The other big move was that of Lauren to Portsmouth, who leaves Arsenal for free after six and a half years to try and help Harry Redknapp consolidate a Uefa Cup place. With a surplus of full-backs at Fratton Park, that allowed Andrew Griffin to leave for Stoke onloan, with Dominic Matteo joining him at the Championship club on a free from Blackburn.

At the bottom end of the Premiership, Alan Curbishley was busy with Eggert Magnusson's cheque book again, signing Tottenham's young centre-half Calum Davenport, with Blackburn's Lucas Neill likely to follow - provided Mark Hughes secures cover in the guise of Liverpool's Stephen Warnock. Both moves look likely to go through today. Fellow strugglers Sheffield United also sought to shore up their defence, signing Mamadou Seck from Le Havre on a free. Meanwhile, Manchester United have allowed young striker Guiseppe Rossi to join the club they acquired him from, Parma, on loan after a frustrating spell at Newcastle. United also finally secured a work permit for Chinese striker Dong Fangzhuo, who scored 34 goals in 70 games while on loan at Antwerp.

Up in Scotland, runaway SPL leaders Celtic have rotated their back-up goalkeepers, signing Inverness Caledonian Thistle's Mark Brown, but allowing David Marshall to join Norwich on-loan. On the other side of the Old Firm, former Celtic youth David Weir joins his former boss Walter Smith at Rangers on a free.

Finally, the exodus from the Eircom League continues with Shelbourne incurring the heaviest loss of personnel.

Sean Dillon and Jason Byrnemove to Dundee United and Cardiff City respectively, with Gary O'Neil heading across Dublin to St Patrick's Athletic on a Bosman.

Bohemians' Stephen Wardmoves to Wolves meanwhile with Cork City's George O'Callaghan ending a long period of speculation by signing for Ipswich Town.

Another Irishman joining the Championship contingent, albeit from Liverpool, is Darren Potter, who completes a £250,000 move to Wolves after a successful loan period at Molineux.