The window has slammed shut on another January transfer window, with, once again, a number of teams leaving it late to get business done.
While the likes of Chelsea, Leicester, Wolves, West Ham and Manchester United were happy to kick back, relax and watch the Deadline Day drama unfold, others pushed ahead with late, late moves.
Typically, it was many of the usual suspects, most notably Everton, who brought in both Dele Alli and Donny van de Beek within hours of Frank Lampard being announced as their new manager. Untypically, they were joined by Newcastle United, whose first window of the post-Mike Ashley era saw the club's Saudi owners splash almost £100million.
Then there was Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, getting himself a permanent move to Barcelona after two months as an outcast at Arsenal, while Burnley elected to go Dutch in their quest for survival.
Mirror Football takes a look at some of the key deals and under-the-radar transfers that went through on Deadline Day - and one that didn't.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang joins Barcelona
The saga of deadline day, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will play football again after joining Barcelona.
The exiled Arsenal captain went full Peter Odemwingie, flying into Catalunya without a deal being agreed. It showed how serious he was about making the move, and, in the end, helped the two clubs because everyone knew where they stood.
Yep, Arsenal have let their former club captain go for nothing? The reason? Well, simply, Mikel Arteta had washed his hands of him. But perhaps more importantly, they will save £25million over the course of the next 18 months by Aubameyang getting the only move that was available to him.
No other club in Europe who, (crucially) could afford it, were interested in the 32-year-old and he wasn’t interested in the Middle East.
Credit where it’s due: Arsenal’s management team should be praised for getting a £25million anchor off their books without having to pay him off.
Of course, some will say it leaves Arsenal short, with only Eddie Nketiah and Alexandre Lacazette as recognised first-team strikers. But given Arteta was never going to use the Gabonese again, does it?
Arsenal need a new striker, having been made to look mugs with their pursuit of Dusan Vlahovic, a player only ever interested in moving to Juventus. But when looking at Aubameyang’s departure that should be treated as a separate issue…. until the summer that is, when that £25million that’s been saved must be used to sign an outstanding No.9.
HAVE YOUR SAY! Were Arsenal right to let Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang leave on a free transfer? Let us know your thoughts
Dele Alli joins Frank Lampard
Dele Alli is a footballer of remarkable gifts, spoken of at the age of 16 as being the future of England’s midfield and over the next three-four years showing precisely why as he shone in the Premier League and Champions League.
Frank Lampard was a footballer of remarkable drive, who, as a teenager, was being accused of only breaking through at West Ham due to nepotism. By the time he had retired from playing, he had maximised his talent and could stack his medals and records up against most.
Now, Dele, still only 25, has joined Lampard in a bid to get his career back on track. This is the important thing here, not that he has moved to Everton - because frankly if it had been Rafa Benitez in charge and this deal had been done it would be an absolute clusterf*** - but that he has joined Lampard, a player he grew up watching, whose achievements as a player he can’t not respect and who, crucially, he can relate to.
If Lampard can drag anything like the best out of him, then, for an initial free transfer it will prove to be a coup. Fail, and given what has happened with Dele under Jose Mourinho, Nuno Espirito Santo and Antonio Conte, the focus will be on the player.
"He's a player I admired his whole career watching him," said Dele. "Now to have the opportunity to work with him is very exciting and hopefully we're going to do great things together."
It’s not quite Dele’s last chance saloon, but it’s not far off.
Tottenham finally make moves
With 24 hours to go, this looked like being an absolutely horrible transfer window for Tottenham chief Daniel Levy and his transfer guru Fabio Paratici.
The outline at the start of the month was clear: Make the kind of moves that prove to your elite manager that he can win things in north London.
On January 30th, you’d have forgiven Conte if he was thinking to himself ‘why did I sign for 18 months here?’.
Because after a month tracking Adama Traore but failing to meet Wolves ’ demands - seeing him head to Barcelona on loan - and then witnessing Liverpool usurp them to land Luis Diaz, Spurs fans were looking at, well, nothing.
But on deadline day, Conte suddenly got the changes he was looking for. Players he simply doesn’t fancy - Bryan Gil, Gio Lo Celso and Tanguy Ndombele - were all sent packing out on loan, while two athletic, talented players that both he and Paratici know well from Serie A, Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur, both arrived from Juventus.
It’s not perfect and there’s still a lot of work to do at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to get that team where Conte, a serial winner, wants to be. But it’s a start.
Dan Burn’s homecoming
Dan Burn has done a stellar job for Brighton in the past two-and-a-half years after being given his head by Graham Potter.
