Mirror reported.
Rodgers knows the 21-year-old Italian well, having first coached Borini in Chelsea’s youth team and then taking him on loan at Swansea, the Mirror added.

Bellamy Move

Liverpool’s Craig Bellamy is poised to reject a return to hometown club Cardiff City for a shock move Queens Park Rangers.
QPR manager Mark Hughes, for whom the striker played at Manchester City and for Wales, wants to tie up a deal that would involve a nominal fee within a week, the paper added.

 

[barrymac20]

Graeme Bailey‏@SkyGraemeBailey
Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur have agreed a deal for Emmanuel Adebayor, Sky Sports can confirm.

 

[Hansern]

Adebayor will have to take a 100.000 £ wage cut. Will be interesting to see, I'm guessing the'll give him a massive sign on fee.

 

[King Binny]

Maicosuel - Udinese (reportedly €5 million)

Udinese have signed Brazilian midfielder Reginaldo de Matos Maicosuel from Botagofo, the Italian club confirmed today. The 26-year-old joins the Serie A outfit on a permanent basis for an undisclosed fee and has put pen to paper on a five-year contract with the Friuli outfit.

A statement from Udinese read: "Brazilian midfielder Reginaldo de Matos Maicosuel is an Udinese player. Maicosuel has earned the nickname of "the Magician" in his country for his play and dribbling abilities."

This is Maicosuel's second spell in Europe having played for German side TSG 1899 Hoffenheim in the 2009/10 season.

 

[King Binny]

Hamit Altintop - Galatasaray (€3.5 million)

Galatasaray AŞ have signed Turkish international Hamit Altıntop from Real Madrid CF on a four-year contract for a reported fee of €3.5m.

The 29-year-old former FC Schalke 04 midfielder joined Madrid last summer from FC Bayern München but struggled to break into the starting XI. He only made five appearances and scored one goal, in a 6-3 victory at Sevilla FC, as the Merengues clinched the Spanish Liga title.

"I can't express my happiness with words," said Galatasaray board member Abdürrahim Albayrak. "Hamit received other offers and some long negotiations took place. He expressed his wish to work with Fatih Terim, who personally put the effort in to sign him. We made a sacrifice to sign Hamit and so did he to join us."

Hamit Altıntop's 72 international caps and 27 UEFA Champions League appearances will make him a valuable addition to Fatih Terim's squad as they prepare for to enter Europe's premier club competition at the group stage. The Cimbom will learn their opponents in the draw on 30 August.

 

[Fabio]

Looks like that photo is from a 3* resort on the bosphorus

 

[King Binny]

Michele Canini - Genoa (€2.5m)

Genoa have confirmed the signing of centre-back Michele Canini from Cagliari this evening.

The 27-year-old was strongly linked with a move this summer, with Palermo and Torino said to also be interested in his services.

However, it is the Grifone who have picked up the former Italy Under-21 international, as confirmed via an official statement released on their website.

The Marassi outfit are understood to have paid €2.5m to secure the player, with Cagliari keen to cash in on him with only a year otherwise left on his contract in Sardinia.

 

[King Binny]

Danijel Pranjic - Sporting Lisbon (free transfer)

Sporting Lisbon have announced the signing of versatile Croatia international Danijel Pranjic from Bayern Munich on a three-year contract.

Pranjic, 30, becomes the fourth summer addition at Sporting, and will be officially unveiled to Sporting fans on Thursday.

The Croatian, who can play in defence or midfield, joined Bayern Munich in 2009, but was allowed to leave on a free transfer this summer, after the expiry of his contract with the Bavarian giants.

Pranjic featured for Croatia at Euro 2012 earlier this summer, taking part in his side's group-stage fixtures with Italy and Spain.

He will now join Switzerland's Gelson Fernandes, Indian Sunil Chetri and PSV youngster Zakaria Labyad at the club for the new season.

 

[King Binny]

Darren Ambrose - Birmingham City (undisclosed fee, reportedly £1 million)

Blues have further strengthened their midfield ranks by securing the services of Crystal Palace midfielder Darren Ambrose on a two-year deal with a further year's option.

The 28-year-old becomes Lee Clark's fourth signing in less than a week and joins for an undisclosed fee.

Having put pen-to-paper, Ambrose told bcfc.com: "I'm absolutely delighted and buzzing at the moment. I can't wait to get going. It's been a hectic few days to get it done but this is a positive move for myself at this point in my career and I can't wait.

"Hopefully we can improve as a team on last year and go one better,"

Harlow-born Ambrose was an extremely popular player with the Selhurst Park faithful during his three seasons with the South London outfit.

He began his playing career with Ipswich Town in 2001 before his performances for the Tractor Boys saw him earn a move to Newcastle United in 2003.

In 37 appearances for the Magpies he found the back of the net five times, and also became a regular for England under-21s.

In 2005 he moved back down to the capital to link-up with Alan Curbishley at Charlton Athletic.

During his four year stay with the Addicks he made 112 appearances and scored 13 goals, before making the short move to Palace in 2009.

He really found his shooting boots in his first season with the Eagles as he scored an impressive 20 goals.

His goal return also got into double figures last term with ten goals from his 42 appearances.

 

[irishred]

C'mon Binny! Get Fabio Borini in here, I won't believe he's signed until you have him entered in this thread.

 

[King Binny]

C'mon Binny! Get Fabio Borini in here, I won't believe he's signed until you have him entered in this thread.

After 28 pages, finally a LFC signing.

Fabio Borini - Liverpool (reportedly €13m)

 

[King Binny]

Maxi Rodiguez - Newell's Old Boys (free transfer)

 

[King Binny]

Mario Mandzukic - Bayern Munich (undisclosed fee, reportedly €13 million)