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Another January transfer window has come and gone, and while some clubs were extremely active, others surprisingly opted to remain on the sidelines.
Whether teams made the correct decisions and invested wisely (or not) will be evident in only a couple of months. While summer transfers can be brought along slowly and given time to adjust, winter transfers need to hit the ground running: The end of the European season looms in May.
MORE: All the Deadline Day deals
The busiest teams during Europe’s transfer window were the ones chasing Champions League berths or seeking to avoid relegation. Those success metrics will be very easy to measure come the spring. Before those verdicts come in, here’s an early look at the winners and losers of the 2022 January transfer window.
January transfer window winners
Tottenham Hotspur
- IN: Rodrigo Betancur (Juventus, $21 million), Dejan Kulusevski (18-month loan with buy option)
- OUT: Tanguy Ndombele (Lyon, loan with buy option), Bryan Gil (Valencia, loan), Giovani Lo Celso (Villareal, loan with buy option), Dele Alli (Everton)
A club with a Deadline Day plan executed to perfection. Antonio Conte wanted a number of fringe players gone to trim the squad and make room for new arrivals, and that’s exactly what came to fruition.
Dele Alli, Giovani Lo Celso, and Tanguy Ndombele all departed the club on loan with options to buy (although Ndombele’s is laughably high, meaning he’ll probably be back in the summer), trimming the fat in midfield.
In their place, the talented Juventus duo Rodrigo Betancur and Dejan Kulusevski both arrived. Betancur in particular is a fabulous signing, a player who has been a regular starter for both Juventus and Argentina this season and is still just 24 years old. Kulusevski, meanwhile, arrives on a somewhat risky 18-month loan that costs over half what the club paid for Betancur, but still he is just 21 years old and highly regarded. Both players should make an immediate impact for Conte.
Excellent business in both directions for Spurs.
MORE: Transfer Deadline Day deals that fell through
Everton
- IN: Vitaliy Mykolenko (Dynamo Kyiv, $26 million), Donny van de Beek (loan), Anwar El Ghazi (loan), Nathan Patterson (Rangers, $16 million).
- OUT: Lucas Digne (Aston Villa, $33 million)
Everton appeared to be having a nightmarish January, with the valuable Lucas Digne leaving for a cut-rate price and ties severed with manager Rafa Benitez leaving the club in shambles. To make matters worse, owner Farhad Moshiri seemed to be making a mockery of the managerial hiring process.
Then, in stepped the knight in shining armor, Frank Lampard. The former Chelsea boss was confirmed early on Deadline Day – a signing in and of himself – and by the close of business, Donny van de Beek and Dele Alli were Everton players. Both are low-risk, high-reward players, with Lampard tasked with returning the Toffees to former glory.
Add that duo to the arrival of direct Digne replacement Vitaliy Mykolenko, and Everton did some good business. Mykolenko is a somewhat risky buy, at $26 million for an untested 23-year-old fullback, but he comes in highly regarded, considering Man City was reportedly interested until Joao Cancelo asserted a choke-hold on the left-back position at the Etihad.
Donny van de ????. ? pic.twitter.com/FDgc9gguAc
— Everton (@Everton) January 31, 2022
Juventus
- IN: Dusan Vlahovic (Fiorentina, $90 million), Denis Zakaria (Gladbach, $10 milion)
- OUT: Rodrigo Betancur (Tottenham, $21 million), Dejan Kulusevski (Tottenham, 18-month loan with buy option), Aaron Ramsey (Rangers, loan with buy option)
Juventus knew what it needed, and it went out and got just that. Stuck in a battle for a Champions League place in Italy due to its anemic attack, Juve went out and splashed by far the most cash of the transfer window on one of Europe’s most prolific young strikers in Vlahovic.
There’s still plenty to sort out on the pitch – first and foremost, what to do with a struggling Paulo Dybala – but getting Vlahovic should solve a lot of problems, and ensure that Juventus doesn’t miss the Champions League next season and maybe even outperform in the knockout rounds of the current edition. The acquisition of Zakaria was a cherry on top, and made Rodrigo Betancur expendable.
