Transfer news LIVE: Arsenal failures, Man Utd fans snubbed, Hazard backed for Chelsea exit

Transfer news LIVE: Saturday February 2

• Arsenal failed to get three deals over the line on transfer deadline day – here’s why
• Man Utd target gives verdict on being tipped to join some of Europe’s biggest clubs
• Chelsea priced a Premier League rival out of a move for one of their outcasts
• Liverpool once sanctioned a switch only to make a last-minute u-turn and cancel it

11.20 UPDATE: Paul Pogba reacts to Man Utd exit

Manchester United star Paul Pogba is sorry to see Marouane Fellaini leave Old Trafford.

The midfielder has penned an emotional farewell to the Shandong Luneng new boy.

“My bro I wish you all the best in your new club,” Pogba wrote. “I’m gonna miss you here man thanks for all the advice, for your help.

“Only [a] few real brother in football and you are one of them. Love my bro.”

10.37 UPDATE: Chelsea tipped to sack Maurizio Sarri

Chelsea will get rid of Maurizio Sarri ahead of the 2019/2020 campaign, according to former Arsenal star and Blues fan Paul Merson

“I don’t think Sarri will be there next season,” Merson said. “Chelsea can’t go on like this and they won’t finish in the top four playing like that.

“I’m sure he wants to win something, but I think he might have had enough. I’ve said before that Maurizio Sarri should be careful what he says, and he got his answer at Bournemouth.

“To question his players and have a go at them in public the way he did is dangerous if you’re Chelsea manager. Look what happened to Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte. OK, he got a tune out of them against Tottenham in the Carabao Cup, but that was the biggest game of their season.”

10.20 UPDATE: Miguel Almiron to Newcastle claim

Newcastle boss Rafa Benitez will have sought the advice of DeAndre Yedlin before signing Miguel Almiron this week.

That’s according to pundit Pat Nevin, who said: “For £20m that’s a lot of money for a Paraguayan player coming from Atlanta.

“But his numbers are good over there, he’s an attack-minded player, he’s a creative player who also scores goals as well but we know it’s a massive jump coming to the Premier League.

“Looking at Newcastle just now I’m generally interested in Rafa and what Rafa generally does is get it right. I’m sure he’s asked [DeAndre] Yedlin. Yedlin will know at least a bit about him. He’s in touch with the American game as well and he’s not made that many bad decisions.”

10.05 UPDATE: Unai Emery confirms plans

Unai Emery has confirmed Arsenal wanted to sign three players during the course of the January transfer window.

“The club was working all we can,” Emery said. “We were speaking about the possibility of maybe taking three players, but only if they can come here with our conditions, and also if we think they can help us with good performances, better than the players we have here.

“Only Denis Suarez joined and we’re happy. The club worked very well.”

Next up for Arsenal is Sunday’s Premier League showdown with title-chasing reigning champions Manchester City.

09.45 UPDATE: West Ham refusal

West Ham shelved plans to sign Maxi Gomez until the summer because the striker wanted £80,000 a week, it has been said.

Manuel Pellegrini was in the market for a talismanic forward in January as he sought to add a bigger goal threat to his team.

And West Ham chiefs were happy to meet the £43m release clause written into Gomez’s Celta Vigo contract.

However, Bleacher Report claim the deal fell through because West Ham refused to meet his salary demands.

09.30 UPDATE: Tottenham boss disappointed

Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino admits he could have done with Daniel Levy loosening the purse strings during the January transfer window.

“I am a person that is so happy and trying to help the progress of the club,” Pochettino said. “I said in the last press conference not always my idea is the same as the club’s or the chairman’s or the people that are in the club.

“In the moment we take some decisions because sometimes we are forced. I wanted to strengthen the squad but if we cannot strengthen and cannot sign I need to stick and be with the progress of the club.

“I am disappointed because we are in a good position. And with more help from some players… we can not use the excuse we aren’t a real contender. We will dream we will fight until the end to be as high as we can.”

09.15 UPDATE: Arsenal brutally slammed

Arsenal “conned” Ivan Perisic by making him an “impressive proposal”, Inter Milan boss Luciano Spalletti has fumed.

“As for Perisic, there was this story on the market, but he is a professional, understands his role and yesterday it was already a very different mood,” Spalletti said.

“These things happen in the transfer window, the player received an impressive proposal and was tempted. However, he then realised it was not a true offer, that he’d been conned, and took a step back.

