In a remarkable twist to a dramatic night, Manchester City captured Robinho from Real Madrid to dramatically end Chelsea's pursuit of the Brazilian striker.

Mark Hughes' side, bankrolled by Abu Dhabi United Group's takeover, had staged an audacious attempt to hijack Berbatov's move to United.

Tabling a British record fee of over £30million for Berbatov, they switched targets once it became clear the Bulgarian had his heart set on Old Trafford.

Robinho had looked destined for Stamford Bridge but Real Madrid's reluctance to sell to Chelsea and the £32million transfer fee offered by City shifted the balance in their favour.

The excitement at Eastlands - where bids were also made for Valencia striker David Villa and Stuttgart forward Mario Gomez - overshadowed events over in the red half of Manchester.

Berbatov brought a welcome conclusion to his summer-long transfer saga when he arrived at Old Trafford tonight to agree personal terms.

The 27-year-old signed a four-year deal for a fee Spurs confirmed to be £30.75million with Fraizer Campbell also moving to White Hart Lane for a year on-loan.

As part of the agreement, Spurs will not pursue a complaint against United for making an illegal approach to the player.

Spurs had been the busiest Premier League club earlier today after signing £14million Russia striker Roman Pavlyuchenko and Croatia right-back Vedran Corluka.

Defender Corluka, 22, joined Croatia team-mate Luka Modric at Spurs after putting pen to paper on a deal thought to be worth £8.5million.

Liverpool captured Spain winger Albert Riera from La Liga side Espanyol for an undisclosed fee.

The 26-year-old signed a four-year contract after choosing Rafael Benitez's side over several other clubs, including neighbours Everton.

He joined Vitor Flora at Anfield after the 18-year-old Brazilian, who holds an Italian passport, agreed a free transfer.

But striker Andriy Voronin and full-back Steven Finnan departed Liverpool for Hertha Berlin and Espanyol respectively.

Not to be outdone by their Merseyside rivals, Everton confirmed the signing of French striker Louis Saha from Manchester United for an undisclosed fee.

Saha signed a two-year deal with an option for a third year and was joined at Goodison by Wigan keeper Carlo Nash.

Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp made his only deadline-day signing by taking Algeria left-back Nadir Belhadj on loan from French club Lens.

Defender George McCartney rejoined Sunderland on a five-year contract from West Ham for an undisclosed fee, becoming Roy Keane's 10th signing of the summer.

Newcastle lured Valencia's Uruguayan midfielder Ignacio Gonzalez to St James' Park on a one-year loan deal and also signed Spain Under-21 striker Xisco from Deportivo La Coruna.

Blackburn strengthened their squad with the acquisition of goalkeeper Mark Bunn, 23, from Northampton on a four-year contract.

Defender Danny Higginbotham, 29, rejoined Stoke from Sunderland on a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee.

West Brom swooped for AZ Alkmaar defender Ryan Donk on a season-long loan deal with a view to a permanent deal.

NEC Nijmegen signed Dutch striker Collins John on a free transfer from Fulham, subject to a medical.

The Cottagers also terminated the contract of Russian midfielder Alexey Smertin but captured Coventry midfielder Julian Gray on a season-long loan.

Daniel Cousin moved from Rangers to boost Hull's options in attack.