Manchester United have completed the signing of Portugal midfielder Bruno Fernandes from Sporting Lisbon in a deal worth an initial €55 million - but while most Premier League clubs have tried their best to complete deals early on in this window several have left things until today's transfer deadline. Here's a roundup of the state of play in the Premier League as transfer deadline day gets underway.
Barely a month after the FAI went to the Government seeking a package of cash or guarantees worth the €18 million its leadership believed it required to start the process of recovery, the organisation is understood to have secured supports from its three key stakeholders worth almost twice that amount. Emmet Malone has all the latest here, as both sides get what they wanted. He also reports this morning on the lack of clarity about how Brexit will affect the ability of teenage prospects from this country to join Premier League academies once Britain's transition period ends.
New Ireland captain Johnny Sexton says the role makes him emotional: "it's not something that I take lightly. It's obviously a massive privilege and honour, but I can't let it bog me down, either. I've got to try and be myself and just learn from past experiences of doing it." In his column this morning Liam Toland asks is Andy Farrell ready for what the athletic Caelin Doris can do? "Selecting a footballing No 8 is but the start," he writes. "Footballers make mistakes, but the rewards are huge – think world-class All-Black Kieran Read! Why not Doris as he has the athleticism and skill to mimic Read?" Doris starts at number eight for Ireland in Saturday's Six Nations opener against Scotland, and ahead of the big kick-off Patrick Madden has prepared an all you need to know guide for of the opening round of the 2020 Championship.
Meanwhile last year's Fitzgibbon Cup finalists DCU are back in the last four of the competition - last night they enjoyed a six point win over WIT at the DCU Sports Campus. The late introduction and goal of former Hurler of the Year Austin Gleeson proved too little, as DCU were driven on by Kilkenny duo John Donnelly and James Bergin.
