.”
As is seemingly the case for many recent transfer deadline days, things were quiet until towards the end.
By 18:00 GMT – five hours before the window closed – just two deals had been done in the Premier League and both involved Brighton.
The first of those was the loan move of striker Evan Ferguson from the Seagulls to West Ham for the rest of the season, before Brighton later signed 19-year-old forward Stefanos Tzimas from Nuremberg for £20.8m.
A quiet transfer deadline day needs a saga with twists and turns, and that was provided by Axel Disasi.
The Chelsea defender initially wanted to stay and fight for his place but was told it would be better to leave.
Both Aston Villa and Tottenham emerged as suitors but Spurs quickly went cold on signing the France international after feeling he didn’t want to join.
His agents then, seemingly out of nowhere, appeared to convince Disasi that Spurs was a better but they ultimately lost out to Villa, with a loan deal agreed with the club, although the move had yet to be confirmed by the 23:00 GMT deadline.
Villa, whose business before deadline day saw saw them sell Jhon Duran to Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr in a deal worth up to £71m but bring in striker Marcus Rashford on loan from Manchester United, also added Spain midfielder Marco Asensio on loan from Paris St-Germain in the final few hours of the window.
As the 23:00 GMT deadline approached, bigger deals went through, led by Gonzalez’s £50m move to City.
Other significant moves late in the day included Tottenham signing France Under-21s forward Mathys Tel from Bayern Munich on loan, while Crystal Palace signed full-back Ben Chilwell on loan from Chelsea.
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