Atlanta Soccer News: Art, Music and Culture: January 2012

Here follows a live blog of January transfer deadline day part one, running from 9am to 5pm GMT. For continued live coverage CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW DEADLINE DAY THROUGH TO ITS CONCLUSION.

Good morning and welcome to transfer deadline day. The January window shuts at 11 p.m. GMT tonight, and we'll be keeping you up to speed with all the key events as they unfold. Every big rumour, every breaking deal as it happens.

This day 12 months ago saw Andy Carroll join Liverpool for £35 million, breaking the British transfer record. It didn't stand for long though. Fernando Torres signed with Chelsea for £50 million and took spending to a record £225 million.

We don't expect quite the same level of spending this time round, but there is sure to be excitement nonetheless.

By
Will Tidey
(Featured Columnist) on January 31, 2012

11:47 AM ET

Dan Istitene/Getty Images

BRIDGE ON SUNDERLAND MOVE...Here's Wayne Bridge talking to SAFC TV about his loan move from Manchester City to Sunderland for the rest of the season:

I'm delighted to make the move. I have met the manager and the lads and everyone seems great.

"I'm just excited to start playing football and playing a few games. The club is on the up - the manager has come in and done very well."

"Just coming in and speaking to him, everything has been positive. I have trained with the lads and they are a great bunch who are feeling really positive. Hopefully I can help the club progress even more."

"I'm grateful for the chance and want to go out and work hard. I have looked at the fixtures and this month's quite busy with a game every few days. That's going to be good for me."

11:22 AM ET

Scott Heavey/Getty Images

ZAMORA TO QPR LATEST...Sky Sportsare saying QPR have been given permission to talk to Fulham and England striker Bobby Zamora. The Daily Mail say an £8 million fee has been agreed, but the Guardianmaintain the parties are yet to reach an agreement on wages. Zamora earns £45,000/week at Craven Cottage. The suggestion is he wants to double it at White Hart Lane.

10:43 AM ET

Marco Luzzani/Getty Images

CISSE JOINS QPR...Djibril Cisse has completed a £4 million move from Lazio to Queens Park Rangers. The 30-year-old has agreed a two-and-a-half year deal at Loftus Road, with the club confirming the deal with an official press release. Here's an extract, taken from the QPR website:

"The arrival of the former Auxerre, Liverpool and Marseille hit-man represents a remarkable coup for the R's, who have already added international trio Taye Taiwo, Nedum Onuoha and Samba Diakite to their squad since Mark Hughes's appointment as Manager."

10:08 AM ET

Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images

BOLTON SIGN ARSENAL WINGER...Another confirmed deal. Bolton have brought in Arsenal's Japanese winger Ryo Miyaichi on loan. The 19-year-old has made just two first-team appearance for the Gunners so far, and has clearly been offered the opportunity to feature more regularly at The Reebok. Here's Bolton manager Owen Coyle on the deal.

He's a very talented young player, who is quick and exciting. He had a great spell on loan at Feyenoord last season.

"He's a young player with tremendous promise and potential and hopefully at Bolton we can give him a platform on which he can display his qualities."

9:50 AM ET

Clive Mason/Getty Images

SAHA TO SPURS? The Daily Mail are reporting a move from Spurs to sign Louis Saha on loan from Everton. Read the full story here. They say an 18-month agreement is close, with Everton willing to part with the striker having landed Nikica Jelavic from Rangers. Another angle here is rumoured interest in Spurs striker Roman Pavlyuchenko from QPR and Newcastle.

9:27 AM ET

BRIDGE JOINS SUNDERLAND ON LOAN...It's confirmed, Wayne Bridge has joined Sunderland on loan until the end of the season. Here's Sunderland manager Martin O'Neill on the deal:

I'm hoping that with Wayne's undoubted experience and ability he can be a big help to the team until the end of the season.

"I'm very pleased to have him here and with the number of injuries we've sustained recently I'm sure he'll be a great help to us."

8:43 AM ET

Michael Regan/Getty Images

MORRISON HAMMERS MOVE HAPPENING...Ravel Morrison looks almost certain to complete his January move from Manchester United to West Ham. Morrison clashed with United over contract demands, but it appears talks with Hammers manager Sam Allardyce have gone smoothly. Here'sESPNsoccernet practically confirming the move.

8:37 AM ET

Picture from Manchester Evening News article

UNITED CLOSE IN ON CITY TEENAGER...Manchester are apparently poised to sign 19-year-old defender Freddie Veseli from title rivals Manchester City. Here's theManchester Evening News story, which has the Swiss player out celebrating the move in a red jacket. No confirmation from either clubs as yet.

7:56 AM ET

Stu Forster/Getty Images

SLIM PICKINGS? Let's be honest, the January 2012 transfer window isn't exactly being blown off its hinges by thundering gales of wild excitement is it? So far, we've got Jelavic to Everton, the possibility of Zamora to QPR, De Bruyne to Chelsea (then back to Genk), all-too predictable Tevez fodder, Ravel Morrison to West Ham and Pizarro to Man City on loan.

Not exactly epic is it? But there's still plenty of time.

7:47 AM ET

Clive Mason/Getty Images

ARSHAVIN GOING HOME? Arsenal's record signing Andrey Arshavin is reportedly in talks with super-rich club Anzhi about a possible return home. Here's the Daily Mail article, which also suggests they're after Kolo Toure from Manchester City.

Arshavin isn't the most popular of players at Arsenal these days, and his appearance as a substitute against Manchester United last week was actually greeted by boos.

7:07 AM ET

Michael Regan/Getty Images

TEVEZ TO AC MILAN BACK ON?Speculation on Sky Sports News that the Tevez to AC Milan deal may yet happen. We thought that one was dead on Friday, when Milan signed Maxi Lopez from Catania. Their vice-president Adriano Galliani had set a 7pm deadline on Friday for the Tevez deal.

7:00 AM ET

Julian Finney/Getty Images

ZAMORA TO QPR? Fulham striker Bobby Zamora is apparently angling for a move to QPR. Here's The Guardian's Jamie Jackson on Twitter: "Bobby Zamora wants £90,000 a-week from#qprfc to join. he'll be lucky. he's on £45,000, apparently. #ffc want £9m."

6:21 AM ET

Paul Gilham/Getty Images

DE BRUYNE COMMENT: As mentioned earlier, Belgian side Genk have confirmed a deal with Chelsea for their 20-year-old midfielder Kevin De Bruyne. Chelsea won't get their man until the summer, with De Bruyne remaining in Belgium on loan for the rest of the season. Here's B/R's Louis Hamwey highlighting 5 reasons why this deal should get Chelsea fans excited.

5:29 AM ET

Paolo Bruno/Getty Images

PIZARRO TO MANCHESTER CITY? Sky Sports with some Manchester City news. Roberto Mancini is reportedly keen on bringing Roma midfielder David Pizarro in on loan. The Daily Mail say City are battling with Juventus for his signature. The 32-year-old knows Mancini well from his time at Inter Milan.

4:46 AM ET

Paul Gilham/Getty Images

DE BRUYNE JOINS CHELSEA...Genk have confirmed that Kevin De Bruyne has joined Chelsea on a five-year deal. Read the ESPNsoccernet article here. The 20-year-old midfielder will stay at the Belgian club until the end of the season, effectively being loaned back to them. Report suggests Chelsea paid in the region of £7 million.

2:42 PM