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Transfer deadline day is upon us as Premier League clubs have until 11pm BST this evening to wrap up their deals, with some frantic last-minute buying and selling guaranteed. Liverpool look set to give their midfield a further boost with the signing of Ryan Gravenberch from Bayern Munich, while Tottenham Hotspur are chasing Nottingham Forest forward Brennan Johnson as a potential Harry Kane replacement. Elsewhere, Man City could be set to sell Cole Palmer to Chelsea, while the latter could offload Callum Hudson-Odoi after his return from loan. Manchester United, meanwhile, are still looking for at least two more additions – including Spurs left-back Sergio Reguilon – but did sell goalkeeper Dean Henderson to Crystal Palace on Thursday evening, with a potential replacement lined up. Brighton look set to sign Ansu Fati on loan from Barcelona, while several other Premier League teams could also conclude deals late on before the window shuts. Follow all the latest news and transfer rumour updates below; get all the latest football betting sites offers here and the latest odds on transfer deadline day deals here.

Gareth Southgate made his reputation as England’s mild-mannered assassin. He ended the international careers of Wayne Rooney and Joe Hart. He showed a willingness to move on to the next generation. But then, having forged a team, he has been transformed into a loyalist. Harry Maguire and Kalvin Phillips – combined total of minutes this season: 0 – were included in the squad to face Ukraine and Scotland and few should be surprised. There were reasons for each; a lack of fit centre-backs with international experience, a shortage of specialist defensive midfielders. Yet there was a notable absentee, a player with more football and in better form than Maguire and Phillips, a face of Southgate’s England. But, once again, a squad did not contain Raheem Sterling’s name. In March, fitness accounted for his absence. In June, it was the forward’s preference, Sterling asking for a break to work on his conditioning. In September, it will be managerial preference. Southgate’s explanation focused on loyalty: to the players who beat Malta 4-0 and North Macedonia 7-0 in June, to ones who have begun the season as well as Sterling. It was, though: “A difficult call and Raheem was not particularly happy about it.” A quarter of a century earlier, when Southgate made Glenn Hoddle’s World Cup squad and Paul Gascoigne did not, the midfielder responded with a tantrum. Sterling’s response was more polite, but his disappointment evident. “Raheem is always really respectful with how he responds, and deals [with things], he will always say ‘I respect your decision’ but of course he wants to get back in the group,” Southgate said. “I wouldn’t expect that to be any other way.” But the expectation was that he would be back in a squad that instead contained Eberechi Eze. Sterling has looked rejuvenated for Mauricio Pochettino at Chelsea; he was arguably man of the match even in defeat to West Ham, he scored twice against Luton. “It’s not a decision I have based on the three games he has played,” Southgate said. “What I am hearing him say, he’s very focused and I am under no doubt that he’s going to have a really good season with Chelsea, I think they are going to go well. He looks like he’s back in the groove to score a lot of goals.” Which he has done for Southgate’s England: only Harry Kane has scored more in the manager’s reign. For a long time, he and Kane seemed the two certainties in the forward line, with everyone else competing to accompany them. Southgate does not call every player omitted from his squads: that he rang Sterling was a reflection of the importance he used to have. “Firstly he’s a player who has been a really big player for us, an important part of our team, and I wanted to address the fact that he’s playing really well,” he said. He painted it as a continuity choice from June, waiting for the season to unfold. “By next month we will have had another seven, 10 games and there will be a lot more evidence right across the board, of all the players and where they are at.” And yet the reality is that the wings are the area where England boast the most strength in depth. Southgate listed his rivals’ credentials: Marcus Rashford was involved in three goals against Nottingham Forest, Phil Foden was exceptional against Newcastle, Jack Grealish set up Erling Haaland’s opener at Sheffield United and Bukayo Saka has carried on where he left off last year. “We have got Foden, Grealish, Rashford, Saka, so there’s four for two positions,” Southgate reflected. “Maddison also played there. Whichever one I didn’t pick was going to be the story.” But Sterling is: a player with 55 caps in his reign, England’s outstanding attacker at Euro 2020, the talisman who realised his potential under sympathetic management, the prodigy who had looked on course to break Peter Shilton’s caps record. Then Sterling lost his place at the World Cup, albeit in a tournament when he returned to England after a burglary at his house, and amid a car-crash of a Chelsea season. He felt collateral damage in the chaos Todd Boehly brought to Stamford Bridge, a player who had arguably his worst campaign in senior football. “I understood why he wanted to focus on the fitness in June and we are seeing the benefits of that now,” Southgate said. “Of course, when you are not in, other people have the shirt.” All of which was rational and fair. But it showed a hard edge that he often conceals. Injuries could alter the equation and allow a route back in, yet Sterling will have to displace a high-class player. And for the meantime, it leaves him looking the odd man out, the player whose exclusion is not a one-off as much as a regular occurrence. If it long looked inconceivable that England could enter Euro 2024 without a fit and in-form Raheem Sterling, perhaps it is not now. Read More Jordan Henderson has given Gareth Southgate a Saudi Arabia problem Gareth Southgate says Raheem Sterling ‘not particularly happy’ at England snub Raheem Sterling misses out as Eddie Nketiah handed debut England squad call-up LGBT+ England fans may shun Jordan Henderson for ‘turning his back’ on them Gareth Southgate admits Raheem Sterling not happy after England snub Southgate explains ‘difficult’ decision to leave Sterling out of England squad

