Gus Poyet has moved to clarify the status of Ki Sung-Yueng's loan deal at Sunderland amid confusion over whether or not Swansea still retain the right to recall him.
Swans supremo Huw Jenkins had claimed that his club could recall the metronomic Korean all the way up until the end of the month. Poyet isn't having one bit of that, though, claiming instead that the deadline was actually the 28th December.
The Uruguayan went on to state, quite comprehensively:
Ki cannot be recalled.
Good to know and all that, but I don't know why are so worried about it really given Michael Laudrup seems about as keen to recall Ki as he would be to unzip his trousers and dangle his groin into a piranha tank.
In other news, despite selling Shane Long to Hull for an eye-watering £7m, The Mirror claim West Bromwich Albion are pretty potless and won't be offering new boss Pepe Mel any money to spend this month.
However, they will be free to pursue loan deals and Bosmans - and presumably players cheap as chips on account of shortly becoming Bosmans - which would mean they are still likely to be targeting Sunderland midfielder Craig Gardner.
The Baggies don't currently have any on-loan players in the their squad, so perhaps a 6-month loan deal for Gardner which covers his wages before a Bosman in the summer will be seen as a good solution for all parties.
Meanwhile Chievo are the latest club to be matched with French defender Modibo Diakite after he was linked with a loan move to Genoa last week. Diakite may be surplus to requirements after the imminent signing of Santiago Vergini.