Who were the winners and losers of the Premier League’s January transfer window?
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We look at the business of some Premier League sides this window
The quietest January transfer window since 2012 has drawn to a close, with only a reported £70m being spent in total.
That’s down from £230m at the same time last year, and £5m less than the total Virgil van Dijk cost Liverpool in 2018.
We still saw plenty of business done through the loan market, but have those clubs in need of fresh faces been able to get the players in that they need?
As the transfer window has closed, we look at who we feel are the winners and losers of the January transfer window…
Winners
Liverpool
With no fixed return date for Virgil van Dijk after his ACL injury earlier in the season already an issue, the defending Champions are also without Joe Gomez and Joel Matip, after the latter was ruled out until the end of the season early on deadline day.
That left Liverpool with no recognised senior centre backs heading into the second half of the season, but Sporting Director Michael Edwards had a pair of deadline day aces up his sleeve.
Regarded one of the most consistent defenders in the Championship, Ben Davies was finally handed a move many feel he deserved for years, signing from Preston North End for just shy of £2m.
On top of that, the Reds went out and got Schalke’s Ozan Kabak, one of their longer-term targets, on loan for the rest of the season, followed by a reported option to buy for £18m in the summer.
Elsewhere, they sent Takumi Minamino to Southampton until the end of the season, where they hope he’ll find the form that made them sign him from RB Salzburg.
Mikel Arteta
It’s been well documented that Mikel Arteta’s short spell at the helm of Arsenal has been somewhat plagued by issues in the dressing room.
But after the departure of a selection of players he deemed surplus to requirements from the minute he stepped into the hot seat, could we now see an end to those reports?
Mesut Ozil, Sead Kolasinac, Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Shkodran Mustafi rarely saw first team opportunities under Arteta, with the Gunners manager advising they’d be better off looking elsewhere for opportunities.
With no movement in the Summer window, the January window saw all four move on to pastures new. One downside could be the lack of transfer fees recouped, but the savings on the wage bill alone are enough to make any financial issues better.
As well as shifting the deadwood, Arsenal managed to find last minute loans for two of their youngsters who aren’t regularly featuring at the moment, with Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Joe Willock heading to West Brom and Newcastle respectively.
Although Emile Smith-Rowe is thriving at present in the number ten role, the addition of Martin Odegaard on loan from Real Madrid could energise the Gunners attack.
West Brom
When Sam Allardyce took over from Slaven Bilic with the club deeply in trouble in the bottom three, it looked like this could be a relegation battle too far for the former England manager.
But after being backed by the club in the transfer window, mainly in the loan market, plus with points being picked up on the pitch on a more regularly basis, the Baggies could be a winner this window.
Robert Snodgrass was brought in from West Ham for an undisclosed fee, and immediately made his presence felt in his debut against Wolves, with West Brom claiming all three points in the Black Country derby.
The same goes for Mbaye Diange, with the on-loan Galatasaray striker grabbing an assist in his first 45 minutes against Fulham.
The Baggies also brought in more experience in Andy Lonergan, while Okay Yokuslu and Ainsley Maitland-Niles have been given the platform to show their star quality. Their window could just keep them in the league.
Losers
Fulham
The Cottagers ended deadline day seven points from safety, albeit with a game in hand over Brighton. But while some of those clubs around them did noteworthy business, the same can’t be said for Fulham.
After appearing to be moments away from signing Bournemouth’s Joshua King on loan until the end of the season, the Norwegian striker ended up signing for Everton on a permanent basis.
The West London side are the joint-third lowest scorers in the league with just 17 goals from 20 games, with Bobby De Cordova-Reid their top scorer with five so far.
A striker was seemingly the biggest need for Scott Parker’s side, and they failed to bring one through the doors. While there’s promise in the re-signing of former youth player Josh Maja on loan from Bordeaux, his two goals in 17 Ligue 1 appearances this season won’t help Fulham’s scoring issue.
West Ham
With the club sitting pretty in fifth in the Premier League, playing the best football they’ve seen for a long time, it seems weird to say West Ham are one of the losers of the transfer window.
While the addition of Jesse Lingard could prove fantastic for both parties, as it stands, you don’t know which version of Lingard you’re going to get on any given day.
As well as that, West Ham’s only out and out striker, Sebastien Haller, left the club to join AFC Ajax with no replacement filling the void he left.
While Haller may not have been the highest goalscorer, his presence up front gave the Hammers a different dimension, which they may no longer have with no recognised striker at the club.
An over-reliance on Michail Antonio could be their downfall, with the former winger currently doing the business up front, but should be pick up an injury, David Moyes will be left to fill round holes with square pegs.
Dele Alli
The Spurs midfielder looked set to end his current nightmare at the club with a move to French champions Paris Saint-Germain until the end of the season in January, but it wasn’t to be.
Rumours were circulating even with former PSG boss Thomas Tuchel in the hot seat that Dele could be on his way to the French capital, but once former Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino was appointed PSG manager, it seemed like it was a done deal.
But after Gedson Fernandes’ loan from Benfica was ended early, partnered with another worrying injury for Harry Kane and Giovani Lo Celso’s hamstring injury being worse that first thought, Spurs put an end to Dele’s escape plan.
A move to PSG and a reunion with Pochettino would have helped to boost his worryingly low morale if nothing else, but it also had the potential to get him back to the player we’ve seen before.
Could Spurs live to rue their decision to keep Dele at the club, or will it prove a masterstroke?
All odds and markets correct as of date of publication.
