Keane nears Celtic move in busy transfer deadline day

Today’s transfer deadline day could yet have one more twist with Tottenham striker Robbie Keane locked in talks with Celtic over a loan move to Parkhead.

The Republic of Ireland striker’s position at the club had been in doubt following the arrival of Eidur Gudjohnsen last week and manager Harry Redknapp’s decision to keep hold of Roman Pavlyuchenko.

The decision would be seen as a massive coup for Celtic, who Keane supported as a youngster, as the striker only signed for Spurs this time last year.

Redknapp believes Keane needs to play first-team football he cannot offer him.

“It looks like it probably will happen,” Redknapp told Sky Sports News.

“Robbie wants to play and I have (Peter) Crouch, (Jermain) Defoe and Pavlyuchenko and I signed Gudjohnsen so it will be difficult to guarantee him a starting place and he has to be playing regularly so I have decided to let him go on loan until the end of the season.”

The deal will have to be done by midnight, when the transfer window for Scottish clubs closes.

One late deal completed just before the English deadline of 5pm was Manchester City’s capture of Adam Johnson from Middlesbrough.

The highly-rated England U-21 international has signed a four-year deal after the clubs agreed an undisclosed fee.

West Ham have bolstered their striking options by completing the signing of Benni McCarthy on a two-and-a-half-year deal from Blackburn.

The Hammers are also thought to have signed former Spurs striker Mido on loan until the end of the season from Egyptian side Zamalek.

It was all quiet at Barclays Premier League leaders Chelsea, while rivals Arsenal and Manchester United also failed to enter the market.

Wigan, meanwhile, won the race to sign highly-rated youngster Victor Moses from cash-strapped Crystal Palace in a deal thought to be worth £2.5m.

Moses has signed a three-and-a-half-year contract at the DW Stadium while Bolivia striker Marcelo Moreno has also joined on loan from Shakhtar Donetsk.

One of the busiest Premier League sides today was Fulham – who brought in Stefano Okaka and Nicky Shorey on loan from Roma and Aston Villa respectively.

Fulham boss Roy Hodgson has also signed German youngster Christopher Butchmann from Liverpool and allowed Diomansy Kamara, Tony Kallio and Wayne Brown go out on loan to Celtic, Sheffield United and Bristol Rovers respectively.

Sunderland manager Steve Bruce has also had a busy day as he looked to boost his chances of survival by announcing the signing of Spurs defender Alan Hutton on loan until the end of the season.

Daryl Murphy and David Healy have left the Stadium of Light to join former manager Roy Keane at Ipswich on six-month loan deals while Nyron Nosworthy has joined Sheffield United on loan.

Burnley boss Brian Laws snapped up Jack Cork on loan from Chelsea and also extended the loan deal of Portsmouth striker David Nugent until the end of the season.

Pompey’s relegation rivals Hull managed to stave off Wolves’ interest in Stephen Hunt while also letting Peter Halmosi, Daniel Cousin and Will Atkinson to join Szombathelyi Haladas, Larissa and Rochdale respectively.

Today’s other major moves include Marcus Bent joining QPR on loan from Birmingham and Kyle Naughton joining Middlesbrough from Spurs.

Today’s other big news from the Coca-Cola Championship was the departure of Geremi from leaders Newcastle to Turkish side Ankaragucu.

The Magpies’ rivals West Brom, meanwhile, have signed Feyenoord attacking midfielder Andwele Slory on a free transfer.

Derby’s fight for survival has been boosted by the arrival of Manchester City’s young full-back Javan Vidal.