Here is the second part of all my big takeaways from the last week-and-a-half of the January transfer window. It was hectic to say the least.
City lets Cancelo go
There could be a multitude of reasons for the move, but João Cancelo left Manchester City for Bayern Munich on a loan deal with an option to buy worth over $75 million. On his day, Cancelo is a brilliant player and one of the world’s best at his position, but lately, Guardiola and Cancelo didn’t click. Cancelo got benched recently, and it felt like he immediately started looking for a way out. Great player but weird move.
In other news at City, Pep Guardiola has a reputation of picking up promising stars from South America, and the recent signing of Máximo Perrone. The defensive midfielder comes over from Argentinian side Velez Sarsfield. I am curious to see what kind of role, if any, he plays this season. He is young with mostly raw talent, but we’ll see how much Pep wants to use that this season.
Dortmund makes some moves both ways
Borussia Dortmund spent upwards of $14 million to bring in Belgian attacker Julien Duranville from Anderlecht. He’s one of the rising stars of the game in Belgium, and he’ll fit right in alongside the other young forwards they have.
Dortmund also saw a major departure on deadline day, as Thorgan Hazard left the club on loan to join PSV Eindhoven. Overall, it’s a weird move in general. I get it if he’s not playing as much as he’d like, but I don’t fully understand it to be honest.
Anthony Gordon gets out of Everton (aka hell)
I personally hate when players throw a tantrum and stop coming into work to try and force a transfer through, especially when they grew up a fan of the team. With Gordon, that’s exactly what happened.
To be fair, I don’t blame Gordon for forcing his way to Newcastle when Everton is in prime position to be relegated. He’s good, but is he $50 million good? I don’t think so.
Southampton revamps attack
In an impressive bid to avoid relegation, the Saints spent big money on deadline day to bring in attackers Paul Onuachu from Genk and Kamaldeen Sulemana from Rennes. The deals combined cost the club around $47 million, making them one of the world’s highest spenders in January.
I really like Sulemana for his pace and ability with the ball at his feet, and Onuachu has a lot of the physical characteristics needed to be successful at the front of a Premier League line. These could end up being panic signings, but I like the makeup of both of them.
Bellerín leaves Barcelona
Once one of the world’s best full backs, Héctor Bellerín left Barca to join Sporting CP in Portugal for a measly $1 million. Quite the fall from grace. Surprisingly, he’s still only 27, and if he can get his form back up to match his fashion game, he can still be a good player.
Leicester strengthens survival bid
Only one point above the relegation zone, Leicester made some big additions at the end of the window. Stoke defender Harry Souttar joined in a deal worth nearly $18.5 million. Decent signing, I suppose, especially given their defensive issues this season.
Shakhtar Donetsk winger Tete is a huge signing for the Foxes. After playing for Lyon in the first half of the season, he joined Leicester on loan for the remainder of the year. He has the dynamism to help turn losses into wins in a tight relegation fight.
Crystal Palace makes late additions
Naouirou Ahamada joined on deadline day from Stuttgart for around $15 million. To be honest, I don’t know a ton about him, but he’s drawn comparisons to countryman and Palace manager Patrick Vieira. Now, he gets to learn directly from his idol, so his development will be fun to watch. Any player with four straight vowels in his first name is probably unique.
Palace also added Albert Sambi Lokonga on loan from Arsenal. Decent player, but he’s probably not quite good enough for Arsenal anymore. If you watched the Amazon documentary on Arsenal last season, you’ll know that he only got screen time for being yelled at or for messing something up:
Fulham strengthens
Torino midfielder Sasa Lukic joined on deadline day for nearly $10 million. Fulham has gotten some unbelievable performances this season, and Lukic adds some good depth and ability in that department. If they are seriously going to challenge for a European spot, they need signings like this.
