Transfer news LIVE: Arsenal sign Leandro Trossard after Danny Ings joins West Ham

Chris Wood has become Nottingham Forest’s 24th signing of the season after joining on loan from Newcastle.

The 31-year-old will spend the rest of the campaign at the City Ground and the move will become a permanent one until the summer of 2024 if certain conditions are met.

He leaves St James’ Park after 12 months, having joined from Burnley for £25million and played a big part in Newcastle’s survival.

But he has fallen down the pecking order behind Callum Wilson and Alexander Isak and will get regular action under Steve Cooper at Forest following a long-term injury to Taiwo Awoniyi.

Chelsea boss Graham Potter was tight-lipped on the potential signing of Noni Madueke as he prepares to hand a Premier League debut to Mykhailo Mudryk.

England Under-21 winger Madueke has reportedly undergone a medical with the Blues ahead of joining from PSV Eindhoven for around £35million.

Ukraine international Mudryk moved to Stamford Bridge from Shakhtar Donetsk last weekend in an initial £62m deal and is likely to feature in Saturday’s game at Liverpool.

Rebecca Welch will become the first woman appointed to referee a men’s Championship match when she takes charge of Birmingham versus Preston on Saturday.

Welch, 39, from Washington in Tyne and Wear, already holds the honour of being the first woman to be appointed to referee an English Football League match.

She led the team of officials for the League Two match between Harrogate and Port Vale in April 2021.

Amy Fearn became the first female referee in the EFL in 2010, when she stepped in as an injury replacement for the final 20 minutes of a second-tier match between Coventry and Nottingham Forest.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp admits he cannot explain Chelsea’s unprecedented “impressive” spending.

The Blues have spent over £400million since the consortium headed by billionaire Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital took over in the summer, with £140m of that outlay coming in the last 15 days with potentially more expected before the end of the month.

That is a lot more than Liverpool, who after buying Benfica forward Darwin Nunez for an initial £64m – which could rise to a club-record £85m with add-ons – and youngsters Fabio Carvalho (from Fulham for £5m) and Calvin Ramsay (from Aberdeen for £6.5m), have added £38m PSV Eindhoven forward Cody Gakpo as their likely only January transfer.

Leicester City’s talks with Fiorentina over a deal for Nico Gonzalez have broken down and the club are looking elsewhere for forward options.

The Foxes were keen to do a deal for the Argentina international at between £20-25m, but the Serie A club have shut down negotiations with Fiorentina chief executive, Joe Barone, publicly stating that Gonzalez is not for sale.

There are plenty of interested parties in Brighton midfielder Moises Caicedo with Chelsea pushing the club for a deal. Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi believes the best thing for Caicedo is to remain with the club for the time being after Brighton seemingly turned down a £55m bid from the Blues.

“It’s difficult to change [him] with another player inside of the season.” said De Zerbi, “I hope he finishes the season with us, but in the transfer market it’s always difficult to give an answer.

“When there are some big teams who want our player, it’s good news for us. The best solution is that he can finish the season with us, and in the summer would be better for a change.

“If Caicedo continues to play like he has in the last games, it’s possible he can leave for another team.”

Liverpool and Chelsea meet each other in a crucial Premier League game on Saturday lunchtime.

Both sides finished in the top four last season but are faring much worse this time round, sitting in ninth and 10th respectively and trailing fourth-placed Newcastle by 10 points.

With Liverpool having gathered 28 points from 18 games and Chelsea on the same tally from 19 matches, both are tracking well behind 2021-22 when they each had 41 points at the halfway stage.

Here, the PA news agency looks at the extent of their declines and their chances of recovery in the second half of the campaign.

As part of his pre-match press duties for tomorrow’s game against Chelsea, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp was asked about his thoughts on the Blues new signing Mykhailo Mudryk.

“A really good player, incredible Champions League campaign,” he said. “Speed, technique, goals. Combines a lot.

“So, having him on one wing and [Joao] Felix on the other is interesting. Chelsea sort problems differently to us, so let’s see.”

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta spoke about how it feels to get the signing of Leandro Trossard over the line and he said: “It is good work from everyone at the club to complete the signing of Leandro. He is a versatile player with high technical ability, intelligence and a great deal of experience in the Premier League and at international level.

“Leandro strengthens our squad as we head into the second part of the season and we’re all looking forward to working with him. We welcome Leandro and his family to Arsenal Football Club.”

Leandro Trossard has completed his move to Arsenal from Brighton and Hove Albion for a fee understood by The Independent to be £27m.

The 28-year-old Belgian had been agitating for a move away from the Amex Stadium and new Seagulls boss Roberto De Zerbi no longer wished to use the forward, enabling a deal to be struck.

Trossard will provide much-needed attacking reinforcements for Arsenal as they find themselves in the midst of a Premier League title race, seeking to hold off Manchester City and possibly their city rivals United as well.

He will wear shirt No 19 and in their statement confirming the signing, Arsenal said: “All documents have been submitted and we’re hoping Leandro will be eligible for selection for our match against Manchester United on Sunday.”