Sunderland move for Gyan heads final day deals

Sunderland look set to lead Premier League spending on the final day of the transfer window as the Blacks Cats bid to complete a 12 million pounds (18.4 million dollars) swoop for Ghana striker Asamoah Gyan.

Steve Bruce’s side are in talks over a deal for Rennes star Gyan as they try to beat the 1800BST deadline for registering new signings.

Gyan, who has travelled to the Stadium of Light to complete the move, boosted his reputation with some fine displays at the World Cup, although his tournament ended on a low note when he missed a last minute penalty against Uruguay that would have sent Ghana into the semi-finals.

The final hours of the transfer window traditionally spark a frenzy of wheeling and dealing by Premier League managers, but there was relatively little activity early on Tuesday.

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

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

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

Bent, 32, spent parts of last season on loan with Middlesbrough and QPR and had fallen further down the pecking order at Birmingham following the arrivals of Nikola Zigic and Matt Derbyshire.

Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson is set to sign left-back Paul Konchesky from his former club Fulham, while Manchester City’s out-of-favour forward Robinho has reportedly flown to Italy with a view to joining AC Milan.

Birmingham boss Alex McLeish could be one of the busier bosses as he tries to tie up deals for Barcelona midfielder Alexander Hleb, Spartak Moscow captain Martin Jiranek and Chile winger Jean Beausejour, who currently plays for Club America.

Stoke aim to sign Portsmouth midfielder Marc Wilson after the 23-year-old arrived at the Britannia Stadium to discuss a transfer which would see City duo Liam Lawrence and Dave Kitson move to Fratton Park as part of the deal.

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