The Cottagers also tied up a loan deal for Arsenal defender Cédric Soares, as well as a permanent move for Brighton defender Shane Duffy. In both, they get proven players at Premier League level, even if they are on the older side. Decent all around.
Roma loans in Llorente
Diego Llorente left Leeds to move to Italy on loan. There is an option to buy. Llorente was a fixture under Marcelo Bielsa but has fallen out with Jesse Marsch. Decent player, but I question whether center back is really his best position.
Bournemouth gets key reinforcements
The Cherries made some big signings in the last week of the window, finishing with the addition of Ilya Zabarnyi from Dynamo Kyiv for nearly $25 million. Zabarnyi will likely slot right into Bournemouth’s defense, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he helped them immensely there.
Matías Viña joined the club on loan from Roma with an option to buy. He will probably play left back, a position they really needed to strengthen. He’ll definitely make them better and give them a better chance to stay up.
Hamed Junior Traorè (FIFA Career Mode GOAT) is another signing that I really like for Bournemouth. He’ll join permanently if they are able to stay up, and he could add pace and quality in the midfield that can really open games up late in the season. Good move.
Antoine Semenyo, on the other hand, is a questionable signing in my opinion. He joined from Bristol City for nearly $13 million, but is he really worth it? He’s been good in the Championship this year, sure, but before that, he was a fairly run-of-the-mill second-tier striker. Could prove useful if they get relegated, though, given his experience there.
Todd Cantwell… what could have been
Once the star of Norwich’s failed Premier League seasons of the recent past, Cantwell secured a surprising permanent move to Rangers. At one point, he was the subject of pretty heavy PL interest after multiple Norwich relegations, but he has completely fallen off from there. I wonder if he’ll be able to revamp his career.
Other deals worth listing:
Here is a comprehensive list of the deals worth mentioning that were completed at the end of the window. There are so many, so have fun with the list:
Toku Arokodare – Valmiera to KRC Genk
Shane Duffy – Brighton to Fulham
Ibrahim Salah – KAA Gent to Rennes
Patrick van Aanholt – Galatasaray to PSV Eindhoven
Sofiane Boufal – Angers to Al-Rayyan
Josh Onomah – Fulham to Preston North End
Joel Mugisha Mvuka – Bodø Glimt to Lorient
Ayoze Pérez – Leicester to Real Betis (loan)
Luca Pellegrini – Juventus to Lazio (loan)
Nedim Bajrami – Empoli to Sassuolo (loan)
Nathaniel Chalobah – Fulham to West Bromwich Albion
Nicolas Raskin – Standard Liège to Rangers
Marvelous Nakamba – Aston Villa to Luton Town (loan)
Sergi Canós – Brentford to Olympiacos (loan)
Selim Amallah – Standard Liège to Real Valladolid
Diogo Monteiro – Servette FC to Leeds United
Jean-Victor Makengo – Udinese to Lorient
Thomas Delaney – Sevilla to Hoffenheim (loan)
Nathanaël Mbuku – Stade Reims to Augsburg
Yasin Ayari – AIK to Brighton
Jayden Oosterwolde – Parma to Fenerbahce
Michael Obafemi – Swansea to Burnley
Romain Faivre – Lyon to Lorient (loan)
Josip Brekalo – Wolfsburg to Fiorentina
Bamba Dieng – Marseille to Lorient
James Bree – Luton Town to Southampton
Karl Toko Ekambi – Lyon to Rennes (loan)
John Anthony Brooks – Benfica to Hoffenheim
Nicolas Cozza – Montpellier to Wolfsburg
Fábio Silva – Wolves to PSV Eindhoven (loan)
Ludovic Ajorque – Strasbourg to Mainz 05
Henrique Araújo – Benfica to Watford (loan)
Morgan Sanson – Aston Villa to Strasbourg (loan)
Josip Juranovic – Celtic to Union Berlin
I need a break.
Follow Nick Hedges on Twitter @nicktrimshedges or Instagram @nicktrimshedges