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Barcelona sign Martin Braithwaite

Associated PressFeb 20, 2020, 9:44 AM EST
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BARCELONA, Spain — Barcelona says it has signed Denmark forward Martin Braithwaite to help fill its injury-depleted attack.

Barcelona said on Thursday it agreed to pay the 18 million euros ($19.4 million) buyout clause in Braithwaite’s contract with Spanish league rival Leganes.

Barcelona was granted permission to sign a Spanish league player after it was left without Luis Suarez and Ousmane Dembele for long periods due to injuries to both attacking players.

Braithwaite will sign for the rest of this season plus four more, according the club.

He will not be eligible to play in the Champions League this season, just la Liga.

The 28-year-old Braithwaite has played for the last year at Leganes, where he arrived in mid-season of 2018-19 and helped the modest club avoid relegation.

He has eight goals in 27 appearances for Leganes this season.

His prior clubs included Middlesbrough, Girondins, and Toulouse. He played in the 2018 World Cup for Denmark.

Barcelona highlighted his ability to play “on both sides of the attack, his work ethic and commitment” and added he is a “headache for rivals.”

Report: Braithwaite to Barcelona

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By Joe Prince-WrightFeb 18, 2020, 8:55 AM EST
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Martin Brathwaite is on the verge of signing for Barcelona in an emergency deal sanctioned by La Liga.

Over the last few weeks the Catalan giants have lost both Luis Suarez and Ousmane Dembele to what are essentially season-ending injuries and they asked Spain’s top-flight for special dispensation to sign a new striker.

28-year-old Braithwaite is their emergency man.

The former Middlesbrough striker currently plays in La Liga for struggling Leganes but the Danish international has a release clause of $21.6 million in his contract and Barca have reportedly triggered.

Multiple reports state that Braithwate will travel to Barcelona on Tuesday to complete the shock move with his agent already in talks to seal the deal.

Why Braithwaite? Barcelona probably only got the ruling from La Liga to sign an ’emergency striker’ if he wasn’t a superstar who would cost $150 million. Also, La Liga rules state the emergency signing has to already be registered in Spain or a free agent.

We are outside of the transfer window and this move is incredibly controversial as emergency signings are usually only made available outside of the transfer window if it involves a goalkeeper.

This is a head scratcher.

Have Barca not got enough attacking midfielders to play one of them in attack? Are there really no players from Barcelona B who can be promoted to the first team?

Barcelona’s La Liga rivals will not be happy about this. Braithwaite is not able to be registered for the Champions League but he could have a big impact in the tight title race in Spain as Quique Setien’s team currently sit in second place, one point behind leaders Real Madrid.

Braithwaite has hardly been prolific during his time at Leganes (eight goal in 20 games), but that is a much better record compared to when he played for Middlesbrough in the Championship nine goal in 40 games). Setien and Barca’s recruitment team have obviously seen that he can help out the team to hold up the ball and give them a Plan B in games.

If this move goes through you just know Braithwaite is going to score the goal which wins Barcelona the La Liga title. You just know that is going to happen.

Burnley confirms Gibson training with Middlesbrough

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By Kyle BonnFeb 12, 2020, 1:20 PM EST
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Premier League side Burnley has confirmed that record signing Ben Gibson is training with his old club Middlesbrough after a difficult 18 months with the Clarets.

The 27-year-old arrived at Burnley from Middlesbrough in the summer of 2018 for a joint-club record $19 million, but the defender has made just six total appearances, including just one in Premier League play. Initially felled by a hernia problem that left him sidelined for the first three months of his Burnley tenure, Gibson has been unable to crack Sean Dyche‘s squad, only making the bench once in the past nine league games.

The club released a statement on Wednesday to say that Gibson had wished to leave the club in January, and with a deal not materializing, he felt it necessary to continue his training elsewhere. “The defender made it clear, in the weeks leading up to the end of the January transfer window, that he wanted to leave Turf Moor to seek regular first team football,” the team wrote in a statement. The club confirmed he remains contracted to Burnley.

Gibson was linked to Watford in the January transfer window, but Sky Sports reported that the Hornets saw a loan deal rejected three different times, with the hold-up being the value of the summer option to buy.

According to Burnley Express beat writer Chris Boden, it is likely that Gibson would have been sent to train with the reserve squad had this opportunity not materialized. Boden also reports that he heard about some “flashpoints” at training that may have led Gibson to wish for a chance to train elsewhere. It is certainly still odd to see a club’s record signing allowed to train elsewhere while still under contract, but given that Gibson is clearly on the outside looking in and with the relationship almost completely broken down, his departure from the club in practice has little effect on the matchday squad.

Transfer Tracker: Every January done deal in Premier League

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By Kyle BonnJan 30, 2020, 12:22 PM EST
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Below are all the completed incoming and outgoing first-team transfers by Premier League teams this winter. This January transfer tracker will be updated in real time to reflect completed transfers that make it through to confirmation before the window shuts.

Watch our transfer deadline day show from 6-8 p.m. ET on Jan. 31, live on NBCSN and online via NBCSports.com.

Player names with clickable links will send you to the story for that particular signing.

