January transfer window in the Premier League summary

There was lots of speculation during the January transfer window in England, many alleged comings and goings, but in the end the global financial crisis took its toll on Premier League clubs, who are forced to be very careful. Combined spent amount for all clubs stands at around $90 million – just over four million per club. It’s somewhat understandable because most sides only used this transfer window to address problems that were left over from the previous close season window.

Despite being somewhat subdued in terms of buys, English clubs have still outspent teams from the rest of Europe’s biggest leagues.

There were clubs that simply ignored this window – Burnley, Leeds, Manchester City, Sheffield United and Tottenham Hotspur pretty much did no business last month. It’s somewhat understandable for in-form sides, but it’s strange to see relegation-threatened clubs not dipping into the market.

Join MOZZART Sport Kenya as we take a look at how the clubs fared in January.

ARSENAL

Mikel Arteta stated months ago that he needed five new players in order to play the kind of football he wants. He is still some way off from making the Arsenal squad his own, but he did get a player that will suit his style of play – even if it’s only a temporary contract. Martin Odegaard joined from Real Madrid to add some creativity to the Gunners’ midfield. There is no future fee agreed, but the young Norwegian looks like he’s finally fed up waiting for Real Madrid to give him a chance to play. Another player to arrive to the Emirates is Australian goalkeeper Matt Ryan from Brighton, but only as a backup to Bernd Leno. Meanwhile, some money was saved by terminating contracts of out-of-favour defenders Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Shkodran Mustafi. The same can be said about Mesut Ozil, whose Arsenal career ended on a sad note with the German playmaker completely frozen out of the team. He took a huge pay cut to join Fenerbahce, the club he supported as a boy.

• IN: Martin Odegaard (Real Madrid - loan, $2m), Matt Ryan (Brighton – loan)

• OUT: Sead Kolašinac (Schalke - loan), Sokratis Papastathoupoulos (Olympiacos – free), Mesut Ozil (Fenerbahce – free), Wiliam Saliba (Nice – loan), Ainsley Maitland-Niles (WBA – loan), Joe Willock (Newcastle – loan)

ASTON VILLA

Villa splashed $15 million on Olimpique de Marseille’s French midfielder Morgan Sanson to compensate for the temporary departure of Conor Hourihane, who was loaned out to Swansea. The Irishman has scored many important goals for the Birmingham side and it remains to be seen whether Sanson will hit the ground running in England. However, it does seem like a shrewd piece of business, especially if Swansea get promoted and decide to make the Hourihane transfer permanent. This would pretty much pay for the 26-year-old from Marseille.

• IN: Morgan Sanson (Marseille – $15m)

• OUT: Henri Lensbury (Bristol – free), Lovre Kalinić (Hajduk Split – loan), Conor Hourihane (Swansea – loan), Frederick Guilbert (Strasbourg – loan)

BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION

The Seagulls pulled off a major coup by signing the young Ecuador international Moises Caicedo from Independiente del Valle under the noses of Manchester United. The Red Devils were one of the big clubs who were interested in signing the promising midfielder, but he decided to go to the south coast of England. It’s not the first time Brighton have signed an Independiente player and it might be the reason why the Ecuadorian club’s representatives decided to send Caicdedo to the Amex Stadium.

• IN: Moises Caicedo (Independiente del Valle – $5m), Persy Tau (Anderlecht – loan ended)

• OUT: Bernardo (Salzburg – loan), Matt Ryan (Arsenal - loan)

CHELSEA

The Blues signed no players last month, but to say it’s been a busy period at Stamford Bridge would be an understatement. Frank Lampard was sacked after a shaky start to the campaign in which the big-money signings failed to shine in London. Former PSG and BVB boss Thomas Tuchel was brought in to replace the former England international midfielder and the German is determined to initially use the squad he inherited. There were still departures of out-of-favour players.

• IN: none

• OUT: Lucas Piazon (Braga – free), Danny Drinkwater (Kasimpasa – loan), Fikayo Tomori (Milan – loan), Abdul Rahman Baba (PAOK – loan)

CRYSTAL PALACE

The South London side has been struggling with a lack of goals for too long. Christian Benteke, Michy Batshuayi and Jordan Ayew are far too inconsistent, so Roy Hodgson tried to address this by bringing in Jean-Philippe Mateta on loan from Mainz. The Frenchman completed an 18-month-loan for an initial $3.5m with an agreed future fee of $15m. Meanwhile, German attacking midfielder Max Meyer ended his miserable stay at the club by returning to his homeland with Koln.

• IN: Jean-Philippe Mateta (Mainz – loan $3.5m)

• OUT: Max Meyer (Koln – free)

LIVERPOOL

The Reds sold Dejan Lovren after last season ended and they didn’t bring anyone in to replace him. This would bite them on the behind as injuries to Virgil van Dijk, Joel Matip and Joe Gomez left them in desperate need of reinforcements at the heart of the defence. Midfielders Fabinho and Henderson were used as makeshift centre-backs with mixed results and Jurgen Klopp had to admit he needed natural defenders after all. He signed a couple on transfer deadline day. Preston’s Ben Davies was signed on a permanent deal and Turkish youngster Ozan Kabak joined on loan with an option to buy for around $30 million. Japanese forward Takumi Minamino will spend the rest of the season on loan at Southampton.