“Now he’ll resume training and as soon as his mind is back fully on Inter, we’ll let him play.”

09.00 UPDATE: Man Utd fans snubbed

Marouane Fellaini opted against thanking Manchester United’s fans as his exit was confirmed on Friday.

“Huge thank you to everyone I have worked with during my time @ManUtd,” Fellaini tweeted.

“I have made some great friends and wish them and the club every success for the future #manchesterunited”

Fellaini has left United for a lucrative move to the Chinese Super League with Shandong Luneng.

08.45 UPDATE: Eden Hazard to Real Madrid latest

Thibaut Courtois wants Real Madrid to raid Chelsea for his Belgium international colleague Eden Hazard.

“I [would] choose Eden, of course,” Courtois said. “I really like him, but the choice is up to the board.

“I do not know what will happen. That is not a question for me, but for the chairman and the management.

“The team is what it is now. Karim Benzema is in a good shape and scored 17 goals. [Gareth] Bale started well, but then had to deal with injuries.”

08.30 UPDATE: Arsenal to sell Mesut Ozil?

Arsenal might offload Mesut Ozil to free up funds and space on their budget, claims former star William Gallas.

“The fans are upset with Ozil and Emery knows this,” said Gallas, who played for the Gunners between 2006 and 2010.

“He made the choice to start Ozil on the bench to try see if he would get a reaction from the player and it is now down to Ozil to make this happen.

“If he doesn’t perform, Arsenal may consider selling him so they can use the money from the transfer and his big wages to buy a more effective player.”

08.15 UPDATE: Bayern Munich plan confirmed

Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odoi remains a target for Bayern Munich, says the Bundesliga giants’ CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge

“I guess [Bayern sporting director] Hasan [Salihamidzic] is a bit like Uli [Hoeness],” Rummenigge said. “We also had transfers in the past that didn’t work at the first attempt but at the second.

“And that’s what we will work on now. To lay down a marker costs money. We want the best quality players here at Bayern and Hasan is absolutely convinced of that player.”

Hudson-Odoi handed in a transfer request in a bid to join Bayern, but Chelsea rejected it as they are eager to keep hold of him.

08.00 UPDATE: Liverpool u-turn

Liverpool academy graduate Stephen Warnock has revealed all on the time Anfield chiefs pulled the plug on a move to Blackburn.

“We were on our way to Blackburn, we’d agreed,” Warnock said. “We’d been told we could speak to Blackburn so on the way down there we were talking. We agreed terms and things like that.

“I got in the car to go to the ground to do the medical and then I got a phone call around 8 or 9 o’clock.

“The deal was off, Liverpool didn’t want to do the deal. So I turned round and went home.”

07.45 UPDATE: Chelsea demand

Chelsea forced West Ham to end their interest in Michy Batshuayi by insisting the Hammers pay £80,000 a week in wages, reports claim.

Batshuayi looked set to head to the London Stadium on deadline day with Manuel Pellegrini keen to sign a new striker.

But ultimately he ended up at another of Chelsea’s cross-city rivals, Crystal Palace, after a last-ditch agreement was made.

Bleacher Report have now claimed Batshuayi’s West Ham move fell through because Chelsea wanted his wages covering, on top of a £2m loan fee.

07.30 UPDATE: Man Utd target speaks out

Manchester United transfer target Felix has opened up after the Red Devils and Liverpool were named among the clubs interested in signing him from Benfica.

“I’m not scared by the numbers being bandied about, the illustrious comparisons proposed by the media or interest from the biggest clubs on the planet,” Felix said.

“If anything, I’m flattered. That’s today’s football for you and players need to take note of it. I’m a professional and I’m so lucky to be advised as well as I have.

“I have a dad, Carlos Sequeira, who was a player, is a PE teacher and worked as an fitness coach, so he knows very well how things are in our world.”

07.15 UPDATE: THREE Arsenal failures

Arsenal tried to snap up Ivan Perisic, Yannick Carrasco and Christopher Nkunku but their financial situation put paid to the prospective deals.

Bleacher Report reckon Inter Milan called off talks on Perisic because Arsenal would not buy him permanently or commit to a summer transfer.

Dalian Yifang, meanwhile, deemed the loan fee suggested by the Gunners for Carrasco too low to sanction a January move.

Paris Saint-Germain also had reservations about how much Arsenal were offering to take Nkunku, so that switch did not happen either.