LONDON -- Fulham brought in Germany midfielder Lewis Holtby and Greece striker Kostas Mitroglou, while Cardiff took winger Wilfried Zaha on loan from Manchester United as struggling English Premier League clubs reinforced their squads on Friday. The rush of contracts came as the January transfer window was closing late Friday. The 23-year-old Holtby arrived at Tottenham from Schalke 12 months ago in a 1.25 million pound ($2 million) deal but struggled to establish himself at Spurs. According to Holtbys agent, Marcus Noak, the player was keen on returning to the Bundesliga but his price tag was a dissuasive factor. "A return to the Bundesliga has been shattered due to circumstances we couldnt control," Noak said. "Fulham has put much effort into Lewis. It is a very well-run club with an excellent manager, Rene Meulensteen. The system and philosophy how Fulham plays fits well with Lewis." Holtby has joined Fulham on loan for the rest of the season. His signing follows the recent arrivals of Clint Dempsey -- on a two-month loan from the Seattle Sounders -- and William Kvist. "Ill do what I can to help us beat teams and keep us up and out of the bottom three and ensure that we have a good remainder of the season," Holtby said. Languishing in the relegation zone, Fulham achieved a real coup with the midfielders arrival as Adel Taarabt headed to AC Milan following a disappointing spell at Craven Cottage. Fulham also added to its attack with the signing of Mitroglou on a four-and-a-half-year deal from Olympiakos. The Greece forward is expected to replace Dimitar Berbatov, who has been linked with a move to Monaco and is expected in the principality on Friday for a medical. Also involved in the relegation fight, Cardiffs new manager Ole Gunnar Solksjaer used his United connections to lure Zaha from Old Trafford, where the 21-year-old is judged surplus to requirements. Zaha helped Crystal Palace secure promotion through the playoffs last year but was relegated to the bench by United. Zaha is Cardiffs sixth January signing after Solksjaer, a former United player, reinforced his struggling squad with the addition of Fabio, Kenwyne Jones, Magnus Wolff Eikrem, Mats Moller Daehli and Jo Inge Berget. Cardiff is bottom of the Premier League and Solksjaer is hoping that Zahas skills will lead his side out of the drop zone. He said Zaha "will bring that little final bit to find pockets of space and produce a bit of magic." The big teams remained relatively quiet as United confirmed it would not make any more signings before the 2300 GMT deadline after it shattered the club record transfer by paying Chelsea 37.1 million pounds ($61 million) for Spain midfielder Juan Mata last week. "You can stand your cameras down," United manager David Moyes told a news conference. "I dont think they will be required. We have done our business." Chelsea announced the signing of Saint-Etienne defender Kurt Zouma on a five-and-a-half-year deal but the 19-year-old central defender will remain on loan at the French club until the end of the season. Chelseas north London rivals Arsenal looked for a replacement for the injured Aaron Ramsey and were expected to sign veteran midfielder Kim Kallstrom on loan for the remainder of the season. English topflight clubs had already spent 10 million pounds ($16.5 million) more than this time last year. According to football finance experts Deloitte, Premier League clubs had spent 95 million pounds ($156 million) on acquiring new players ahead of the deadline day, with gross spending at this point last season reaching 85 million pounds ($140 million). On the final day of the window in January 2013, they spent 35 million pounds ($57.5 million). Regardless of the amount of activity on Friday, Deloitte says Premier League clubs have already set a record for transfer spending this season, which broke the "700 million pounds ($1.15 billion) mark for the first time, with spending currently at 725 million pounds ($1.19 billion)." Jay Buhner Jersey . The future hall of famers stole the show at the Bell Centre on Tuesday night, with Jagr moving into seventh place in all-time goal scoring and Brodeur stopping 29 shots as the Devils downed the Montreal Canadiens 4-1. Freddy Garcia Mariners Jersey . 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David Perron had a career high four-point night with two goals and two assists as the Oilers experienced an offensive explosion, blasting the Columbus Blue Jackets 7-0 to record a rare home win for their second victory in a row. Ichiro Suzuki Jersey . And I wanted to take this opportunity to share some of my experiences gained through International competition and the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. Seven NHL referees and six linesmen will be assigned upcoming games in Sochi by the IIHF as part of their 28-man officiating roster comprised of 14 refs and 14 linesmen. Hisashi Iwakuma Jersey . Rob Klinkhammer and Mikkel Boedker scored 63 seconds apart in the first period for the Coyotes, who handed the Kings their third straight loss and took over sole possession of eighth place in the Western Conference. Mike Smith made 36 saves.Urban Meyer and Nick Saban know each other well. They’re friends off the field, but more importantly to the college football fan, they’ve had some epic battles back in the day in the SEC. Those days are gone, Meyer trading his Florida Gators windbreaker for an Ohio State sweater vest, but for at least one more time, the two best coaches in college football will go head-to-head with major implications on the line. The matchup is too good to miss – so much so that Ohio State almost magically got better than both TCU and Baylor in the minds of College Football Playoff selection committee members. Saban leads the head-to-head series 2-1 but this game is about so much more than the men patrolling the sidelines. Long known for their impressive defence, Alabama brings one of the top offences in the nation to the Sugar Bowl. Led by receiver Amari Cooper and running back TJ Yeldon, the Crimson Tide averaged nearly 500 yards of offence per game, finishing 16th in the NCAA. Both Cooper and Yeldon will be worth keeping an eye on, Cooper projects to be a Top 10 selection in April’s NFL Draft while Yeldon should go somewhere in the second round, but safety Landon Collins may be the team’s best draft eligible prospect.dddddddddddd The junior led Alabama’s 11th ranked defence and should hear his name called in the Top 10 come late April as well. The big story in Ohio State is their seemingly endless supply of Heisman-calibre quarterbacks. After losing Braxton Miller, who many had pegged as a Heisman frontrunner, for the year to a shoulder injury, the Buckeyes found JT Barrett who finished fifth in Heisman voting. Then, when Barrett was lost for the season to an ankle injury on Rivalry Weekend, one-time third stringer Cardale Jones led OSU to a huge Big 10 Championship win over Wisconsin. Jones will need to show he can sustain his play from his only start this season for the Buckeyes to have a chance in this one, but at the very least he gives Ohio State fans hope they can hang with Alabama. There was some surprise that Ohio State found their way into the Top 4 teams and the innagural College Football Playoff, and the betting line shows that as Alabama enters the Sugar Bowl as 9.5-point favourites. It’s a great story, let’s just hope it turns out to be a great game too. ' ' '