The Italian side also needed to offset some of the Vlahovic transfer, which meant Betancur and Kulusevski were cut loose, along with Aaron Ramsey who turned out to be a complete waste of money. Overall, Juventus gave the tutorial on how a European power can patch up holes during the winter.
MORE: Most expensive transfers of the January window
Newcastle
- IN: Bruno Guimaraes (Lyon, $46 million), Chris Wood (Burnley, $33 million), Kieran Trippier (Atletico Madrid, $16.5 million), Dan Burn (Brighton, $16 million), Matt Targett (Loan)
- OUT: Yoshinori Muto (Vissel Kobe, free transfer), Christian Atsu (Al-Raed, free transfer), Matty Longstaff (Aberdeen, loan).
Make no mistake, this transfer window for Newcastle is a massive financial risk. If the club is relegated, they will take a hit on almost all incoming transfers.
Still, the capture of Bruno Guimaraes is a coup at the price, acquiring one of the best two-way midfielders in Europe. Tripper was playing at a high level at Atletico Madrid before getting the Newcastle offer. Dan Burn was lured by his boyhood club, and is a wonderful addition to the defensive unit. The transfer window was chaotic, with media publishing reports linking the club to new players every day, but in the end, they did quite well.
It remains to be seen if the over $30 million paid for Chris Wood will ultimately be worth it, but otherwise it was a window of smart spending for Newcastle, even if the risk is high.
30+ – There are four players with 30+ tackles, 30+ dribbles completed and 30+ chances created in open play in Europe’s big five leagues this season:
Bruno Guimarães
Bernardo Silva
Felipe Anderson
Vinícius JúniorAll-action. pic.twitter.com/pYAiGE2ODl
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 30, 2022
Aston Villa
- IN: Lucas Digne (Everton, $33 million), Philippe Coutinho (Barcelona, loan with buy option), Calum Chambers (Arsenal, free transfer), Robin Olsen (Roma, loan)
- OUT: Matt Targett (Newcastle, loan), Anwar El Ghazi (Everton, loan), Wesley (Internacional, loan), Jed Steer (Luton Town, loan)
What incredible business by Steven Gerrard. While most of it was completed well before Deadline Day, Aston Villa is one of the clear winners this winter.
Philippe Coutinho has already proven his value in just a few brief appearances, and no matter how his last few years have transpired in Barcelona or beyond, having a player of his caliber at this club is a boon. Lucas Digne is also a fabulous signing, with Villa pouncing on a disgruntled player for a cut-rate price compared to his talent. Chambers may not see time with Tyrone Mings and Ezri Konza established at center back, but he’ll find a way on the field as a utility man.
Add this haul to last summer’s captures of Emiliano Buendia and Danny Ings, and this club looks to be building something special for the next few years.
January transfer window losers
Arsenal
- IN: None
- OUT: Calum Chambers (Aston Villa, free transfer), Sead Kolasinac (Marseille, free transfer), Pablo Mari (Udinese, loan), Ainsley Maitland-Niles (Roma, loan), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Barcelona, free transfer)
What a completely and utterly disastrous January transfer window for Arsenal. There’s no other way to put it.
No players brought in, five players sent out. The Gunners desperately needed another center back and a goalscoring threat, but neither materialized. In fact, the Gunners weren’t exactly in for many players either, if you judge based on rumors. The Gunners’ name was mentioned a lot, but not for anything concrete other than Dusan Vlahovic, who was always moving to Juventus in the end.
The Gunners will sport a dangerously thin squad the rest of the season, and one lacking any true threat in front of goal. Not an ideal formula for a battle to secure a Champions League place. You have to wonder whether the financial issues ownership spoke about a year ago are finally having a real, serious effect on the club’s ability to lure top players.
@m8arteta Mike I’m available, i don’t have much skill but fast as hell & that should help open things up for Saka & Martinelli, don’t need a contract just a place to stay, DM me.