Gareth Southgate is not doing a Don Revie, but he stopped short of saying he would never do a Jordan Henderson. The England manager is aware that the popular move would be to say that he would never take the Saudi Arabian money but is conscious, too, that such a statement could make him look like a hypocrite later. Whereas perhaps the most reviled of his predecessors, Revie, walked out for a lucrative offer from the United Arab Emirates and the manager who overcame him in the Euro 2020 final, Roberto Mancini, quit Italy for Saudi Arabia, Southgate stated: “I’m not looking to leave the job I’m in. I’m very happy. I certainly wouldn’t leave managing my country during my contract.” And yet, were he out of work, would he still reject a supersized offer? “I can easily say no and look like the big guy. But can you answer that question until it is there in front of you?” he countered. It was the question Henderson faced. Many feel let down by the choice he made. Often eloquent, the former Liverpool captain is yet to explain himself, leaving Southgate, after calling his vice-captain up for England, in the uncomfortable position of trying to do so. “It’s for him to decide when he’s going to speak and how he speaks,” Southgate said. “I’d be pretty certain that his views on life haven’t changed at all. I think he realises that by making the decision he has made, that is going to bring a certain level of scrutiny and criticism. He’s not naïve. “I did have that discussion with him. But any career decision has got a lot of different factors within it. Obviously there is a lot of money within Saudi Arabia that is being paid, none of us are going to avoid that. But his prospects of playing at Liverpool were probably a big factor in that becoming more attractive than it might have been in the past. That’s a big factor in the decision to go. Liverpool as a club will have presumably got a good fee for an older player. All of those things are complex.” That hinted at the various issues: how do you balance the moral, the footballing and the financial? Henderson’s priorities can seem skewed. Southgate argued his situation bears similarities with those of many people in other walks of life. “Given the situation with Russia, we are reliant on Saudi Arabia for a lot of our oil,” he said. “I don’t really know what the morality argument is because so many of our industries are wrapped up with Saudi investment but I don’t hear any noises about that. It’s only the football that’s highlighted. The LGBT+ stance is a religious belief in that country.” Perhaps Southgate struck a duff note in that sentence but a former ally of the LGBTQ+ community has been left looking like a man who sacrificed his principles for money. What remains to be seen is whether Henderson sacrificed his England career, too: he had long been adamant he would not retire from international football. But if Southgate is adamant he will not exclude a player because of the league he plays in, he remains unsure if it will prepare Henderson for the rigours of international football. “There was the honest conversation we had: ‘We’re going to have to map you against players playing in a different league and in a different level of competition and we’re just going to have to see how that goes’,” he said. “What I have got to do is pick a team based on the technical, tactical, physical capabilities and the question about that league at the moment from our perspective is, ‘Is the intensity going to be enough to be physically in the right condition for the level of games we are going to have?’ We can only find out over a period of time.” Henderson’s game has been built on his running power; if he wilts in the Saudi heat, he becomes a lesser force. And then there could be footballing grounds to exclude a midfielder who played well in England’s June games. Southgate does not think there are yet, though Henderson was slipping down the pecking order at Anfield. His research may have to take him to the Middle East. It could become a regular trip. Southgate suspects the Saudi investment in football is not confined to one summer. There may yet be other England players joining Henderson there; Southgate noted that Saudi clubs are not just targeting the thirty-something footballers. At some stage, he plans to scout Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane in person. “We haven’t felt that was the best use of our time during the first weeks of the season,” he said. “Logistically it was important to get around the Premier League.” Yet the presence of the England manager in Saudi Arabia would be more controversial than in Spain and Germany. If Henderson has made Saudi Arabia a problem for Southgate, it is one that is unlikely to go away. Read More Jordan Henderson risks tarnishing Liverpool legacy after career built on triumph of character Gareth Southgate understands criticism of Jordan Henderson following Saudi move Jordan Henderson could be shunned by LGBT+ England fans after Saudi Arabia move LGBT+ England fans may shun Jordan Henderson for ‘turning his back’ on them Gareth Southgate admits Raheem Sterling not happy after England snub Liverpool agree £35million deal with Bayern Munich for Ryan Gravenberch

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