• IN: Ben Davies (Preston – $2.5m), Ozan Kabak (Schalke – $3m loan)

• OUT: Takumi Minamino (Southampton – loan), Sepp van den Berg (Preston – loan)

MANCHESTER UNITED

It was an unusually quiet transfer window at Old Trafford. Their only buy was arranged months ago as young winger Amad Diallo arrived from Atalanta. In terms of departures, Timothy Fosu-Mensah was sold to Leverkusen after failing to hold down a first-team place. Midfielder Jesse Lingard was loaned to West Ham after hardly ever featuring in Ole-Gunnar Solskjaer’s side in the first half of the campaign.

Amad Diallo’s long road from the streets of Abidjan to Old Trafford

• IN: Amad Diallo (Atalanta – $23m)

• OUT: Timothy Fosu-Mensah (Leverkusen – $1.8m), Jesse Lingard (West Ham – loan), Tahith Chong (Club Brugge – loan), Facundo Pellistri (Alaves – loan), Odion Ighalo (Shanghai Shenhua – loan ended)

EVERTON

Turkish flop Cenk Tosun was loaned back to Besiktas after failing to hold down a place in the Toffees’ forward line. The place will be filled by a last-minute signing of Joshua King from Bournemouth – initially on loan. The Norwegian striker has proven himself in the Premier League with the Cherries and will be a valuable addition to Carlo Ancelotti’s side.

• IN: Joshua King (Bournemouth – loan)

• OUT: Cenk Tosun (Besiktas – loan), Jonjo Kenny (Celtic – loan), Yannick Bolasie (Middlesbrough – loan)

FULHAM

Scott Parker couldn’t rely on Aleksandar Mitrović alone to bang in goals for his team, so he brought in former Sunderland striker Josh Maja from Bordeaux. Playing wingers upfront didn’t work for the Cottagers, who were forced to find a goalscorer on a shoestring budget. Maja was once a member of Fulham’s academy and will need little adjusting to the club. Despite a recent improvement in form, Parker’s side is in a relegation scrap.

• IN: Josh Maja (Bordeaux – loan)

• OUT: Jean Michael Seri (Bordeaux – loan), Stefan Johansen (QPR – loan), Aboubakar Kamara (Dijon – loan), Maxime Le Marchand (Royal Antwerp – loan)

NEWCASTLE UNITED

Joe Willock joined the Magpies from Arsenal to bolster Newcastle’s midfield as the Magpies continue to struggle. Manager Steve Bruce tried to sign former Everton midfielder Idrissa Gueye from Paris Saint-Germain, but the Senegalese decided against a move to the northeast of England. Arsenal’s youngster was the late-night alternative on the transfer deadline day. Meanwhile, American defender DeAndre Yedlin departed to Turkey to join Galatasaray.

• IN: Joe Willock (Arsenal – loan)

• OUT: DeAndre Yedlin (Galatasaray – free), Rolando Aarons (Huddersfield – free)

SOUTHAMPTON

The Saints had a quiet transfer window until the very last day when they secured the signing of Liverpool’s Japanese forward Takumi Minamino. It could prove one of the best deals of the season as Japanese already showed glimpses of class in his rare appearances for the Reds. His quickness and lethal touch should work well when paired with experienced Danny Ings.

• IN: Takumi Minamino (Liverpool – loan)

• OUT: Jake Vokins (Sunderland – loan), Yan Valery (Birmingham City – loan)

WEST BROMWICH ALBION

Sam Allardyce in on one of his saviour missions. West Brom were desperate to get bodies in, preferably for low fees or on loan. The signings of goalkeeper Andy Lonergan and midfielder Robert Snodgrass were accompanied by loan additions of striker Mbaye Diagne from Galarasaray, as well as midfielders Okay Yokuslu from Celta and Ainsley Maitland-Niles from Arsenal. Will it be enough to avoid demotion to the Championship? If anyone can do it – Big Sam can.

• IN: Mbaye Diagne (Galatasaray – loan), Robert Snodgrass (West Ham – $120K), Andy Lonergan (free agent), Okay Yokslu (Celta – loan), Ainsley Maitland-Niles (Arsenal – loan)

• OUT: Filip Krovinović (Benfica – loan ended), Rekim Harper (Birmingham City – loan), Charlie Austin (QPR – loan)

WEST HAM UNITED

Said Benhrama’s loan from Brentford has been made permanent. And it’s the biggest fee paid during the January transfer window. The Algerian winger has been in fine form since making a step up from the Championship and was duly signed on a permanent basis for a fee of $24.2m. The fee was covered by the sale of French striker Sebastien Haller to Ajax early into the window.

• IN: Said Benhrama (Brentford – $24.2m), Jesse Lingard (Manchester United – loan), Frederik Alves (Silkeborg – $1.7m)

• OUT: Sebastijan Haller (Ajax – $24.75), Robert Snodgrass (West Bromwich Albion – $120K), Winston Reid (Brentford – loan)

WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS

November’s injury to Raul Jimenez caused Wolves to rely heavily on young Portuguese striker Fabio Silva. Despite all his talent and the fact that he was paid $44 million when arriving from Porto, the 18-year-old isn’t quite ready to lead the line all by himself. That’s why manager Nuno Espirito Santo made Real Sociedad’s Willian Jose his priority. The Brazilian arrived on Molineux for an initial six months with an option to remain beyond that if Wolves decide to pay $22m.

• IN: Wilian Jose (Real Sociedad - loan)

• OUT: Ruben Vinagre (Famalicao - loan), Patrick Cutrone (Valencia - loan)