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Sunday September 2, 2007

Fulham and Portsmouth busy on transfer deadline day

LONDON: Fulham and Portsmouth were the busiest English Premier League clubs on a relatively quiet day of transfer deadline business in England on Friday.

Fulham manager Lawrie Sanchez saw six players arrive at or leave Craven Cottage while Pompey boss Harry Redknapp was involved in four deals.

Meanwhile for the second successive August there was a late deal involving Arsenal and Chelsea, but nothing like as dramatic as Ashley Cole’s transfer to Stamford Bridge this time last year.

Friday’s deal involved Lassana Diarra, the 22-year-old French utility player who moved to Arsenal after two seasons at Chelsea.

Although it was a quiet day for Chelsea, who also sold defender Glen Johnson to Portsmouth, there was plenty of action at west London’s other Premier League club with six players involved in deals at Fulham.

Liam Rosenior and Senegalese defender Papa Bouba Diop left the club with Rosenior moving to Reading and Diop going to Portsmouth.

South Korean forward Seol Ki-Hyeon made the opposite journey to Rosenior while Serbian defender Dejan Stefanovic swapped places with Diop by moving from Portsmouth.

Former England international Danny Murphy completed a late move from Tottenham Hotspur to the Cottage as did Albanian striker Shefki Kuqi, who signed on loan from Crystal Palace.

Portsmouth signed defender Johnson, who has five England caps, from Chelsea for an estimated fee of £4mil.

Pompey were also involved with Middlesbrough in an on-off £5mil deal for midfielder Gary O’Neil who eventually signed for the north-east club late on Friday evening after a medical hitch.

As well as signing O’Neill from Portsmouth, Middlesbrough signed Egyptian international midfielder Mohamed Shawky, who will link up with his compatriot Mido at the Riverside after signing a three-year deal following his move from African champions Al Ahly.

One man making a shorter trip was Curtis Davies who moved across Birmingham from Second Division West Bromwich Albion to Premier League Aston Villa.

Davies, 22, an England Under-21 defender tipped for senior honours, joined Villa on a year-long loan with the move due to be made permanent at the end of the season.

The eventual fee will be £8mil, possibly rising to £10mil.

Villa also paid Swiss club FC Wil £650,000 for Togo midfielder Moustapha Salifou, who played in all three of his country’s matches in the World Cup in Germany last year.

He was Villa’s third significant signing this week after the purchase of defender Zat Knight from Fulham on Thursday.

Honduran international midfielder Wilson Palacios, 23, has also moved to the city, signing on loan from Olimpia with Birmingham City who have an option for a permanent deal later in the season. Birmingham also signed Spanish international midfielder Oubina on loan from Celta Vigo.

Derby County signed Scotland striker Kenny Miller from Celtic on a three-year contract for a fee of around £3mil.

Striker Marcus Bent left Charlton Athletic, relegated from the Premier League in May, for Wigan Athletic, with Caleb Folan moving from Wigan to ambitious Hull City for £1mil, a record for the Second Division club.

Liverpool also signed 19-year-old midfielder Damien Plessi from Lyon.

Manchester City’s Italian striker Bernardo Corradi joined Parma on a season-long loan while team-mate Paul Dickov moved to Crystal Palace on loan.

A late deal rushed through before the midnight deadline saw Nolberto Solano moving from Newcastle to West Ham, who also signed Henri Camara on loan from Wigan. – Reuters

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