The mayhem and madness of the January transfer window is over, and the Premier League is back in earnest as the second half of the season hits full swing.
Arsenal lead the ladder, but were stymied in their pursuits of two top targets last month. Did they do enough to hold off the likes of Manchester City, whose only real transfer movement was to let one of the league’s finest defenders depart? Then of course there’s Chelsea, the Blues blowing their rivals – and even some of the biggest leagues – out of the water with their record-breaking spending spree.
At the bottom of the ladder, some teams splashed the cash in a desperate bid to avoid relegation, but others did virtually nothing. Which strategy will pay off?
Here’s the big Premier League talking points after the January window.
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Jorginho joins Gunners on deadline day | 01:25
ARSENAL’S SOLID – BUT UNSPECTACULAR – DEALINGS
Arsenal’s dazzling first half of the campaign shocked plenty of pundits, and even a fair few of the Gunners faithful. Now, they sit on a whopping 50 points from 19 games so far, with five points and a game in hand on their nearest rivals City. Having lost just once in the league – and that back in September to a Marcus Rashford-inspired Manchester United – they seem well and truly on their way to what would be a truly stunning title. But manager Mikel Arteta knew the team would need reinforcements for the home stretch. Fresh legs and calm heads when the pressure mounts to extremes in the weeks and months to come.
His two biggest targets were Mykhailo Mudryk, the massively talented Shakhtar Donetsk winger, and midfielder Moises Caicedo.
But Chelsea beat the Gunners to the former by offering better contract terms, while Brighton were staunch in resisting any move for Caicedo – even when the player himself pushed for a swap to the Emirates. On the surface, it felt like Arsenal’s window was teetering on the brink of disaster. But Brighton did give up the versatile winger Leandro Trossard for £27m – a player in the peak of his powers at 28 – and the Gunners nabbed a steal in Jorginho from Chelsea. Jorginho, 31, was named the best player in Europe less than 18 months ago, and his leadership – not to mention his trophy-winning experience (Europa League, Champions League, Euro 2020), could be crucial down the line. The Italian is a perfect fill-in for key defensive midfielder Thomas Partey, who is currently battling a suspected rib injury.
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It might not have been the transfer window of dreams for Arsenal fans. But they responded to big setbacks perfectly, and brought in players who can hit the ground running. It might just be enough to end in glory.
Cancelo leaves City for Bayern on loan | 00:54
CITY LOSE SUPERSTAR
Just how big of a blow is losing Joao Cancelo? Manchester City aren’t stacked with fullbacks and did not bring in a replacement when the Portuguese wingback left to Bayern Munich on loan with a €70 million purchase option at the end of the season. It was a seismic shock of a transfer. Cancelo had been a crucial part of City’s success under Pep Guardiola in recent years, a reasonably solid defender who excelled at going forward, capable of coming inside to pack the midfield, and superb at providing chances for his teammates. In the last two seasons, he has picked up two goals and six assists in the Champions League, more than any other defender. But since the World Cup in Qatar, Cancelo has made just three starts for City in their nine games, the defender rapidly falling down the pecking order – and sparking a falling-out with Guardiola.
“I wanted to start this new adventure as soon as possible,” Cancelo told Bayern Munich’s in-house media.
“My decision had to do with the playing time that had been little in recent weeks,” he added. ”There was speculation that my relationship with Pep was not the best but fact is I wanted to play more.”
Having spent big on the likes of Erling Haaland, Kalvin Phillips, Manuel Akanji, and Sergio Gomez in the off-season, this was never expected to be a busy transfer window for City. But the pressure is firmly on Guardiola – and his teenage sensation Rico Lewis, just 18 – to fill the gap left by the sensational Cancelo. If they can’t, Cancelo’s departure could prove a costly error in the title race.
Chelsea sign Enzo Fernandez for $184M | 00:42
CHELSEA SPEND BIG – BUT SCATTERGUN
Plenty has been written about Chelsea’s outrageous spending spree under their new owners. A record January transfer window outlay for the Premier League was headlined by the Blues’ remarkable buying – but the vast majority are not yet proven in English football. Their haul of arrivals are dominated by young players on extremely long-term contracts. It is clear the Blues have one eye on the future, though those long-term deals also play a crucial role in avoiding Financial Fair Play sanctions.
But were all their signings worth it? Speaking on talkSPORT, former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy declared: “I think they are overpaying for players and I still don’t think the majority of their first XI gets anywhere near City’s team.”
It all gives manager Graham Potter a huge headache. While there is no shortage of depth in his side, forging a united spirit and cohesive team from the raft of new arrivals will prove a huge challenge. Picking a starting XI appears equally tricky – especially since just three of the eight January signings can be added to the Champions League squad.
“They’re tough decisions, that’s for sure,” Potter said.
“There are challenges when you’ve got this many players in terms of what role they play because most players want to play, they want to be on the pitch, they want to help the team. When they are not, it is a challenge and it is a challenge for lots of reasons at this football club.”
Chelsea are down in 10th and 10 points off the top four. The challenge is only just beginning.
