By: Daniel Pim
Transfer deadline day can be one of football’s most exciting days. Big money/name deals have fans watering at the mouth, and invariably teams always leave it to the last minute to make a purchase or secure a season-changing loan deal.
But that only adds to the excitement, with deals being pushed through after the deadline has passed leading to fans waking up to see that their club has brought in a new star signing. January often doesn’t live up to the buzz that the summer deadline creates, but big names and big money still change hands. Here’s a look at five winners and losers from the January window.
Winners:
Tottenham
Spurs were able to sign Dele Alli from MK Dons, though Alli will stay at Stadium MK for the remainder of the season and will join up with Tottenham next season. Since he has been described by some pundits as the next Steven Gerrard, Spurs fans are already pleased by his signing.
Delle Alli a great signing, one for the future. The deal with MK Dons also one for the future when we play PL in their stadium. #Levyed
— THFC Banter (@THFCbanter) February 2, 2015
Also signing Harry Kane to a new extension that could keep him at White Hart Lane until 2020 deserves a mention, rewarding the 22-year-old for his stellar breakout season.
West Brom
Tony Pulis has successfully begun his “Pulisification” of West Brom: Darren Fletcher and Callum McManaman are the first players through the door. They’re both strong and athletic players exactly in the Pulis mold: fans should be happy with the new signings that will bolster the squad for the remainder of the season. They will be slightly frustrated that the Carlton Cole deal fell through.
Everton
Bringing in Aaron Lennon on loan could turn out to be a fantastic bit of business for Roberto Martinez. Seeing his career stall at Tottenham, Lennon could really kick start it back up with the help of Martinez and that attractive brand of football that they play. Adding Lennon also adds good depth to the already exciting wingers that are at the club including Aidan McGeady, Fifa starlet Christian Atsu and the injured Steven Pienaar.
Chelsea
Chelsea were able to unload three of their squad players while bringing in one of their top targets in Juan Cuadrado. Shipping Andre Schurrle out of the club to join fellow Chelsea cast-off Kevin de Bruyne for £23 million as well as making Ryan Bertrand the fourth most expensive player bought in the transfer window was good business. Cuadrado made his name at the World Cup with Colombia and was second in assists for the competition, Mohamed Salah meanwhile goes in the other direction to Fiorentina. By the sounds of things teaming Cuadrado with Eden Hazard and Cesc Fabregas will make Chelsea truly frightening going forward.
279 – Since 12/13, Cuadrado has completed 279 dribbles in Serie A, only Eden Hazard (303) has more during this time in the PL. Teammates.
— OptaChelsea (@OptaChels) February 2, 2015
Eoin Doyle
Possibly the biggest winner of the entire window (excuse the Irish bias). Scoring 25 goals in all competitions for League One outfit Chesterfield this season, Doyle has now secured a deal with Vincent Tan’s Cardiff City. His fee could potentially rise to £1.25 million including some potential add-ons for Doyle.
Losers:
Davide Santon
Santon is on his way back to his old club Inter Milan. Originally it looked like Santon was happy about leaving Newcastle and returning to Inter. But a series of tweets from Chloe Sanderson, Santon’s girlfriend shed some new light on the move.
West Ham
West Ham missed out on all of their transfer targets. Big Sam tried to bring in Darren Fletcher before the Scot decided to team up with Tony Pulis. They were also looking to get Emmanuel Adebayor on loan to help out their strike force only for the deal to fall through.
David Moyes
Moyes was rumoured to be looking at several Premier League targets to add to his squad throughout January. Arsenal’s Joel Campbell, Tottenham’s Etienne Capoue and Burnley’s Danny Ings were all bandied about as possible targets. But in the end Moyes wasn’t able to secure any signatures to bring to the Basque country.
Manchester United
The whole of United’s fan base were crying out for their team to bring in a centre-half throughout January and their calls fell on deaf ears. Mats Hummels, a long-term target, wasn’t secured and they were quoted a ridiculous figure for PSG’s centre back Marquinhos. The only player that Louis Van Gaal brought into the squad was Bolton defender Andy Kellett.
Football Fans
There were no real massive deals done throughout the period, leaving fans with a huge sense of anti-climax when the deadline finally passed. Juan Cuadrado’s move to Chelsea was for a relatively big fee, but since he is a relatively unknown prospect in this part of the world, it still left fans looking for satisfaction. Apart from that, Martin Odegaard’s move to Real Madrid was one of the only other big moves with the teenager moving to the Spanish capital.