Winter transfer window 2021 - what did the last day bring?

Wenger's youth leaving the nest: Maitland-Niles to West Brom, Willock close to Newcastle

What do Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Joe Willock have in common? They are both children of Arsenal, which were thrown into the fire by Arsene Wenger a couple of seasons ago, both of them failed to seriously impose themselves on Unai Emery or Mikel Arteta, both left the Emirates on the same day and both went to clubs that will fight for Premier league survival until the end of the season. However, these are loans until the end of the season.

Maitland-Niles was the wish of both Southampton and Leicester, but Arsenal did not want to send him to direct competitors, or teams that are close to the spots that lead to European competitions, but exclusively to those ranked in the lower half of the Premier League table. Thus, 23-year-old Maitland-Niles ended up at the Hawthorns with Sam Allardyce, who previously brought another reinforcement in the form of Turkish midfielder Okay Yokuşlu. The right back will try to fight for the minutes in the West Midlands - he played only 485 minutes of Premier League football out of a possible 1900. It should also be noted that last season Arsenal's young men got a more chances to play. Especially in the Europa League.

Joe Willock is another footballer that the Spanish expert did not seriously count on, so the 21-year-old midfielder will look for happiness in St. James' Park. Although he had a notable role in the group stage of the Europa League with three goals and three assists, Willock was even more neglected in the English elite compared to Maitland-Niles, so he spent only 234 minutes on the pitch without any specific effect. Emile Smith-Rowe used his chance in the last month, and as Martin Odegaard arrived from Real Madrid, it became clear that the young English midfielder is not needed at the moment.

It is interesting that Newcastle was also extremely interested in Maitland-Niles - that move was stopped by the rules of the Premier League which say that a team cannot borrow two football players from the same club in the same transfer window, so each of Wenger's "kids" had to go to different sides.

Parma brought some fire-power to their ranks - one from Bayern, the other from China

Parma was one of the most productive clubs during this transfer window in Italy. After the 18 million USD transfer of the Romanian offensive player Dennis Man, the popular Crusaders brought a tandem of attackers today.

The transfer of Dutch talent Joshua Zirkzee from Bayern was confirmed first. He is one of the greatest talents of the Bavarian giant, last season he had his chances from the bench and scored goals, but he simply could not fight for a place in the hellish competition. It was desided that it is best for him to go somewhere where he will play. This winter, Everton and Eintracht Frankfurt wanted him, they offered 12 million USD each, but in the end, the best offer came from Parma. The club from Ennio Tardini Stadium brought him on loan with the right of buyout for 18 million USD, and Bayern will also get 7.5 percent of the next sale of the Dutchman.

Joshua Zirkzee

After Zirkzee, Parma wanted to bring another super-talented striker - Gianluca Scamacca, Sassuolo's player on loan in Genoa, who was also wanted by Juventus. Parma offered a loan with the option to buy him back for 28 million USD if they stay in the league, but Sassuolo refused. So the Crusaders moved on to Plan B and arranged the arrival of the experienced Graziano Pelle. More precisely, the return because he wore the Parma shirt eight years ago when he went to Feyenoord. He then went to Southampton to play there for two years. Then a massive offer came from China, which he could not refuse. He signed for Shandong, where he was one of the highest paid players in the world. He earned 18 million USD per season for four years, and that contract recently expired.

Pelle was mentioned as a wish of Juventus, Inter, Milan, Torino and some other clubs, but in the end he accepted Parma's offer. He will be officially presented in the coming days, considering that as a free agent he has a buffer of 20 days.

Hat-trick of signings for Galata: Yedlin, Fernandes and a striker from Egypt

Galatasaray brought back striker and returnee Henry Onyekuru this winter, who impressed on his new debut with two goals, and on the last day of the transfer window, the Istanbul Lions finalized two more loud signings for the Turkish football climate and one not at all naive from North Africa. Right back DeAndre Yedlin arrived from Newcastle, Gedson Fernandes moved to Istanbul on loan from Tottenham. Galata also brought on loan the Egyptian Mostafa Mohamed.

As for Yedlin, the US international has been brought to further strengthen the best defense of the Turkish Super League. The Portuguese will try to show numerous football qualities that led Tottenham to take him on loan a year ago. However, Fernandes was never a starter in the jersey of the Spurs, with whom he broke up six months before the planned deadline.

DeAndre Yedlin (twitter©Galatasaray Spor Kulübü)

Yedlin got his chances sporadically in Newcastle this season, and instead of fighting for survival with the Magpies, he will have a chance to attack the title of Turkish champion in Galata. After four and a half years, 125 games, three goals and 11 assists at the club from St.James' Park, the American, as a free agent, found his fifth engagement in his professional career. As for Fernandes, both the footballer and Benfica hope for him to revive his career - the central midfielder last scored at the end of November 2018, against Bayern Munich in the Champions League as a Benfica footballer.

Galata did a great job with Onyekuru, and they hope that Yedlin and Fernandes will lead to the same outcome. The Lions also signed the Egyptian striker Mostafa Mohamed from Zamalek today on a loan until June 2022. The forward from Giza was close to Saint Etienne, but he was still snatched by Galatasaray, which will be able to buy him in a year and a half for 6 million USD altogether.

