Though exciting at one point in history, the winter transfer window has become somewhat of an anti-climax.
Many clubs are unwilling to hand out huge sums for players mid-season. More to the point perhaps, their current registration holders are often unwilling to sell until they’ve achieved their own goals. How did the latest transfer window truly go for the Premier League’s biggest clubs?
Man City Binge Spend to Get Back on Track
Things have not gone well for Manchester City so far this season, not by their standards. Now, they have tried to address their issues by spending around £180 million during the January transfer window.
| Player | From | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Abdukodir Khusanov | Lens | £33.8m |
| Vitor Reis | Palmeiras | £29.6m |
| Omar Marmoush | Eintracht Frankfurt | £59.1m |
| Juma Bah | Valladolid | £5.1m |
| Nico González | FC Porto | £50m |
This is unfortunately typical of them as a club. They are able to take advantage of PSR rules which, as of now, still benefit them despite being the reason other clubs are hindered.
The Etihad club signed Marmoush, Gonzalez, Khusanov, Reis and Bah. Five quick additions. If changes were needed from last season to this in order to stay at the top, how were they not spotted and addressed last summer?
This sort of move doesn’t help Pep Guardiola in the eternal debate regarding whether he’s truly a top-class coach or not. Instead of insisting that he can get his squad back to where it needs to be, he reaches for the banking app.
No Significant Changes at Arsenal, Liverpool or Newcastle
Given the state of the league table, you’d say Liverpool are fine where they are so the lack of movement with them is no surprise nor a cause for concern.
It’s slightly more of a surprise that Arsenal didn’t strengthen last month. They don’t exactly look like bankers to catch Liverpool at the top of the Premier League, and they have to try to do it while challenging in the Champions League as well.
Newcastle, as expected, also made no moves in terms of signing players but they continued their policy of essentially getting money in the bank ready for a big summer.
Lloyd Kelly, a free transfer from Bournemouth last summer, has left to go on loan at Juventus. The Italian club now has an obligation to make the deal permanent later on for £20m. They also sold Almiron back to Atlanta for close to £10m.
The club will be adding this to the c£63 million they received in the summer for Minteh and Elliott Anderson as PSR dictates what they can do. It’s all about finding the right players this June and July in order to challenge.
One thing to note about this is that all of Newcastle’s best players are pre-peak and are still improving. Eddie Howe will feel he is not desperate for signings when Tonali, Bruno, Gordon, Isak, Hall, Botman and Livramento are all still getting better.
Are Villa Ambitious or Not?
Aston Villa have been called ambitious this week. It’s really hard to decide if that’s true or not.
PSR is an issue, but despite signing Malen and Garcia for £27 million, it’s hard to call a club ambitious when it sells its goal scorer. Duran left for £64 million while they brought in another £28m for Philogene and Diego Carlos.
Jhon Duran ➡️ Al-Nassr for a rumoured £65m
Who got the better deal, Aston Villa or Al-Nassr? pic.twitter.com/EuoQKvDTLm
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) January 31, 2025
What that does mean however is that they may have money to spend in the summer as they and Newcastle finally look to disturb the established order in the longer term.
Though we can criticise Manchester City’s spending, it was not expected that there were no major changes at Man United or Tottenham who are floundering.
Sometimes signings are needed. Remember all the jokes about how many players Nottingham Forest once signed, leading to memes appearing featuring triple-decker buses carrying the Forest squad? Well, look at them now.
The trouble is, with the current rules no club can keep up that momentum for long periods.