Charlton Athletic, rooted in the Premiership relegation zone, have signed the Algeria international defender Madjid Bougherra from Sheffield Wednesday in a £2.5m deal. Last Friday the London club had a £1.3m bid rejected by the Championship side. The 24-year-old centre-back joins Zheng Zhi and Ben Thatcher as the Charlton manager Alan Pardew's third January signing.
Bougherra, nicknamed "Magic", will be playing for his third club in a year. He joined Crewe Alexandra from the French second division club Gueugnon in last year's transfer window. When Crewe were relegated to Division One at the end of last season he moved to Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship in a £300,000 deal.
Matthew Upson's agent, Barry Neville, has accused Birmingham City of failing to honour a verbal agreement allowing the player to leave the club if a satisfactory offer was received.
Neville, claims the 27-year-old defender was told he could leave Birmingham after four years if an offer made above a certain price was. The agent claims that the recent offer from West Ham of £6m, which was rejected by the St Andrew's club, exceeded the agreed sum.
"Matt is disappointed after having been told he could leave Birmingham for a certain amount - and what has been offered has gone way past that," Neville said.
Reading, who knocked Birmingham out of the FA Cup on Saturday, have agreed a fee of £250,000 for Alan Bennett, a defender playing for Cork City in the Republic of Ireland. He will join two other former Cork players at Madejski Stadium, Kevin Doyle and Shane Long.
The Tottenham midfielder Edgar Davids is to join Ajax Amsterdam as a free agent. The Premiership club have been given the former Holland international a free back to the club where he started his professional career in 1991.
Davids and Ajax have reportedly agreed an 18-month deal and if the 33-year-old passes a medical examination he is set to make his debut next weekend against Feyenoord.
Derby County expect to sign the Blackburn Rovers defender James McEveley in a £600,000 move. The 21-year-old left back is out of contract in the summer but Blackburn would have been entitled to tribunal fee if the player had stayed to the end of his contract. McEveley had been on loan from the Premership club to Ipswich Town and Burnley.
The Derby midfielder Adam Bolder is on his way out of the club. The 26-year-old is heading for Queens Park Rangers for an undisclosed fee.