Sami Khedira again with The Old Lady

From the Old Lady of Turin to the Old Lady of Berlin. That is how Hertha presented the second signing at the end of the transfer window (first one was the arrival of Nemanja Radonjić from Marseille on loan until the end of the season)

The former German national team player arrived at the Olympic Stadium as a free agent, after he terminated his contract with Juventus five months before it expired. As the Italians didn't need him anymore, and coach Andrea Pirlo didn't count on him, the parting was gentlemanly.

Sami Khedira (© twitter.com/HerthaBSC)

It is unlikely that Khedira will get the money he had in Juve, but at least he will get the opportunity to play more regularly. This season, Juve did not even license him, in the previous competition cycle he played only 12 championship games, he was tormented by injuries, but he is still a class of a player. After all, he won trophies not only with Juventus, but also with Real, Stuttgart, the youth and the A national team of Germany...

Speaking of the Panzers, Sami Khedira is the third footballer from the Joachim "Jogi" Löw generation of the 2014 World Cup champions, who changed his surroundings this winter. Earlier, Mesut Ozil made his move from Arsenal to Fenerbahce, and Mustafi left the Gunners to sign for Schalke. Khedira returned to the Bundesliga after ten and a half years. His contract with Herta is for two and a half years.

RB Leipzig was more determined than Milan and found a replacement for Upamecano worth 18 million USD

There is no improvisation at Leipzig, everything is done according to the already tried and tested system, so an adequate replacement has already been found for Dayot Upamecano, who will leave the club with a paid exit clause of 50 million USD. As Sky reports, the successor of the talented French stopper at the Red Bull Arena will be his compatriot Mohamed Simakan, whom Milan seriously chased after this winter, but the Rossoneri withdrew in January.

Strasbourg stopper, whose transfer has already been agreed for the summer, at a price that will be around 18 million USD, Simakan will sign a multi-year contract with Leipzig next week. The young defender, born in 2000 in Marseille, is a serious product of Strasbourg - he was in the youth department of Olympique for five years, but they obviously did not recognize his potential at the Velodrome. Strasbourg brought him to their youth team when he was 17, and already in July 2019, he made his debut for the senior team in the Europa League, against Maccabi Haifa.

Mohamed Simakan (©Reuters)

Simakan has made serious progress in last two seasons. Last year he collected 25 appearances in all competitions, and this season he already has 18, so the figure of 43 senior appearances in the Strasbourg shirt seems quite serious for a football player of only 20 years. The young football player is injured at this moment, he is recovering from a knee injury and is expected to return to the field in March, but that will not affect his transfer. That injury was allegedly the reason why the Rossoneri withdrew their offer, because they did not want to hire an injured player.

In the meantime, Upamecano is also expected to find a new environment, around which a serious war is being waged between the big European clubs - Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Bayern. Although, as things stand now, the Bavarians will win the race.

Rummenigge announced: Upamecano as a replacement for Alaba

Although there is no official confirmation yet, David Alaba will replace the Bayern Munich shirt for a white one of Real Madrid's at the end of the season. He is moving to Spain as a free agent, as he did not want to extend his contract with the Bavarians, but he is still rooted in Hansi Flick's team and is performing his duties with no holding back.

Although Bayern have been trying to persuade him to stay in recent months, there will be no new persuasions. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge confirmed that in a statement for the German branch of Sky Sports, acknowledging also that Dayot Upamecano from RB Leipzig was planned as a replacement for the great Austrian defender.

"Besides Bayern Munich, two other attractive clubs are interested in him, and the fact that they are Liverpool and Chelsea confirms that he is an extremely high-quality football player, who can replace David Alaba. Upamecano is a player who is interesting to us, and it is almost certain that we will lose Alaba ", announced the executive director of the Bavarians.

In support of the fact that Bayern is working on hiring a French stopper, there is information that the sports director of the German champion, Hasan Salihamidzic, met with Upamecano's manager, Volker Struth, over the weekend. At the same time, Rummenigge had a meeting with his colleague in office in Leipzig, Oliver Mintzlaff, who confirmed to him that the compensation for the transfer of the 22-year-old football player is around 50 million USD.

Since arriving from "brotherly" Salzburg four years ago, Upamecano has played 138 games for RB Leipzig and is one of the best European stoppers. His name was also associated with Real Madrid and Manchester United, but Rummenigge did not mention them.

United allegedly dropped out of the list of potential clubs for the Frenchman to continue his career - six years ago, the English club missed the chance to hire him for 845,000 USD on the grounds that he was not talented enough for top level football. In the meantime, Harry Maguire arrived at Old Trafford from Leicester for over 100 million USD.

Liverpool solved the main problem - Ozan Kabak and Ben Davies to fix the defense wall

Jurgen Klopp remains faithful to the policy of bringing at least one football player from Germany to Liverpool almost every year. He hired them from Mainz (Loris Carius), Augsburg (Alexander Meninger, Ragnar Klavan), RB Leipzig (Nabi Keita), Bayern (Thiago Alcantara), and he did it again, this time with Schalke, a couple of years ago it was Joel Matip and now - Ozan Kabak.

