Konchesky, Gyan and Hleb head deadline day moves

Liverpool signed defender Paul Konchesky from Fulham, while Sunderland smashed their transfer record to land Asamoah Gyan and Birmingham made a surprise swoop for Barcelona midfielder Alexander Hleb on the final day of the transfer window.

Reds boss Roy Hodgson had been keen to land left-back Konchesky from his former club since taking over at Anfield in the close-season and he finally got his man on a four-year contract once Finnish striker Lauri Dalla Valle and Swedish winger Alex Kacaniklic agreed their moves in the opposite direction.

That deal, Sunderland’s signing of Rennes star Gyan and Birmingham’s loan move for Hleb took centre-stage as Premier League clubs tried to beat the 1800BST (1700GMT) deadline for registering new signings.

Hleb’s capture represents something of a coup for Birmingham boss Alex McLeish as the former Arsenal player made a good impression on his last spell in the Premier League.

McLeish said: “Hleb is a top quality player. Over the past year or so we have talked about him but with no real belief we could get him.

“We decided to give it a try and towards the end of the window we found out it might be possible.”

A busy day for McLeish also included signing Czech Republic defender Martin Jiranek from Spartak Moscow for an undisclosed fee and Chile winger Jean Beausejour on a three-year contract from Club America in Mexico.

Ghana striker Gyan completed his move to Sunderland for a fee of over 13 million pounds (15.7 million euros).

Gyan, 24, agreed a four-year contract with Steve Bruce’s side in a deal which shatters the club’s previous record when they signed Darren Bent from Tottenham for 10 million pounds (12 million euros) in 2009.

Tottenham signed Croatia goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa on a season-long loan from Spartak Moscow.

Pletikosa, 31, joins the Premier League club as cover for first-choice Heurelho Gomes, who suffered a groin injury during his team’s Champions League play-off win over Young Boys last week.

Manchester United’s England Under-21 midfielder Tom Cleverley joined Wigan on a season-long loan and the Latics also signed Franco Di Santo for an undisclosed fee on a three-year contract from Chelsea.

Argentine striker Di Santo, 21, was unable to make the breakthrough at Chelsea after joining in 2008 and spent last season on loan at Blackburn, where he scored just one league goal.

Wolves bolstered their attacking options by signing veteran striker Marcus Bent, 32, on a four-month loan deal from local rivals Birmingham.

Bolton signed Benfica forward Rodrigo Moreno on a season-long loan, subject to the player receiving international clearance.

The Brazil-born Spain Under-19 international only joined the Portuguese club last month on a five-year deal from Real Madrid.

Blackpool signed DJ Campbell from Leicester on a permanent basis after the striker’s successful loan spell at Bloomfield Road last season.

Campbell returned to Leicester for the start of this season, but was determined to rejoin the Seasiders and he said: “It feels like I’ve got unfinished business, everyone knows how much I love Blackpool.

“I wanted to come back and I’m just delighted that it’s been made possible.”

Blackpool also signed highly-rated young Wycombe winger Matt Phillips from the League Two club for an initial fee of 325,000 pounds (499,000 dollars).

The 19-year-old impressed for England’s Under-19s in the recent European finals and could eventually cost close to 700,000 pounds (one million dollars).

Stoke re-signed Senegal midfielder Salif Diao, 33, on a two-year contract after releasing the former Liverpool star at the end of last season.

West Brom signed defender Craig Dawson for an undisclosed fee, from Rochdale and then loaned the 20-year-old back to the League One club.