He’s been a left-back, left wing-back, left-sided centre-back in a three and in a central defensive pair and has never looked out of place.
Now 29, Newcastle have paid £13million to take the boy from Blyth back to his roots. They’ll want him to be a leader in a new-look side and play his part in dragging the Magpies away from the relegation zone.
But his career was spent mostly in League One and the Championship before linking up with Potter, a coach who has put in place a smart structure at Brighton, a side who are defensively extremely sound and settled.
Newcastle are anything but, and Eddie Howe, previously at Bournemouth and thus far on Tyneside, has shown little to suggest he can organise and structure a defensive outfit. Burn is heading into the deep end in the North East.
HAVE YOUR SAY! Will Newcastle United be relegated this season? Let us know your thoughts
Wout Weghorst’s move to Burnley
The 29-year-old Dutchman arrives at Turf Moor for £13million to replace Chris Wood and boasts a fine scoring record in Holland and Germany.
Since 2016, with AZ (until 2018) and Wolfsburg, the 6ft 6in centre-forward has scored 115 goals in 230 games at senior club level… it doesn’t take Carol Vorderman to work out that’s a one in two strike rate.
If he keeps that up in the Premier League, Sean Dyche will be delighted and it’ll likely keep the Clarets in the top flight.
However, if he’s another Ricky van Wolfswinkel, it will all but certainly signal the end of their top flight tenure.
Fulham and Liverpool left to run the risk
So, because Liverpool’s £10million deal didn’t go though before 11pm and because the EFL don’t like the idea of deal sheets giving clubs extra time, Fabio Carvalho’s move to Anfield fell through.
“He’s one of the best young players in the Championship,” says Clinton Morrison. “He would have been an outstanding signing for Liverpool.”
The expectation is that the Lisbon-born teenager, who has been a key component of Marco Silva’s Championship champions-elect and where he is growing and maturing, will still move to Anfield in the summer.
But, until it’s all agreed and done both sides are now left to run the risk of missing out: Liverpool on the player, Fulham on the money, with overseas interest plentiful and the possibility of Carvalho heading elsewhere for relative peanuts.
Todd Cantwell to Bournemouth
It’s not that long ago that clubs were being quoted in excess of £30million by Norwich for Todd Cantwell.
For whatever reason, his time at Carrow Road has soured somewhat this term initially out of favour under Daniel Farke, he was brought back by Dean Smith before quickly being jettisoned again.
Now the 23-year-old drops into the Championship at Bournemouth where his creativity and ability to open up a game will undoubtedly help they promotion push.
Scott Parker made some smart moves on deadline day, also bringing in Nat Phillips and Freddie Woodman, but Cantwell could be the one that makes the difference between another year in the second tier and a return to the Premier League.
Christian Eriksen to Brentford
“We have taken an unbelievable opportunity to bring a world-class player to Brentford,” said Bees boss Thomas Frank.
“He hasn’t trained with a team for seven months but has done a lot of work on his own. He is fit but we will need to get him match fit and I am looking forward to seeing him work with the players and staff to get back towards his highest level.”
Just seven months after suffering a cardiac arrest, the 29-year-old Dane is back in the Premier League after being prevented from returning in Italy at former club Inter Milan due to the ICD device he was fitted with following his collapse at Euro 2020.
It is a testament to Eriksen’s quiet drive and determination that he is pushing to play at the elite level again; whether he plays a single minute or not, he deserves widespread praise and respect.
Brentford will be hoping that they have pulled off a masterstroke in their fight for survival.
“At his best, Christian has the ability to dictate games of football,” said Frank. “He can find the right passes and is a goal threat.”
This is the one, more than any other, that all neutrals will be hoping works out.
Jonathan Panzo to Nottingham Forest
Steve Cooper is doing a really impressive job at the City Ground and despite Sunday's defeat at Cardiff, Forest are in the playoff mix.
The ex-England Under-17 manager showed at Swansea his willingness to place his trust in young players and offer a platform to those he has worked with before and the late loan signing of 21-year-old Jonathan Panzo could be another smart pickup from Cooper.
Panzo, a former Chelsea youth prospect who moved to Monaco in 2018 because he saw little chance of breaking through at Stamford Bridge, was a key player for Cooper when England won the U17 World Cup, being named in the team of the tournament.
His sojourn in France didn't quite go to plan, but the 21-year-old who stands 6ft 1in, is quick, strong and good on the ball and has all the tools to grow into a fine, Premier League-quality centre-back. Now he has the right mentor to guide him and give his senior career a real shot in the arm.
