Football News: Premier League Transfer Window Round Up

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Premier League Transfer Window Review

Arsenal

Ins:
Martin Odegaard from Real Madrid on loan (loan fee of £1.8m)
Mathew Ryan on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion

Outs:
Sead Kolasinac to FC Schalke 04 on loan
Mesut Ozil to Fenerbahce free
Matt Macey to Hibernian on loan
Sokratis to Olympiacos free
Shkodran Mustafi to FC Schalke 04 free
William Saliba to OGC Nice on loan
Ainsley Maitland-Niles to West Bromwich Albion on loan
Joe Willock to Newcastle United on loan

They have managed to massively reduce their wage bill, which will help them in the long term, but only put off problems to a later date to fix in terms of arrivals. I do wonder if they will miss Maitland-Niles' utility should they pick up some injuries in the second half of the season.

Aston Villa

Ins:
Morgan Sanson from Olympique Marseille for £14.22m

Outs:
Henri Lansbury to Bristol City free
Lovre Kalinic to Hajduk Split on loan
Conor Hourihane to Swansea City on loan
Frederic Guilbert to Racing Strasbourg on loan

On paper they look to have made a major step forward with the arrival of Sanson. If he adapts quickly to his new surroundings, Villa will have another step towards European places. The outs are an issue though, with them mainly being on loan, they could end up being unwanted players they are stuck with if they are not careful. The problem a lot of Premier League teams have is the high wages paid makes it very difficult to offload players, which leads to squads that become bloated over time. That then makes it difficult to bring in new players, as the salaries tie up too much money. Villa do not want to end up in a similar position, so will need to be ruthless offloading players Dean Smith does not require in the summer.

Brighton & Hove Albion

Ins:
Moises Caicedo from Indepeniente del Valle for £4.5m

Outs:
Bernardo to Red Bull Salzburg on loan
Jayson Molumby to Preston North End on loan
Mathew Ryan to Arsenal on loan
Glenn Murray to Nottingham Forest
Viktor Gyokeres to Coventry City on loan

No matter how good Caicedo may turn out to be, and by all accounts he is very talented, the lad is not the answer to Brighton's problems scoring goals. They really need to find a solution to that issue, any other in is not going to make any major difference to their league position. The outs are just a case of shifting a few problems out of the way until the end of the season, when the problems will need to be dealt with. In particular the case of Ryan, whose agent was beginning to be a major problem.

Burnley

Ins:
Richard Nartey free agent

Outs:
None

Burnley are in desperate need of some investment in their squad after losing so many in the summer. They do look to be safe this season, but Sean Dyche can only do so much with what he has. The new owners will need to back him if they are to continue to retain their place in the Premier League.

Chelsea

Ins:
None

Outs:
Lucas Piazon to Braga free
Abdul Rahman Baba to PAOK Salonika on loan
Danny Drinkwater to Kasimpasa on loan
Fikayo Tomori to AC Milan on loan

After spending heavily in the summer, the squad has become heavily unbalanced with an excellent array of attacking options but a defensive group that leaves a lot to be desired. Particularly at centre-back. That made it seem a strange decision to let Tomori head out. This season seemed to be a perfect chance for him to play regularly next to Thiago Silva and learn the art of defending.

Crystal Palace

Ins:
Jean-Philippe Mateta from 1.FSV Mainz 05 on loan (loan fee of £3.15m)

Outs:
Max Meyer to 1.FC Koln free
Jaroslaw Jach to Rakow Czestochowa on loan
Sam Woods to Plymouth Argyle on loan

They desperately needed a proper striker, Benteke has been finished for years, Batshuayi does not put in enough effort and Zaha is too busy complaining and flopping to the ground to provide much. Mateta is a gamble, but it is one they needed to make.

Everton

Ins:
Joshua King from Bournemouth for £?

