January transfer window learnings: Man Utd need big impact from Bruno Fernandes and more
Will Bruno Fernandes live up to expectations at Manchester United? And why are many clubs reluctant to do business mid-season? Here's what we learned from the January transfer window...
Sunday 2 February 2020 13:51, UK
It's tough to buy in the January window
The January transfer window always prompts plenty of excitement among fans, but for those working behind the scenes at Premier League clubs, it is regarded as an increasingly difficult period in which to do business. The consensus is that there is little value for money in mid-season. It's also rare for a January signing to hit the ground running at his new club.
It is reflected in the numbers. Last year, Premier League clubs spent just £146.6m in the January transfer window - less than half of the total in the previous year - but this time around the total jumped back to £233m.
But sales are trending downwards. Premier League clubs accrued £253.4m in player sales in January 2017 and £372.7m in 2018, but the total dropped to £98.8m in 2019 and it was even lower this year, at £45m.
That is not to say this year's window passed without big moves. Tottenham were busy, albeit without re-signing Gareth Bale from Real Madrid, while Manchester United agreed a deal worth £68m for Bruno Fernandes.
For many clubs, however, targets proved unattainable and funds were held back for the summer. It's fast becoming the norm in the January window.
Nick Wright
Bruno lifts gloom at Manchester United
The mood has changed at Old Trafford. Last week everyone was talking about Ole Gunnar Solskjaer losing his job. There were protests against Ed Woodward. Fast forward a week, United beat Manchester City at the Etihad, put six goals past Tranmere and secured their No 1 target. They're six points from the top four, still in the FA Cup and the Europa League.
It's not all doom and gloom. But so much now depends on how good Bruno Fernandes is. Is he worth the hype?
His transfer was a saga that lasted two windows. United scouted him on several occasions last summer, but decided against a deal. They took a second bite this month. United felt Sporting were using the media to put pressure on - it became a game of brinkmanship and a battle of wills.
Who has got the better deal? Sporting will tell their fans £67.7m was too good to turn down. But with only £46.5m up front, plus add-ons, it could be a snip if he can replicate the heroics of his boyhood hero and Portuguese compatriot Cristiano Ronaldo.
James Dale
Mourinho begins building new-look Spurs
Jose Mourinho in November: "The best gift are the players who are here. I don't need new players."
Jose Mourinho in January: "For me it is about time, time to work - so more transfer windows because we are not going to ever be the transfer window king."
The Spurs boss changed his tune over six weeks, and they end the window having been among Europe's most active sides.
In came Gedson Fernandes and Steven Bergwijn, plus the permanent capture of Giovani Lo Celso, and out went Christian Eriksen and Danny Rose.
The departure of Eriksen may see an intriguing change of approach; Mourinho seemingly wants versatility in all positions, and a willingness to get up and down the pitch.
Though Eriksen was often Spurs' top runner, it was more of a consistent jog to find gaps in between defence and midfield than a sprint back to defend.
In Bergwijn and Lo Celso, he has two frenzied, pacey runners, able to carry the ball up the pitch single-handedly. Mourinho wants attackers who can defend.
Gerard Brand
Serie A sides raid Premier League again
Christian Eriksen, Ashley Young, Victor Moses, Patrick Cutrone, Antonee Robinson. This window has reinforced the pattern we saw last summer: Serie A clubs are showing an increased tendency to sign players from England.
One of the clear winners emerging from this window is Antonio Conte, who keeps on enjoying the backing of the Inter Milan board and once again got what he wanted - physical, technical players who can slot straight into his line-up and adapt to the intensity of his football without needing a bedding-in period.
The overabundance of talent in Premier League squads makes them enticing to Italian sides, who know what an instant impact quality players with proven experience can make. Take Chris Smalling or Romelu Lukaku six months ago.
Robinson's proposed move to AC Milan before its late collapse might have come as a shock, but it is a mere confirmation that even top European clubs are monitoring the progress of young blood in England's lower leagues.
After Cristiano Ronaldo's arrival, something changed in the water in Italy - and seeing how the latest batch of Premier League players have performed there so far, there is no doubt there will be more going down the same path in the future.
Tommaso Fiore
Where are the strikers?
A good striker has always been hard to find, but this window demonstrated that they are nearly impossible to sign in January.
Chelsea were heavily linked with Edinson Cavani and Dries Mertens - both talented marksmen - but their biggest saga concerned the possible destination of Olivier Giroud. Inter Milan, Newcastle and even Tottenham were cited as potential suitors, but he remains at the club with no forwards coming in.
