Archive February 3, 2026

London City Lionesses are set to sign Denmark midfielder Malou Marcetto on a permanent deal from Madrid CFF.

The 22-year-old has represented her country at youth level, including 10 appearances for the under-23s, and been a target for the Women’s Super League side for a while.

It is believed London City originally hoped to bring her in when her contract expired in the summer, but have been able to finalise a deal in this window for a small fee.

The club, who are currently sixth in the WSL standings, believes Marcetto brings high potential to the squad and provides added first-team competition.

Having recently appointed Spanish manager Eder Maestre, Liga F has become a familiar hunting ground and Marcetto is a player they hope to develop for the future.

London City’s transfer policy this year has been to build a squad with a mixture of high-potential young talent and a sprinkling of big-name stars.

Celtic manager Martin O’Neill has had talks with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and says he would be “very interested” in signing the former Liverpool and Arsenal midfielder.

The 32-year-old is a free agent after leaving Turkish side Besiktas in the summer.

Capped 35 times for England, Oxlade-Chamberlain has been training with Arsenal.

“I’ve spoken to him, but I’m sure he has plenty of options, maybe closer to London,” revealed O’Neill.

“I’d be very interested in doing it. I’m surprised people haven’t taken him up.

“I think he was very excited about what we were saying. He knows all about the club, he’s a big friend of Joe Hart and Joe has spoken to him – not on our behalf.

“It’s something we’re interested in but if it doesn’t materialise, it doesn’t materialise.”

Oxlade-Chamberlain mutually agreed to terminate his contract at Besiktas in late August.

Celtic made three loan signings on transfer deadline day, securing striker Junior Adamu from Freiburg, winger Joel Mvuka from Lorient and defender Benjamin Arther from Brentford.

The Scottish Premiership champions also rejected an approach from Nottingham Forest for midfielder Arne Engels.

Czech Republic forward Tomas Cvancara arrived from Borussia Monchengladbach earlier this month, as did Bournemouth’s Mexico defender Julian Araujo, with those deals also loans.

O’Neill, who is in charge until the end of the season, was quick to close down the idea the club were only interested in temporary arrangements.

“The January window is difficult for permanent deals,” he said, suggesting that winger Fares Ghedjemis chose to stay with Frosinone in Serie B, while others had gone elsewhere for “probably pretty big money”.

Pep Guardiola mischievously said he is “a little bit sad and upset” that Manchester City have only the seventh highest net spend on transfers in the Premier League over the last five years.

City were the heaviest spenders in January for a second year running, signing Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guehi for around £84m after shelling out £180m last January.

But City’s ability to generate money from sales has seen them bring in £550m over the last five years, according to numbers from Transfermarkt.

Asked how much praise director of football Hugo Viana should be given for the transfer activity, Guardiola replied: “Really good. Txiki [Bergiristain] before and Hugo now.

“But like we won in the past because we spent a lot, now six teams have to win the Premier Leagues, Champions Leagues and FA Cups because they spend more in the last five years. These are facts. It’s not an opinion.

“You can say an opinion, like you say you play good or bad against Spurs – we can agree or disagree. But they are facts. Good luck to the six teams who are in front of us for net spend for the last five years.

“Let’s go. I’m waiting. That’s a nice quote, eh?”

Guardiola and City failed to win a major trophy last season, but have claimed six of the past nine Premier League titles.

City have broken the £100m mark once in their history to sign Jack Grealish from Aston Villa in 2022.

But the club have recouped cash astutely in recent years, making more than £250m from the sale of academy products alone since 2020.

Three of England’s key players are all nearing a return to full fitness in time for next weekend’s Calcutta Cup showdown with Scotland in Edinburgh.

Wing Tom Roebuck, fly-half Fin Smith and centre Ollie Lawrence will all miss this weekend’s match against Wales but could return for the second match of the Six Nations, according to boss Steve Borthwick.

Roebuck has not played since breaking a toe against New Zealand in November, while Smith is recovering from a calf injury and Lawrence a knee problem.

However flanker Ben Curry, who withdrew from the squad last month, is unlikely to feature in the Championship.

After making his debut in the summer of 2024, Roebuck has established himself as one of England’s leading wingers.

“He is ahead of schedule but in an ideal situation he needs a few more days,” explained Borthwick, who has selected Henry Arundell on the wing for his 12th cap against Wales.

Smith, who was England’s starting fly-half for the bulk of last year’s Six Nations, is now back in full training.

“That’s another fantastic player into our mix,” Borthwick added.

Lawrence, who picked up a knee injury playing for Bath last month, is working “exceptionally hard” to get back fit and provide extra competition for places in the midfield.

“He is not available this week but in the very, very near future he’ll be available,” Borthwick said.

However Ben Curry, who has been replaced in the squad by Jack Kenningham, would need “everything to go right” to feature at the back end of the Six Nations as he recovers from a hamstring issue.

England open their campaign against Wales before facing Scotland away a week later and Ireland in Twickenham on 21 February. After a break week, Borthwick’s side then travel to Italy and then France.

“That’s why this competition is so good, because you have five brutal games, five tough games, three back-to-back and three away games,” hooker Jamie George, who leads the side against Wales, told Rugby Union Weekly.