The January transfer deadline has come and gone, and while the summer is reserved for the biggest moves—Kylian Mbappé will be out of contract and is expected to join Real Madrid, while Erling Haaland and Paul Pogba are among the other big names who could change clubs—there was still important business to be done before the winter window shut.
It was an active month of player movement across the board, and the action picked up over the course of the last week. Dušan Vlahović's move to Juventus from Fiorentina, confirmed last Friday, was the most expensive transfer of the winter, while Luis Díaz's transfer to Liverpool and Bruno Guimarães's departure from Lyon to Newcastle on Sunday are other notable, costly moves. Ferran Torres's earlier transfer to Barcelona from Man City also ranks among the most prominent moves, while noteworthy loans (Adama Traoré from Wolves to Barcelona; Robin Gosens from Atalanta to Inter; Anthony Martial from Manchester United to Sevilla), accounted for a number of key moves as well.
Newcastle was unsurprisingly among the busiest Premier League clubs. The Magpies, in their first transfer window after coming under affluent Saudi ownership, spent over $100 million on Guimarães, Chris Wood and Kieran Trippier, while Aston Villa was also active in bringing in Philippe Coutinho on loan, while also adding defenders Lucas Digne and Calum Chambers as part of its first spree under Steven Gerrard.
That all preceded the drama of deadline day. So who stayed, who left and what were the biggest moves of the day? Here's a rundown, with Barcelona, Juventus, Everton and Tottenham featuring prominently and two young U.S. internationals securing moves abroad to cap a busy winter of activity for Americans:
Barcelona tries (and fails) to offload Dembélé
Ousmane Dembélé, the supremely talented, oft-injured Barcelona winger, will reportedly be staying with the Spanish side, per Fabrizio Romano. The club previously said it wanted to offload the winger after the two parties came to a standstill on a new contract, but was never able to find the right deal
Dembélé, a member of France's 2018 World Cup-winning side, is out of contract at the end of the season, so landing a sizable fee was always unlikely. He was bought for nine figures with a good chunk of the club's Neymar sale windfall in '17, and now all signs point to him leaving on a free transfer this summer.
The former Dortmund star reportedly rejected a swap deal that would have seen him head to Arsenal while Barcelona and PSG were never able to come to terms. Chelsea, Tottenham and Manchester United were also reportedly in the mix for the 24-year-old. However, no suitors were willing to step up and take Dembélé's wages off Barcelona's books, leaving the club with a player it has said it does not want anymore for the next six months.
Barcelona agrees to permanent deal for Aubameyang
Speaking of players at the center of a club crisis, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is reportedly heading to Barcelona on a free transfer in a move that would relieve Arsenal of his massive salary. It may not be announced prior to the deadline, but once he is freed from his Arsenal contract, he'll become a free agent and then able to sign outside of the window constraints.
Sky Sports reports that the forward will take a pay cut to join Barcelona after reportedly making £25 million ($33.6 million) per year at Arsenal. The two sides were previously discussing a loan deal before talks broke down over financial terms. He also reportedly had an offer from Saudi Arabia's Al Nassr but rejected it.
Despite initial success after arriving in London in Jan. 2018, Aubameyang is set to leave Arsenal after falling out of favor with Mikel Arteta and having the captaincy stripped from him. He hasn't played at the club in more than a month, and he says he is fully healthy, having left the Africa Cup of Nations following a diagnosis of heart lesions after a case of COVID-19.
Initially, the Gabon international drew comparisons to Peter Odemwingie for arriving in Barcelona on the final day of the transfer window without an agreement on the switch. However, it looks like the move is set to go through, barring any last-minute complications. It'll be a free transfer through the end of the season, with the option to extend for another year.
Eriksen makes his comeback
Christian Eriksen is back. Brentford has signed the free-agent Danish star on a deal through the end of the season, with an option to extend for another season. Eriksen hasn't played since collapsing during Denmark's opening match at Euro 2020, where he suffered cardiac arrest and nearly died. He was fitted with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, but Italian regulations prevented him from playing there with that, so he reached a deal with Inter Milan to part ways amicably.
Eriksen has stated he wants to return for Denmark at the 2022 World Cup. The first step on that quest is returning to the field in the Premier League, where Eriksen previously starred for Tottenham.