Oddly, Tottenham were also offered the chance to sign their former striker Fernando Llorente on a short-term deal, but they will have to rely on their current players to fill the Harry Kane-shaped hole in their attack. As Sky Sports News' Paul Gilmour put it, late on Deadline Day from his position at Spurs' training ground, "There just aren't enough strikers to go around."
That elusive 20-goal-a-season striker is more in-demand than ever, but they remain hard to find and that means prices will continue to rise when the window re-opens in the summer.
Charlotte Marsh
Manchester United take calculated gamble on Ighalo
Amid some incredulity that a player who left England as an out-of-form Watford striker more than three years ago has seemingly been earmarked as Marcus Rashford's replacement while he recovers from injury, there is a certain logic behind bringing in a man who was also sought after by Inter Milan and Tottenham during the January window.
Odion Ighalo knows the Premier League, has scored goals in the top flight and arrives at Old Trafford in good form. He has the sort of turn of pace which will fit in well to the style of football Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is trying to play.
He has quick feet, you won't find too many defenders outpacing him over the first five yards, and with United keen to play with a pacey front three, he certainly fits that billing more closely than Romelu Lukaku, whose transfer last summer has since been called into question with the club's lack of depth in attack.
The Nigerian is certainly not of the calibre of many of United's forward signings even in recent years, but after a 14-goal haul during his one full top-flight season at Vicarage Road, he was linked with some of Europe's biggest clubs in far more glowing terms.
During that 2015/16 season, the Hornets' first back in the Premier League, Ighalo and Troy Deeney were the main men at Watford, and scored 15 and 13 goals respectively while no-one else managed more than two. While Ighalo wasn't particularly clinical in front of goal during that campaign, although he did end with a shot conversion rate of 13.8 per cent, similar to that of Raul Jimenez this season, and only three less than Anthony Martial.
But the following season, he struggled with form and a growing feeling he had been found out; he managed only one goal in 14 starts before moving to China in January 2017, already looking a shadow of his former self.
He has since found his way back to form, netting 46 times in 70 games in the Chinese Super League across three years, but the quality of the far-east domestic competition is nowhere near that of the Premier League.
Whether he can prove an effective stop-gap for United looks far from certain but the 30-year-old does have some positive signs on his side. And even if it all falls flat, he's due to return to Shanghai Shenhua at the end of the season anyway - with little to lose for Solskjaer or the player himself.
Ron Walker
Why Arsenal favoured short-term deals
Pablo Mari and Cedric Soares may not be the box-office signings some Arsenal fans were hoping for this January, but they could represent astute business.
The Gunners spent heavily last summer, signing the likes of Nicolas Pepe, Kieran Tierney and David Luiz, and while many thought the club had an impressive window, things did not translate onto the pitch as Unai Emery lost his job in November.
Mikel Arteta's reign is still only eight games old but with injuries to Calum Chambers, Shkodran Mustafi, Sead Kolasinac and Kieran Tierney, and with Hector Bellerin and Rob Holding only just returning to full fitness, it was clear Arsenal needed more bodies in defence.
Mari, who joins on an initial loan deal with an option to buy, and Soares, who also joins on loan until the end of the season, provide that cover, but they also have the potential to make a real impact.
Mari, 26, is known to Arteta following his time with Manchester City and will be hoping to build on an excellent spell with Flamengo. Soares, meanwhile, has Premier League experience and will provide long-needed cover for Bellerin.
Arteta is still assessing his squad and will have his own thought on other targets. But knowing that January is not an easy time to do business, he may just have kept his powder dry until the summer.
Oliver Yew
Berge deal shows Sheffield United ambition
It was just three-and-a-half years ago that Chris Wilder, taking charge of a Sheffield United side marooned in League One, made a centre-half from Bury one of his first signings for a nominal fee. Now, Wilder, whose team are implausibly on the fringes of the Premier League's European places, has landed one of the most highly-rated young midfielders on the continent in Sander Berge. These are dizzying days.
Oli McBurnie's arrival upon promotion for a club-record fee that has now been surpassed was standout but sensible, a promising young Championship striker backed to make the step up at a club dismissed as relegation certainties by outsiders.
But Berge's signature is a statement; a symbol of a club back on the map thanks to eye-catching football under their stereotype-busting boss. The 21-year-old rejected the chance to join the Bramall Lane club in the summer but patience - and that lofty position - has paid dividends.
