The winter transfer window is now open across the major leagues in Europe and even in China, with the exception being Russia which would open January 22. The window for the English Premier League will close at 11pm on Friday 31 January, 2020, which is the same for the premier leagues in France, Germany, Italy and Spain. Portuguese teams have until the end of the following day to complete signings while the window for clubs in the Russian Premier League shuts on February 21. The Chinese Premier League January transfer window close on February 27.
This is of particular interest as there have been many January signings in the past that have gone on to make huge and critical impacts in their respective clubs. Some of the more popular faces include Nemanja Vidić (Spartak Moskva to Manchester United, 2006), Marcelo (Fluminense to Real Madrid, 2007), Luis Suárez (Ajax to Liverpool, 2011), Kevin De Bruyne (Chelsea to Wolfsburg, 2014), Virgil van Dijk (Southampton to Liverpool, 2018).
Figure 1: Luis Suarez left Ajax for Liverpool in January 2011 for £22.5 Million
This is however not fool proof as some January signings in the past were eventual flops and that is putting it mildly. One of the most notable of which was Andy Carroll who was signed by Liverpool from Newcastle for a whopping £35 million which every Liverpool fan regrets to this day. Other flops include Juan Cuadrado and perhaps, more controversially, Fernando Torres, whose Chelsea career after a switch from Liverpool had more lows than highs.
Figure 2: Juan Cuadrado (Fiorentina to Chelsea £23.3m, 2015)
The window has not been busy yet, which is expected in the early stages with just two high profile signings, Erling Braut Haaland and Takumo Minamino moving from Red Bull Salzburg to Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool respectively. Sheffield United have signed 28-year- old Jack Rodwell on a free transfer and new Watford boss, Nigel Pearson, has added Sao Paulo – born striker, Joao Pedro to his squad as he looks to boost the rejuvenated Hornets’ survival bid.
There have also been a lot of loans, mostly featuring those from bigger clubs to the smaller clubs to let younger players like Lukas Nmecha (of Manchester City) have playing time. Another example of this is Herbie Kane of Liverpool going out on loan to Hull City.
Figure 3: Erling Braut Håland in his new club’s colours after an 18 million switch from Red Bull Salzburg where he scored 28 goals in 22 matches this season
There have been a lot of speculation as well which would make the transfer deadline day pretty exciting. Wilfried Zaha Has been linked to Chelsea, Edinson Cavani, Jadon Sancho and James Maddison have been linked Manchester United, Thomas Lemar has been linked to Tottenham and Arsenal, Christian Eriksen has been linked to Inter Milan and Manchester United, Arsenal and Manchester City are set to solve their defensive crises with a new signing and Sporting Lisbon star, Bruno Fernandes has also attracted the interest of Manchester United and Tottenham, with the former also currently considering Raul Jiemenez and Timo Werner following the Haaland snub.
Only time can tell which of these transfers would materialise but it promises to be an exciting transfer window which would surely witness clubs getting more desperate as the deadline day arrives.
Figure 4: Virgil Van Dijk, who has cured Liverpool’s defensive woes since 2018 and is currently rated the best defender in the world by FIFA
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