The Turkish stopper is a new signing of the English champion, he passed the medical checks on the last day of the January transfer window and signed for the Reds within the time limit. It is a loan until the end of the season, after which the Anfield club will have to choose whether to buy the 20-year-old defender or return him to Gelsenkirchen. At the Feltins Arena, they demanded that the option of mandatory buyout be included in the contract, but the Premier League persisted in its intention to first see some of that "2000" class talent and decide only on the basis of his performance during the spring part of the championship whether he is worth further engagement.

Ozan Kabak (©Reuters)

In Liverpool, Kabak will have the task of patching a hole in the defense caused by numerous injuries, which pushed Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip out of play. Occasionally, Fabinho jumped into the back line - he even looked decent - but as the Brazilian is still the midfielder, and Liverpool is entering a sensitive part of the season, Klopp did not want to take risks. Liverpool bought two sweepers (first one is Ben Davies from Preston), to defend the title in the Premier League and an attempt to attack another Champions League trophy. Kabak has been in high demand among European giants in recent months. In Italy, they identified him as a footballer capable of making a difference, Milan and Inter wanted him, but they failed to agree with Schalke. Liverpool did not fail. It will cost Liverpool 30 million USD if they decide to buy him at the end of the season.

Kabak, meanwhile, has played 42 games for Schalke and despite being part of the Bundesliga's worst defense (49 goals conceded in 19 rounds), Jurgen Klopp sees a solution in him. Although many are wondering why he brought a stopper from the team that is about to be relegated, it should be noted that Klopp brought Wijnaldum and Robertson from clubs that were on a downward spiral. After all, Ozan Kabak is only 20 years old, and before this disastrous season with Schalke, he was named the best debutant in the Bundesliga.

The door to Ozan Kabak's departure from Schalke opened on Monday afternoon while in London Arsenal agreed to terminate the contract with Mustafi and the former German national team player went to Gelsenkirchen, where he will certainly play more than lately at the Emirates. The contract is for only five months, but it will mean something for Mustafi. At the age of 29, he will have the opportunity to revive his career at home, because so far he played in England (Everton, Arsenal), Italy (Sampdoria) and Spain (Valencia), while Ozan Kabak has an opportunity of his career: until yesterday he was looking at how to save his team in the top tier of German football - he is now staring at potential trophies in England and in European competitions.

He was already considered a Juventus player but then Roma appeared and snatched him out of Old Lady's hands

Brian Reynolds (19) is officially a Roma player. He is a fast-footed side player, whose engagement would not be too interesting if he had not already agreed on a transfer to Juventus at the beginning of January. The talented American football player, a member of the US U23 selection, was about to sign a contract with the Italian champion, but then sudden complications arose. The Old Lady has already brought two players from outside the European Union this season, so the only option was for the football player to be forwarded to Benevento on loan, which the player did not like. Roma reacted quickly, sent a better offer towards Dallas and took the player to Rome.

Although there are different sources regarding the details of the transfer, most likely a six-month loan has been agreed, with a mandatory purchase of 8.4 million USD at the end of the season and 15 percent of the next sale. The player will have a contract for four and a half years with an annual salary of 965,000 USD. Reynolds arrived in Rome yesterday, and his official promotion at the club is scheduled for tonight at 6 PM. The American football player should ideally fit into the system of Paulo Fonseca, because he is a right back with distinct offensive characteristics.

Roma proved to be very capable on the market, considering that the negotiations officially lasted for two months and started in November. However, Juventus also made a serious mistake here, considering that they eventually gave up because they did not want to level Roma's offer. The sour feeling for the Old Lady could become even stronger, if Reynolds, who is considered one of the most talented players in the United States, proves to be Roma's big signing and someone who is able to make a difference on the pitches of the Italian Serie A.

@OfficialASRoma

Reynolds started at the Dallas Football Academy, and he made his debut in the MLS in May 2019, when he was less than 18 years old. In the past two years, he collected a total of 29 appearances in the professional league there.

Ajax brought Sevilla's failure as an alternative for Quincy Promes

Less than four months after signing for Sevilla, Ousama Idrissi was characterized as a failure, but regardless of that label, Ajax is willing to try to revive his career. Radio Monte Carlo has confirmed that an agreement has been reached between the Sevilla and Ajax and that the winger will return to the Eredivisie, where he played his best football in the AZ Alkmaar shirt for the previous two seasons.

In the summer of 2020, the Queen of the Europa League (Sevilla) paid 14,5 million USD, and the Amsterdam giant will be able to buy him at the end of the season for 21.7 million USD. Of course, they will do that only if the Moroccan is a worthy replacement for Quincy Promes, who returned to Spartak Moscow.

The 24-year-old winger did not play much at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, but the Eredivisie could once again become a comfort zone for the Moroccan, who scored 36 and assisted 27 goals in 127 games played for Groningen and AZ. By vocation left wing - now he wants to feel the passion of scoring goals and sharing assists again as part of the most powerful attack of the Dutch elite.