Outs:
Jarrad Branthwaite to Blackburn Rovers on loan
Matthew Pennington to Shrewsbury Town on loan
Yannick Bolasie to Middlesbrough on loan
Cenk Tosun to Besiktas on loan
Jonas Lossl to FC Midtjylland free
Jonjoe Kenny to Celtic on loan
Anthony Gordon to Preston North End on loan
Beni Baningime to Derby County on loan

They are still paying the price for Ronald Koeman's excesses and terrible recruitment, with a number of highly paid players that they are stuck loaning out. King should help them score more goals, something which has become more and more of an issue in recent weeks but there is a worrying trend with regards to the youngsters. Carlo Ancelotti does not seem keen on using the younger players, even when the senior pros are not performing. That has led to a number of them going out on loan when they could have offered a different option to the team. In particular you would think Gordon and Baningime could fill in gaps that are currently being swapped between players that are letting the fans down.

Fulham

Ins:
Josh Maja from Girondins Bordeaux on loan

Outs:
Jean Michael Seri to Girondins Bordeaux on loan
Stefan Johansen to Queens Park Rangers on loan
Maxime Le Marchand to Royal Antwerp on loan
Aboubakar Kamara to Dijon on loan
Neeskens Kebano to Middlesbrough on loan

Having invested heavily in the summer window, there was not much likelihood of a big outlay in January as well. Especially as they were unable to offload any surplus players on a permanent deal. It is hard to see Maja being the goalscorer they need though, his record shows nothing to suggest he will provide much of anything.

Leeds United

Ins:
None

Outs:
Conor Shaugnessy to Rochdale free
Jay-Roy Grot to VfL Osnabruck free
Jordan Stevens to Bradford City on loan
Robbie Gotts to Salford City on loan

Leeds unsurprisingly kept faith with the squad that have done so well for them so far this season.

Leicester City

Ins:
None

Outs:
Demarai Gray to Bayer Leverkusen for £1.8m
Islam Slimani to Olympique Lyonnais free
Matty James to Coventry City on loan
Filip Benkovic to OH Leuven on loan

With a strong squad already available to Brendan Rodgers, it is little surprise they brought no one in. The player they need, a long term replacement for Jamie Vardy, was never going to be available in this window.

Liverpool

Ins:
Ozan Kabak from FC Schalke 04 on loan (loan fee of £990,000)
Ben Davies from Preston North End for £1.67m

Outs:
Sepp van den Berg to Preston North End on loan
Takumi Minamino to Southampton on loan

With long term injuries piling up in central defence, Liverpool were forced to act to plug the gaping hole at the back. Having spent the summer trying to find one centre-back, they ended up having to bring in two low-priced signings in due to the three senior centre-backs all being ruled out of the rest of the season. If either, or even both, work out, it could turn out to be a stroke of genius. Equally, if they both flop it could be a mess.

Manchester City

Ins:
Filip Stevanovic from Partizan Belgrade for £7.65m

Outs:
Filip Stevanovic to Partizan Belgrade on loan
Patrick Roberts to Derby County on loan
Ante Palaversa to KV Kortrijk on loan
Arijanet Muric to Willem II on loan
Daniel Arzani to Aarhus GF on loan

A very quiet window for the Premier League leaders. Only brought in a teenage winger who was immediately sent out on loan. With the only real gap in their squad being a top class striker, and those almost impossible to buy in January, it is little surprise that nothing was done by City.

Manchester United

Ins:
Amad Diallo from Atalanta for £18.9m

Outs:
Timothy Fosu-Mensah to Bayer Leverkusen for £1.53m
Jesse Lingard to West Ham United on loan (loan fee of £1.53m)
Marcus Rojo to Boca Juniors free
Tahith Chong to Club Brugge on loan
Facundo Pellestri to Alaves on loan
Odion Ighalo to Shanghai Shenhua end of loan

Man Utd brought in a player for their main weak spot, though a teenager who might be considered more one for the future than for now. They also finally began to trim some of the fat from their bloated squad. They still have a long way to go in terms of offloading their excess, unwanted players, but at least a start has been made. If Diallo is as good as he appears to be, then this has been another big step forward for the club.