Sheffield United have struck while in the ascendancy - "now is the time to strengthen," Wilder has repeatedly said - and a £22m outlay represents deserved financial backing for the Blades boss from the club's new sole owner, Saudi Arabia's Prince Abdullah, following two promotions in three seasons with modest resources.
Berge, at just 21, is far from the finished article but his January capture is testament to long-term planning, a widening recruitment net and Wilder's relentless ambition.
Kate Burlaga
Richarlison valued highly by Everton
When news came through that Everton had turned down a bid of £85m for Richarlison from Barcelona, it caused reverberations around the newsdesk.
The offer was rejected immediately with the Goodison Park club unwilling to sell one of their prized assets this late in the transfer window.
This is a statement from Everton, with a new stadium on the horizon and with Carlo Ancelotti at the helm. Richarlison is the jewel in Ancelotti's crown.
Everton would be more than doubling their money were they to cash in on the 22-year-old now, having signed him from Watford for £40m in the summer of 2018.
The Toffees need to reduce their wage bill in order to make signings of their own, but have no interest in selling a player who signed a new four-year deal last month. His importance to Everton cannot be overstated.
Since the start of last season, no forward has made more ball recoveries than him, while he ranks top at Everton for goals, shots on target, dribbles completed, fouls won in the final third and possession won in the final third since August 2018.
With 24 Premier League goals in 60 appearances, Everton simply cannot see his sale as a viable option, regardless of whether Richarlison would be interested in a move to the Nou Camp.
Ben Grounds
Villa forced into market, but for the better?
Aston Villa started the window in a bad place. In the drop zone, they then won at Burnley on New Years' Day, but long-term injuries to Wesley and Tom Heaton forced Villa into the market.
And it hasn't necessarily been a bad thing.
Villa hadn't planned to do much, but the old 'if something becomes available' line turned to desperation in 24 hours. Midfield recluse Danny Drinkwater arrived on loan, raising a few eyebrows, and Pepe Reina signed from Napoli.
While Drinkwater has looked off the pace, there's a player in there with match fitness, and Reina has lifted morale behind the scenes and looked relatively assured on the pitch.
But the injury to Wesley inadvertently brought a new style. The absence of a striker shortened the pitch for Villa, where before they had seen huge gaps and an expansive approach, and eventually made them more defensively stable.
In Mbwana Samatta, a £10m signing from Genk, they look to have a player more adept at defending from the front, holding up the ball and running in-behind, areas Welsey had been struggling with. Borja Baston was also brought in on Deadline Day to prevent another striker shortage.
It wasn't planned, but it might just save Villa's season.
Gerard Brand
Quality over quantity for Liverpool
What do you buy the team that has not lost a Premier League game all season long and currently hold a 19-point lead at the top of the table?
Well, with sporting director Michael Edwards having done such a superb recruitment job at Liverpool of late, it is now more a case of bringing quality purchases to Anfield, rather than bodies.
To that effect, Takumi Minamino was the club's only arrival in January, the Japan forward joining from RB Salzburg for just £7.25m - the cost of his buyout clause - after catching Jurgen Klopp's eye in the two clubs' Champions League meetings earlier this season.
And the Liverpool manager wasted little time throwing his new charge in at the deep end, with the 25-year-old making his Reds debut in their FA Cup third-round win over Everton at the start of January, before then making his league bow at Wolves later that month.
Richard Morgan
How Man City held their nerve
Manchester City were - arguably rightly - castigated for failing to add to their defensive ranks when less than a month into the season, a long-term injury to their best defender Aymeric Laporte left them short in numbers, and quality, at the back.
Since then Pep Guardiola's side have dropped more points than they did in the entirety of either of the last two seasons, but despite numerous January links with Inter Milan's Milan Skriniar, they held their nerve - knowing Aymeric Laporte was closer to a return than was believed outside the club.
He made his comeback at Sheffield United last week and slotted straight back into the heart of defence after nearly four months on the sidelines, as City kept the Blades to just a solitary shot on target, and he displayed in 90 minutes exactly what they had been missing for almost half a season.
City have still taken a risk running with three senior centre-backs, two of whom are nowhere near the quality of the player Guardiola called the best in the world last week, but if they can keep Laporte fit for a busy business end to the season, keeping their wallet closed in the January window may set them up well for a summer window where targets and fees are likely to be less challenging.
Ron Walker