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Tottenham's double swoop at Juventus
The Juventus influence is growing at Tottenham. Between director of football Fabio Paratici and manager Antonio Conte, the leadership is well represented when it comes to Juve ties, and now that's spreading to the squad. Dejan Kulusevski is signing on loan from Juventus, while Rodrigo Bentancur will join permanently for a €19 million ($21.3 million) fee (plus €6 million—$6.7 million—in add-ons) to help remake the club's lineup.
Tanguy Ndombele (confirmed loan to Lyon), Bryan Gil (confirmed loan to Valencia), Giovani Lo Celso (confirmed loan to Villarreal) and Dele Alli (reported transfer to Everton) are among those making way for the incoming signings in North London.
Juventus keeps the midfield door rotating
While Kulusevski and Bentancur are leaving and Aaron Ramsey is also on his way out, going on loan to Rangers, Juve has added Denis Zakaria from Borussia Monchengladbach to fortify its midfield on a fee that can rise as high as $9 million.
Man City signs another South American star
Manchester City has officially signed River Plate star striker Julián Álvarez, although the 22-year-old won't join the club until the summer and will remain on loan with River Plate until "at least" July, the club said in a statement. He'll be signed through the 2026-27 season after going for a reported fee of €17 million ($19 million).
“Julián is a player we have monitored for some time,” Man City director of football Txiki Begiristain said in a statement. “He is capable of operating in a number of attacking roles, and we firmly believe he's one of the best young attacking players in South America.
Everton moves for Van de Beek, Alli
Everton is turning the reins over to Frank Lampard, and he'll have a new midfield centerpiece for the remainder of the season, with Manchester United sending Donny Van de Beek to Goodison Park on loan. Van de Beek, 24, has struggled for consistent playing time ever since leaving Ajax for Man United, but he'll have a new opportunity, with United paying his wages while he is set to wear Everton blue for the rest of the season. Alli is also set to join, albeit on a permanent move. According to The Telegraph, it'll be for a £10 million fee ($13.4 million) once Alli hits 20 games played.
Nothing doing for Lingard
Van de Beek may be securing an exit from Manchester United, but that won't be happening for Jesse Lingard, despite reported interest from Newcastle and West Ham in taking him on loan. Lingard's contract runs through the end of the season, and it appears as if he'll be running it down while being a complementary piece at best at Old Trafford under Ralf Rangnick.
More American movement
It's been a busy winter for U.S. talent on the go, leaving MLS to head abroad. The most substantial transfers were those of Ricardo Pepi (reported $20 million) from FC Dallas to Augsburg) and Daryl Dike (reported $9.5 million) from Orlando City to West Brom. Beyond the two strikers, D.C. United sold Kevin Paredes to Wolfsburg for a club-record $7.35 million. A trio of young players embarked on 18-month loans, in Justin Che (FC Dallas to Hoffenheim), Cole Bassett (Colorado Rapids to Feyenoord) and James Sands (NYCFC to Rangers).
There is room for more, with Atlanta United and U.S. national team left back George Bello departing for Arminia Bielefeld in the Bundesliga. The club finds itself in a relegation scrap (not unlike Pepi's Augsburg and Paredes's Wolfsburg), but Bello, 20, is undeterred and will head to Germany's top flight for a modest, reported fee of $2 million.
Colorado Rapids center back Auston Trusty also found himself in the middle of a deadline day move, going from one Kroenke-owned team to another after Arsenal secured his transfer. He'll be loaned back to Colorado until July, when he makes his move overseas.
Elsewhere, Brenden Aaronson, who has reportedly been the subject of a $27 million bid from Leeds United, is expected to stay at RB Salzburg through the end of this season, with the club hesitant to dismantle its core prior to the Champions League round of 16. Aaronson is a prime candidate to be sold this summer, though.
Taylor Booth, the versatile 20-year-old who was a December call-up for the U.S., also appears to be poised for a summer move, with talks between Bayern Munich and Utrecht over an immediate move reportedly off. He can leave for the Netherlands as a free agent after the season.
One more expected summer departure is that of U.S. national team goalkeeper Matt Turner, who reportedly has an agreement to join Arsenal ahead of next season and remain with the New England Revolution until then. The teams are said to have agreed on a fee in the $7 million range.