Newcastle United

Ins:
Joe Willock from Arsenal on loan

Outs:
Rolando Aarons to Huddersfield Town free
DeAndre Yedlin to Galatasaray free

Newcastle are in an utter mess at the moment and Willock is not going to fix the shambles on the pitch. It is clear to see Steve Bruce is out of his depth and the owner is not going to support the team with the signings they desperately need. If they survive this season, it will just tell you how bad the three that actually go down are, rather than how good the Toon are.

Sheffield United

Ins:
None

Outs:
Michael Verrips to FC Emmen on loan
Jake Eastwood to Grimsby Town on loan

After a dreadful start, the Blades have come to life but it might well be too late for them to rescue the situation. Like many others, they need goalscorers but they will have to hope the forwards they have come good.

Southampton

Ins:
Takumi Minamino from Liverpool on loan

Outs:
Jake Vokins to Sunderland on loan
Josh Sims to Doncaster Rovers on loan
Yan Valery to Birmingham City on loan
Shane Long to Bournemouth on loan

With the club looking to be safe from relegation, it looks like they have decided to sit tight and wait for the summer despite a current injury crisis at the club. With contract talks with Danny Ings currently at an impasse, the summer will be a huge window for Saints' long term future.

Tottenham Hotspur

Ins:
None

Out:
Jack Clarke to Stoke City on loan
Paulo Gazzaniga to Elche on loan
Gedson Fernandes to Benfica end of loan

With the current squad underperforming in Jose Mourinho's tedious all-out defence system, it is little wonder Spurs did not invest any in this window. The options are there for him already, it is up to him to get more from them, maybe by trying to attack from time to time.

West Bromwich Albion

Ins:
Mbaye Diagne from Galatasaray on loan (loan fee of £1.42m)
Robert Snodgrass from West Ham United for £99,000
Andy Lonergan from Stoke City free
Okay Yokuslu from Celta Vigo on loan
Ainsley Maitland-Niles from Arsenal on loan

Outs:
Jonathan Bond to LA Galaxy free
Sam Field to Queens Park Rangers on loan
Charlie Austin to Queens Park Rangers on loan
Rekeem Harper to Birmingham City on loan
Cedric Kipre to RSC Charleroi on loan
Filip Krovinovic to Benfica end of loan

As soon as they appointed Sam Allardyce you knew the one thing that was guaranteed is that there would be signings in the January window. There is absolutely no sign that the players they have signed are the players to bring them out of the relegation zone though.

West Ham United

Ins:
Said Benrahma from Brentford loan move made permanent for £20.79m
Jesse Lingard from Manchester United on loan (loan fee of £1.53m)
Frederik Alves from Silkeborg for £1.44m

Outs:
Sebastien Haller to Ajax for £20.25m
Robert Snodgrass to West Bromwich Albion for £99,000
Winston Reid to Brentford on loan

The Hammers have taken a big risk on paper by allowing Haller to leave without bringing in a replacement. In reality, Haller was little more than an empty shirt when he played and they have really lost nothing by taking the money. If Michail Antonio does get injured again, they will get more from an out of position player trying than they did from Haller.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Ins:
Willian Jose from Real Sociedad on loan

Outs:
Roderick Miranda to Gaziantep free
Ruben Vinagre to Famalicao on loan
Oskar Buur to Grasshoppers Zurich on loan
Patrick Cutrone to Valencia on loan
Luke Matheson to Ipswich Town on loan

The loss of Raul Jiminez has hit Wolves hard and they found the closest thing they could to a short-term replacement to allow him time to recover. However there are a lot more problems in the Wolves squad that are not being addressed. It lacks central midfield drive in particular and central defenders who are suited to a back four, as that seems to be the way Nuno Espirito Santo wants to go with the team.

Written by Tris Burke February 03 2021 11:11:45