— Chad Johnson (@ochocinco) January 31, 2022
Manchester United
- IN: None
- OUT: Axel Tuanzebe (Napoli, loan), Anthony Martial (Sevilla, loan), Donny van de Beek (Everton, loan)
Similar to Arsenal, Manchester United trimmed fat, but did nothing to tangibly improve the squad. While Donny van de Beek will finally see the field, and Anthony Martial also gets a chance to find his way back to form, the Red Devils still have significant squad holes and none were resolved.
Man United was linked to many players throughout the winter, and nothing came off. Ralf Rangnick has Paul Pogba coming back, which could be seen as a “new signing” as the old adage goes, but this is still a flawed squad with issues (midfield) that were not addressed.
Although, fans were celebrating one transfer window transaction:
Two hours until Ed Woodward is not employed by Manchester United anymore. Best deadline day United have had in years.
— Chris Winterburn (@cmwinterburn) January 31, 2022
Barcelona
- IN: Ferran Torres (Man City, $60 million), Adama Traore (Loan), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal, free transfer), Dani Alves (free agent)
- OUT: Philippe Coutinho (Aston Villa, loan with option), Inaki Pena (Galatasaray, loan)
Barcelona is heavily restricted financially, and that has caused the Blaugrana to jump through hoops at every turn to make any deals possible. But it didn’t restrict them from signing Ferran Torres in a big-money move, or taking on what are sure to be significant wages for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Big spending got Barcelona in this mess, but they can’t seem to help themselves. In the same window in which they move on from a disastrous Philippe Coutinho deal, Barca continues to spend big, taking out huge loans and leveraging other means of acquiring fast cash.
Burnley
- IN: Wout Weghorst (Wolfsburg, $15 million)
- OUT: Chris Wood (Newcastle, $33 million)
Taking these two deals in a vacuum, Burnely’s actually done quite well for itself. The Clarets sold a player with just three goals this season for well over market value, and in turn plucked a prolific Bunesliga striker for less than half the Wood deal.
Problem is, these deals aren’t in a vacuum, and Burnley hasn’t exactly improved in any sense. This is still a relegation-quality squad.
While Weghorst has a good goalscoring record over the past few years for Wolfsburg, his struggles this year mirror Wood’s. Without service he can’t make a meaningful contribution, and Burnley hasn’t done anything to foster a better goalscoring environment for Weghorst than the one Wood toiled through. Burnley basically entered January with a relegation squad, and exited with a relegation squad plus $18 million in cash.
Also, they produced one of the most bizarre transfer announcements we’ve seen, so that’s minus points, too.
— Burnley FC (@BurnleyOfficial) January 31, 2022
Borussia Dortmund
- IN: None
- OUT: Ansgar Knauff (Eintracht Frankfurt, loan)
Bundesliga clubs, as you may have noticed, often sit on the sidelines through the January transfer window. In fact, only two German clubs spent more than $10 million on any individual players this winter, one of them being Augsburg’s capture of American striker Ricardo Pepi. Business just doesn’t happen for German clubs in the winter.
And yet because of that, Dortmund had such a glorious opportunity to push the competition. Six points back of leaders Bayern Munich, the Bundesliga title is still within reach, but not with the current squad. Quite simply, the club needed improvement at the back to stop shipping goals – 31 times they’ve conceded this season, which is 13 more than leaders Bayern and more than eight other Bundesliga clubs.
Gio Reyna is “like a new signing” according to Dortmund’s sporting director (there’s that phrase again), but defensive replacements were needed desperately. This is a club with $90 million from the Jadon Sancho transfer to Man United burning a hole in its pocket. Yet the only business this winter was a failed attempt to transfer wantaway goalkeeper Roman Burki to Turkish side Galatasaray. A big chance missed.
I know Bundesliga clubs rarely do business in January, but this was really a window for Dortmund to be pragmatic and fix a number of holes in their team.
They need a CB.
They need a DM.
They need at least one full-back.Why are they waiting till the summer?
— Stefan Bienkowski (@SBienkowski) January 31, 2022
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