Newcastle United have confirmed that midfielder Cheick Tiote is meeting with Chinese side Shanghai Shenhua over a potential move. “Cheick is currently on his way to meet them,” said boss Steve McClaren. “But nothing has been finalised.” Tiote is an Ivorian international.

Manchester City are set to sign midfielder Anthony Caceres from Australian A-League Central Coast Mariners. The Mariners have said the deal is done but there are still a few loose ends to tie up. It is expected the transfer will be confirmed shortly. City have yet to decide whether the 23-year-old will go out on loan, which could be to one of their sister clubs in Melbourne, New York or Yokohama, or a club in England. Caceres has made 73 appearances for the Mariners, scoring three goals.

Watford duo Quique Flores and Nigeria’s Odion Ighalo have been rewarded for the Hornets’ remarkable form in December by winning the Premier League manager and player of the month awards respectively. Flores’ side took 10 points from five fixtures to finish the calendar year, including victories over Norwich, Sunderland and Liverpool. Ighalo was the star turn for the top-flight new boys, netting five times, including a brace in the 3-0 win over the Reds at Vicarage Road. A creditable draw at Stamford Bridge followed four wins in a row including the victory at Aston Villa at the end of November, before Watford finished the year with a last-ditch loss at home to Spurs.

Odion is going places!!!

FC Copenhagen have confirmed that they are in negotiations with Leicester City over the possible transfer of defender Daniel Amartey. The 21-year-old Ghana international has been the subject of interest from the Foxes for some time and was linked with a move to England last summer. A possible fee of £5-6m has been reported in the Danish media.

On this day (15th January) in 1999, Nigerian legend and two time African Footballer of the Year, Nwankwo Kanu joined Arsenal from Inter Milan. He won Premiership and FA laurels with Arsenal during his time with the team.

Spanish giants Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid have been banned from registering players for the next two transfer windows. They have been punished by world governing body Fifa for breaching rules over the transfer of minors – both clubs say they will appeal. The ban does not cover the current January transfer window. Atletico were fined 900,000 Swiss francs, while Real were told to pay 360,000. Real said that the claim that they had signed foreign players under the age of 18 without being properly registered was “absolutely untrue”. “Real Madrid will appeal this decision of Fifa in all the sporting incidents, considering them absolutely inappropriate,” said the club. Real director general Jose Angel Sanchez called the ban “absolutely unjustified” and “totally unexpected”, saying he had “high hopes” of overturning it on appeal.

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