The closure of the winter transfer window brought with it a flurry of late deals in the Premier League, the biggest of which on deadline day turned out to be Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang being set to leave Arsenal to join Barcelona.
After the earlier days of January saw Newcastle land Kieran Trippier and Everton sign full-back pair Vitaliy Mykolenko and Nathan Patterson, it wasn’t until toward the closure of the window that most teams cranked into gear.
Philippe Coutinho (Aston Villa), Samir, Hassane Kamara (both Watford) and Chris Wood (Newcastle) were a few of those who swapped clubs more recently, before Luis Diaz completed what could eventually be a £50m move to Liverpool over the weekend. It was Monday though, and deadline day itself, which was the busiest and most chaotic of periods for top-flight clubs.
Tottenham eventually got their double deal with Juventus completed, Dejan Kulusevski joining on loan with an option to buy while Rodrigo Bentancur made a permanent switch. Tanguy Ndombele, meanwhile, has left the club on loan for Lyon.
Manchester City also got in on the act to land £14m Julian Alvarez from River Plate, though the 22-year-old attacker will stay in Argentina for the rest of the season.
Everton made moves for both their playing and coaching staff, confirming the appointment of Frank Lampard and the loan signing of Donny van de Beek from Manchester United. They also remain pursuing a deal for Tottenham’s Dele Alli, who is expected to make an initial free transfer switch to Goodison Park. That deal was not completed by the 11pm deadline, but is still expected to go through later after an extension was sought.
Similarly, Aubameyang has held his medical with Barcelona and is widely reported to have signed a contract with the Camp Nou club, but final confirmation has not emerged from either side and the deal could be finalised in the early hours of Tuesday.
Another proposed move that failed to progress entirely was Liverpool’s attempt to sign Fulham teenager Fabio Carvalho.
A fee was agreed between the two sides but the move, which would have included a loan back to Craven Cottage for the rest of the season, did not get completed before the cut-off. With Carvalho out of contract in the summer, a restructured deal could yet be arranged.
Crystal Palace managed to get a similar deal done for Luke Plange, who joined from and immediately returned on loan to Derby, with the Eagles also completing a permanent deal for their on-loan striker Jean-Philippe Mateta, from Mainz.
Newcastle’s busy January ended with the capture of Dan Burn from Brighton, minutes before the deadline, while Brentford added Christian Eriksen to their ranks – the Dane now looking to return to action seven months after his on-pitch cardiac arrest at Euro 2020.
Elsewhere, relegation battlers Norwich City sent Todd Cantwell out on loan to Bournemouth with an option to buy – one of five deadline-day signings for the Cherries, including Liverpool centre-back Nat Phillips on loan.
In Scotland, Rangers landed the season-long loan of Aaron Ramsey from Juventus.