ARSENAL

IN
Pablo Mari – loan, Flamengo
Cedric – loan, Southampton

OUT
Konstantinos Mavropanos – loan, Nurnberg
Emile Smith-Rowe – loan, Huddersfield Town

ASTON VILLA

IN
Mbwana Samatta – $15.7m, KRC Genk
Danny Drinkwater – loan, Chelsea
Pepe Reina – loan, AC Milan
Borja Baston – undisclosed, Swansea City

OUT
Jonathan Kodija – $4.4m, Al Gharafa
Scott Hogan – loan, Birmingham City

BOURNEMOUTH

IN
[none]

OUT
Asmir Begovic – loan, AC Milan

BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION

IN
Aaron Mooy – $9m, Huddersfield Town
Tariq Lamptey – undisclosed, Chelsea

OUT
Anders Dreyer – undisclosed, FC Midtjylland

BURNLEY

IN
Josh Brownhill – $11.8m, Bristol City

OUT
Nahki Wells – $6.6m, Bristol City

CHELSEA

IN
[none]

OUT
Danny Drinkwater – loan, Aston Villa
Victor Moses – loan, AC Milan
Michael Hector – $8.8m, Fulham
Tariq Lamptey – undisclosed, Brighton

CRYSTAL PALACE

IN
Cenk Tosun – loan, Everton

OUT
[none]

EVERTON

IN
[none]

OUT
Cenk Tosun – loan, Crystal Palace

LEICESTER CITY

IN
Ryan Bennett – loan, Wolves

OUT
Andy King – loan, Huddersfield Town

LIVERPOOL

IN
Takumi Minamino – $12.7m, RB Leipzig

OUT
Rhian Brewster – loan, Swansea City

MANCHESTER CITY

IN
[none]

OUT
Patrick Roberts – loan, Middlesbrough
Lukas Nmecha – loan, Middlesbrough

MANCHESTER UNITED

IN
Bruno Fernandes – $88m, Sporting CP
Nathan Bishop – undisclosed, Southend United
Odion Ighalo – loan, Shanghai Shenhua

OUT
Ashley Young – loan, Inter Milan
Marcos Rojo – loan, Estudiantes

NEWCASTLE UNITED

IN
Nabil Bentaleb – loan, Schalke
Valentino Lazaro – loan, Inter Milan
Danny Rose – loan, Tottenham Hotspur

OUT
Ki Sung-yeung – Release
Rolando Aarons – loan, Motherwell

NORWICH CITY

IN
Ondrej Duda – loan, Hertha Berlin
Lukas Rupp – $747k, Hoffenheim

OUT
Carlton Morris – loan, MK Dons
Denis Srbeny – undisclosed, Paderborn

SHEFFIELD UNITED

IN
Sander Berge – $26m, Genk
Jack Rodwell – unattached
Jack Robinson – undisclosed, Nottingham Forest

OUT
Callum Robinson – loan, West Bromwich Albion

SOUTHAMPTON

IN
Kyle Walker-Peters – loan, Tottenham Hotspur

OUT
Josh Sims – loan, New York Red Bulls
Cedric – loan, Arsenal
Maya Yoshida – loan, Sampdoria

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR

IN
Steven Bergwijn – $44.8m, PSV Eindhoven
Gedson Fernandes – loan, Benfica
Giovani Lo Celso – triggered option to buy at $35m, Real Betis

OUT
Christian Eriksen – $22.8 million, Inter Milan
Kyle Walker-Peters – loan, Southampton
Cameron Carter-Vickers – loan, Luton Town

WATFORD

IN
Ignacio Pussetto – $12m, Udinese
Joao Pedro – $5.9m, Fluminense

OUT
Marvin Zeegelaar – $3m, Udinese
Dimitri Foulquier – loan, Granada

WEST HAM UNITED

IN
Darren Randolph – $7m, Middlesbrough
Tomas Soucek – loan, Slavia Prague
Jarrod Bowen – $24m, Hull City

OUT
Roberto – loan, Alaves

WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS

IN
Daniel Podence – $29.2m, Olympiakos
Leonardo Campana – free, Barcelona
Enzo Loiodice – loan, Dijon

OUT
Patrick Cutrone – loan, Fiorentina
Ivan Cavaleiro – trigger option to buy $17.6m, Fulham
Rafa Mir – loan, Huesca
Jesus Vallejo – loan, Granada
Ryan Bennett – loan, Leicester City

FA Cup: Spurs do just enough to beat Boro, reach 4th round (video)

Photo by Tottenham Hotspur FC/Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images
By Andy EdwardsJan 14, 2020, 5:04 PM EST
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Nine days after struggling to a 1-1 draw away from home, Tottenham Hotspur once again had a fair bit of trouble in keeping EFL Championship side Middlesbrough at arm’s length when the two sides met for an FA Cup third-round replay at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Tuesday.

[ MORE: Inter Milan still chasing January deal for Christian Eriksen ]

Tottenham settled in quickly and got off to a flying start when Giovani Lo Celso put the home side 1-0 up after just 115 seconds. Boro goalkeeper Tomas Mejias will take all the blame for this one, as it was his reckless ball out of the back that found Lo Celso to set the Argentine up for a routine finish.

It was 2-0 not even 15 minutes later, thanks to a dazzling outside-of-the-foot finish from another crafty Argentine, Erik Lamela. It was Lamela who won the ball 35 yards from goal before turning upfield, beating three defenders and cutting the ball past Mejias and tucking it inside the far post from the penalty spot.

[ MORE: Liverpool readying for imminent return of injured players ]

As quick and easy as the two-goal advantage came to them, Jose Mourinho’s side simply couldn’t maintain control of the game to see it out comfortably, let alone put the game away despite a number of open-net chances which required only the simplest of finishing touches.

That point was hammered home in the 83rd minute, when Boro pulled a goal back through George Saville‘s slow roller past Paulo Gazzaniga. That set up a thoroughly nervy final 10 minutes for Spurs, who by that point were unable to string together three passes to players in white shirt.

In the end, though, Spurs survived the late Boro flurry to reach the fourth round, where they’ll visit fellow Premier League side Southampton on Jan. 25.