Big deal for Socceroo blocked in final hours of wild transfer window
Updated . First published at
Socceroos striker Mo Toure will have to wait a little longer to join a top flight league after his Championship club Norwich rejected a $28.3 million deal in the final hours of the transfer deadline day.
Eleven players from Australia’s World Cup team were picked up by teams across the globe in recent weeks, with the likes of Lucas Herrington, Alessandro Circati, Patrick Beach and Paul Okon-Engstler all moving to one of the five biggest leagues in the world.
Toure reacts after missing a shot against Burnley Getty Images
Toure looked likely to become the fifth Australian to move into one of those leagues - being the German Bundesliga, English Premier League, Italy’s Serie A, France’s Ligue 1 and Spain’s La Liga - over the off-season.
He was not short of interest from the European football landscape, drawing interest to reunite with Socceroos teammate Lucas Herrington at Hull City or Nestory Irankunda at Sporting Lisbon. Porto were also interested.
But as the transfer deadline approached, it became clear Toure wasn’t going anywhere.
An offer of $28.3 million AUD was reportedly tabled by Stoke City to secure Toure’s signature this week, but Norwich boss Philippe Clement rejected it.
Clement admitted that he and the club had zero intension of selling their Australian striker, regardless of how lucrative offers like Stoke’s might be.
“Mo Toure will not leave the club even when somebody comes with crazy money,” Clement told BBC Radio Norfolk.
“Because then you would make things difficult, you cannot replace that.
“Maybe one player who is on the edge of things would go (before deadline day) ... but they only go if they are replaced.”
Toure was not the only Socceroo to miss out on a move into one of the five best football leagues in the world, with Jordan Bos and Jacob Italiano missing out on potential moves to the Bundesliga due to injuries suffered at the World Cup.
Herrington, on the other hand, made the most of his rapid rise on the football scene and secured an Australian record-breaking transfer of $33 million including add-ons to join forces with newly promoted Premier League side Hull.
Circati, who had been representing Parma, then equalled that historic transfer record when he completed a successful transfer to Benfica.
Irankunda was another Socceroo with a hefty transfer fee, joining Sporting for a reported $26m. He has featured in the side’s opening two Liga Portugal matches.
The trio accounted for $91m of the $100m spent on Australian players.
Enzo Fernández puts pen to paper on a move to Manchester City. Instagram/@mancity
Meanwhile, it took until the final hours of deadline day for Manchester City to complete the $236m agreement to secure Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez.
The Argentine joined the club on a five-year deal, which ironically concludes at the same time that his contract with the Blues would have ended if he had stayed.
The deal makes him the joint record Premier League signing with Alexander Isak, who moved for the same sum last season when he joined Liverpool.
Jack Grealish, 30, will do a second stint on loan from Manchester City with Everton, having proved a vital force for the side last season.
Senegal winger Iliman Ndiaye moved the opposite direction to Grealish, completing a move worth up to $122m from Everton to City
Hull were the busiest English team in the transfer window, making a monster 18 signings over the break. On deadline day alone, the club spent over $75m to sign Christos Mouzakitis, Brooke Norton-Cuffy, Robinio Vaz and Tim Iroegbunam.
Iroegbunam’s move from Everton also included potential add-ons worth $17m.
USA international Folarin Balogun walked away from a move to Everton after issues were discovered during a medical assessment at the club.
Lamine Camara’s dream to wear the Chelsea blue was dashed due to Balogun’s failed transfer, with Monaco preferring to sell the latter for a “substantial fee”.
As the sum did not come through, the club withdrew talks with Chelsea to release Camara. It is the second time Chelsea have failed to secure Camara.
Tottenham finalised moves with Pape Matar Sarr, who is on loan with an obligation to buy for $44.6m at Juventus, and Kevin Danso, on loan at Sunderland. Spurs also secured Mykhailo Mudryk from Chelsea on loan.
Eighteen-year-old forward Ibrahim Mbaye made the move from PSG to Aston Villa.
With the summer transfer window officially complete, managers will have to wait until January 1 to make further squad changes.
That mid-season transfer window will remain open for exactly one month.
