Rangers 'keen' on Arsenal star but Aston Villa likely to swoop as West Ham move 'ended' for former Celtic hero

It's now under 12 hours until the January transfer window ends with plenty of deals still in the pipeline. Celtic are expecting to announce the arrival of Norwich City's Adam Idah in the coming hours after the striker was spotted arriving at Glasgow Airport.

Idah, 22, has already made 22 appearances for the Republic of Ireland, scoring three times, and is an exceptionally dominant force in the EFL Championship. It was no secret that Brendan Rodgers had been on the look-out to boost his striking options and was able to swoop into to steal Idah, despite the growing interest from England and Europe.

Rangers, meanwhile, will be forced to quickly reassess as their potential deal to sign Brazil's Jefte begins to collapse. With just a few hours to go until all negotiations will be paused until the summer, here is the latest news from around the SPFL...

Aston Villa sweep up Rangers target

Aston Villa have agreed a deal to sign Lino Sousa from Arsenal on a permanent move (Fabrizio Romano). The Football transfer guru posted on his Twitter account that there was an "agreement in place for the 2005-born fullback who's set to complete medical in the next hours."

Rangers, along with Galatasary and Juventus were also keen on Sousa but the Villans have struck gold on the final day of play. Reports from Football Insider also indicate that the new left-back will then be sent out on loan to Plymouth Argyle and will not form part of Unai Emery's squad this 2023/24 season. The Portuguese-born England-U19 international will then be forced to displace both Lucas Digne and Alex Moreno if he wishes to see success at Villa Park.

West Ham's move for ex-Celtic star ended

Al-Ittihad have officially ended West Ham United's hopes of signing Jota after the 24-year-old former Celtic winger would been forced to pay a large amount of tax to HMRC if he returned to Britain having earned a tax-free salary in the Middle East (Nawaf Oga on X).

David Moyes's side had been hopeful of securing the services of the ex-Hoops star after Jota had been iced out of the squad in the Saudi Pro League due the competition's rule on the number of international stars in each squad. Goalkeeper Marcelo Grohe and forward Romarinho were crossed off Al-Ittihad's list, leaving open the spot for Jota to come back in to the mix.

A post from Rudy Galetti's X account also indicated that Ahmed Hegazy would also be brought back into the squad.

Competition drops for shock Rangers star

Torino are unlikely to pursue Rangers striker Cyriel Dessers as the Italians are on the verge of signing former Cremonese team-mate David Okereke, but Serie A rivals Hellas Verona remain interested in the 29-year-old, although the lack of time for the Glasgow club to find a replacement will work against a deal. (Daily Record).

Verona are still reportedly on course to make a late bid for the Nigerian but this would leave Philippe Clement with little time to find the required up-front replacement his side would desperately need. A month ago, a move for Dessers would have been welcomed by many fans but he has since acquired four goals and three assists in his last seven games.