Souttar set for Premier League at last! | 00:25
SOUTTAR HANDED HUGE PRAISE AFTER BIG MOVE
It was a difficult transfer window for Leicester, until Harry Souttar arrived in the final hours of the window to bring a smile to every Australian fan. The Socceroos man-mountain has long been tipped for a move to the Premier League, and his World Cup performances made that a virtual certainty. His new manager Brendan Rodgers has already been full of praise for the Aussie’s work in training this week, saying he was ‘delighted’ to get the deal done.
“I saw Harry as a younger player, the trauma of him coming through the bad [ACL] injury he had and then his performances for Stoke and at the World Cup.
“I also talked to a number of people I really respect in the game who spoke so highly of him – and I can see why having now met him and spoken with him.
“He’s a young player on the way up, who’s done really well in the Championship and I saw him when I was up in Scotland (with Celtic) when he was a young player and now he’s coming in to show us his qualities in the Premier League.”
Leicester has conceded 35 goals this season, the second-worst in the league, and have been vulnerable at set pieces – something Souttar’s imposing presence should help.
“He gives us that stature we‘ve been looking for, but as you’ve seen at the World Cup, he can play football as well. So delighted to have him in and in just these first few days, he‘s made a really good impact already,” Rodgers said.
“It‘s about hunger as well. He was available and affordable for where we were at. If it wasn’t us, he’d have gone to another good club.
“He‘s got experience but is on his way up. If you have the ability and thirst to learn, we’ll see great improvements in him. He fits the model.”
Leicester face Aston Villa on Sunday morning (2am AEDT) but Souttar might be kept on ice for another week.
“We just have to see about his hip issue,” said Rodgers. “He trained today with the squad. He‘s one I need to assess.
“He‘ll certainly be ready to go for the following weekend.”
FOREST’S FARCICAL SQUAD
If you thought Chelsea had delivered the biggest squad overhaul of the last 12 months, think again. Promoted side Nottingham Forest have now signed a whopping 30 – yes, THIRTY – players this season. They ended last season with a host of players off-contract, leaving them with a threadbare squad to make their assault on the top flight after earning promotion through the play-offs. In the off-season, they signed a whopping 21 new players – a British record. They added two free agents (players without clubs) before the January window opened, then added six more during the window, including three on deadline day. And, rounding out a truly bananas signing spree, they added Ghanaian legend Andre Ayew as a free agent after the window ended.
It’s unprecedented to say the least. Much of their January movement was forced by injuries and illness. But their ambition in the transfer market has led to a host of massive coups – from Jesse Lingard snubbing West Ham for Forest last window, to PSG keeper Keylor Navas arriving on loan this week, to highly-rated Atletico Madrid choosing them despite interest from big clubs across Europe.
In many ways, they’re the winners of the transfer window. But their start to the season holds some signs that it won’t be smooth sailing. They won just one of their first 11 matches as the squad struggled to gel. Another run like that could see them slide back down the table from their current 13th place. After all, they’re only four points out of the relegation zone. Too many cooks spoil the broth? Wait and see.
Dyche defends Everton’s lack of activity | 00:57
EVERTON IN DIRE STRAITS
Speaking of relegation, it’s a very, very real concern for the Toffees. Everton were the only Premier League side to fail to make a signing in January – despite the historic club sitting in 19th with just three wins and 15 points from their 20 matches to date.
That wasn’t for a lack of trying, however. New manager Sean Dyche, who was appointed the day before deadline day, said: “We worked very, very hard [to make signings].
“I can assure you the club worked hard because I was here, I was watching it, I was involved in it. I was ringing agents. We were doing all of the diligence, crunching all of the numbers, analytics, doing all that we could do to define the players that could help.”
The list of players they approached but failed to sign is embarrassingly lengthy.
On deadline day alone, that included Hakim Ziyech, Conor Gallagher, Iliman Ndiaye, Olivier Giroud, Michy Batshuayi, Jean-Philippe Mateta, Anthony Elanga and Ismalia Sarr. Arnaut Danjuma even rejected the Toffees just to take up a move to Spurs, where he’s likely going to spend most of his time on the bench.
They lost rising star Anthony Gordon to Newcastle. Chelsea were interested in taking midfielder Amadou Onana on a swap deal … but no Chelsea players were willing to move to Goodison Park. Then Andre Ayew snubbed Everton to move to Nottingham Forest! It was truly one of the most disastrous transfer windows we’ve seen.
After narrowly escaping relegation last season, things look even worse for the Liverpool club this time around.
Hammers set up Man U clash in FA Cup | 00:48
RELEGATION RIVALS GO BIG
If Southampton goes down this season, at least they’re going down swinging. The Saints hadn’t splashed money in the January window for three years until they bought Miroslav Orsic (Dinamo Zagreb). They added Kamaldeen Sulemana (Rennes) and Paul Onuachu (Genk) on deadline day for a combined total nearing £45m – a hefty sum for a battling side. It’s a big upgrade on their attacking end, in terms of quality and physical attributes. If they can adjust to life in England quickly, it could change their fortunes.
18th-place Bournemouth also went big, signing a host of players including £20m Dango Ouattara of Lorient. It was their first transfer window under a new American ownership group, and they didn’t hold back. Leeds were similar – bagging Georginio Rutter from Hoffenheim for a hefty £35m and the impressive Weston McKennie from Juventus on loan.
