EPL January Transfer Window Roundup

The winter transfer window saw major activity by some clubs such as Everton and Aston Villa while other clubs are content with their current squads. Here is the roundup:

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Arsenal

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang left the London club on a free transfer to recovering Spanish giant Barcelona. Mikel Arteta’s plans to break into the top four clearly do not include the 32 year old forward. Both Arsenal and the Gabonese striker mutually terminated the contract, which takes £26M in wage payments over the next 18 months off the books for Arsenal.

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Aston Villa

Calum Chambers moves to Villa Park after seven years with Arsenal. With Tomiyasu and White Arteta’s regular starters on the right side of the defence, Chambers moved on at 27 years of age to join Aston Villa on a free transfer hoping for more playing time under Steven Gerrard. Here is a more detailed article on Chambers transfer.

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Philippe Coutinho is no stranger to fans of Europe’s top four leagues. He started off at Inter Milan, moving on to Liverpool where his star shined before failing at Barcelona and Bayern experiments. Now he comes back to the EPL to play under former teammate and current coach Gerard at Villa Park on loan from Barcelona. His 22 minute debut against Man United promises great returns to come — scoring one goal and assisting another. Here is the transfer spotlight of Coutinho.

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Lucas Digne joined for a fee of £30M from Everton as part of the club’s interesting project. The left-back had no trouble starting as soon as he arrived, playing in Aston Villa’s 2-2 comeback against Man United and the 1-0 victory over his former club Everton in GW-23. Since Matt Targett was loaned to Newcastle, Digne should be a regular if not key starter for Gerrard. Here is the transfer spotlight of the French left back.

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Brentford

Christian Eriksen’s contract with Inter Milan expired with 2021 on mutual terms. After his collapse and resuscitation on the field during the “2020” Euros last summer, his heart was fitted with an ICD, which is not permitted in Italian football. That rendered him unable to play for his former club. The EPL has no such restriction, so here he comes.

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Burnley

Wout Weghorst joined Burnley for a fee of £14M from German outfit Wolfsburg. The latter club crashed out of all European competition this season by placing fourth in the the UEFA Champions League group. The Dutch center-forward comes in to fill the shoes of Newcastle-bound Chris Wood.

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Everton

Vitaliy Mykolenko joined Everton’s ranks under the direction of former manager Rafael Benitez as a replacement for the departed Digne. For a fee of £23.5m, the former Dynamo Kiyv left-back has a lot of experience against tough European clubs that could prove important for the Toffees. Here is Mykolenko’s transfer spotlight.

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Nathan Patterson is another fullback joining Everton, but he plays on the right side. He is only 20 years old but recorded an assist with the under 23 team on his debut and may pose a risk to Coleman’s playing time at right-back. Everton spent £14.0 m on the Scottish player to bring him from Rangers, but it seems like an investment for the seasons to come. Here is Patterson’s transfer spotlight.

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Donny van de Beek was not able to break through and bring in his Ajax performances to Old Trafford. The 24 year old central midfielder agreed to join Everton on loan after Benitez’ sacking (not sure if the manager had anything to do with it). Accumulating playing time for unproven players in the EPL is a must whether it is at Man United or Everton.

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Dele Ali joined Everton on transfer deadline day on loan from Tottenham. It has been reported by various news outlets that Frank Lampard who was appointed earlier on the same day had an important role to play in this loan deal going through. Ali is expected to help Everton avoid relegation.

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Liverpool

Luis Diaz’ transfer from Porto to Liverpool went through on deadline day for £45M. Diaz played on the left wing in Porto. It is going to be interesting to see how Sadio Mane is going to feel about this transfer. It is a fact that the Senegalese International is not performing as well as the other forwards at Liverpool, but for all we know Diaz may play a role behind Mane in Klopp’s 4-3-3 formation, allowing him to move to the center more often opening new attacking opportunities for Klopp.

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Man City

Ferran Torres has played no part in Man City’s success this season due to injury. Torres proved to be a prolific player in front of goal last season in the Champions League at least when he was assigned the center forward role, which remains a mystery for Guardiola. Torres was eventually sold in this window to Barcelona for a £55.0 m.

Man City management has apparently lost hope for now on bringing in a proven center forward, opting to purchase young River Plate striker Julian Alvarez at age 22 and kept him at his club on loan until the end of the season. The Argentine is expected to become a Man City player starting next season.

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Newcastle

Kieran Trippier is the first player to join Newcastle in its new era of big-money ownership and management. The Englishman comes from Atletico Madrid for £15.0m to take over the right-back position instantly. Here is Trippier’s transfer spotlight.

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Dan Burn joined Newcastle for the same £15.0m price as Trippier. The club is looking to stop the continuous goal leaks. Burn is an English 29 year old center-back joining from Brighton. It is unclear yet if he will become a regular starter or just an incentive for Clark and Lascelles to work harder.

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Chris Wood was sold by Burnley to Newcastle for £30.0m, highlighting the purchasing power that Newcastle has under the new ownership. February will paint a clear picture on how Eddie Howe intends to utilise Wood’s experience in the squad considering Wilson and Saint-Maximin are not slowing down anytime soon.

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Bruno Guimaraes is the former Lyon defensive midfielder and current new Newcastle signing, joining for £42.1m. The Brazilian is 24 years old. He is expected to become a dependable first line of defence from the get go. Here is the transfer spotlight.

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Matt Targett was awarded an improved contract at Villa just nine months ago, having been named the club’s 2020/21 Players’ Player of the Season, but his prospects for first-team football cratered with the arrival of Lucas Digne at Villa Park. So rather than battle it out with the Frenchman, Targett instead opted for a loan move to Newcastle for the remainder of the season. A permanent deal seems likely over the summer should Newcastle stay up.

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Tottenham

Rodrigo Bentacur & Dejan Kulusevski joined Spurs on deadline day. The former was purchased outright for £19.0 while the latter is in England on loan for a fee of £10.0. With these signings, Antonio Conte is intending to mount a UCL qualifying challenge. Tottenham is the only top ranked team without European football. The Italian tactician tried many players from the existing squad in midfield, but he was not able to impose his brand of football that Juventus fans experienced a few years ago. Consequently, there will be no place for Lo Celso, Alli or Ndombele, so they were loaned to Villarreal, Everton and Lyon respectively.

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I may have highlighted minor transfers or ignored a major one here or there, but only time will tell which transfer is successful and which isn’t.

What do you think of the listed transfers? Which one are you most excited about? Any obvious flops in your opinion? Do you think that it is wise for the EPL to allow players with heart implants on the field? Please log in and share your reactions in the comments below!

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