The 2023 January transfer window did not fail to live up to its billing with a flurry of activity happening across Europe, especially the Premier League where a record £815 million ($1 billion) was spent, Chelsea making up almost half of that sum.
Afrosport reviews the top three winners and losers from the English top-flight during the recently-concluded window.
ARSENAL (Winners)
The Gunners have managed to maintain their lead at the top of the table for much of the season. It’s however getting to the most crucial point of the campaign where dropping points could be vital in the title race, with Manchester City lurking just five points behind them.
Understanding that reality and the fact injuries could creep in at this stage means there is need for more depth. Mikel Arteta responded appropriately by acquiring Leandro Trossard (£21 million), Jakub Kiwior (£18 million) and Jorginho (£12 million), the latter a replacement option after multiple bids were rejected for Brighton & Hove Albion Ecuador midfielder Moises Caicedo.
These players are a blend of youth and experience, particularly Jorginho, who is a Champions League winner and an European Championship winner with Italy. Jorginho’s experience and winning mentality will ensure Arsenal maintain their edge and nothing will stop them towards a first league title in 19 years come May 28. They are also the kind of players that will keep the project under Arteta going smoothly, putting the Gunners where they have always belonged among Europe’s elite.
CHELSEA (Winners)
When the Todd Boehly-led consortium bought the Blues in a £4.25 billion deal last May, many feared the direction the club would go, especially with regards to transfers.
Previous owner Roman Abramovich was known to spend on top talent such as Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, Eden Hazard, Ashley Cole among many others. Boehly has probably exceeded those expectations by sealing more than £600 million worth of deals in just two transfer windows, more than half of that coming in January which was more than any top five league in Europe spent during the same window.
Chelsea have not just gone for any kind of player but young and promising talent tied to long term contracts. These include 2022 World Cup winner and Young Player recipient Enzo Fernandez for £106 million from Benfica, a British transfer record, Mykhailo Mudryk (£62 million) from Shakhtar Donetsk and Benoit Badiashile (£33 million) from AS Monaco.
Not only were these smart buys but Boehly was able to circumnavigate Chelsea running into Financial Fair Play problems but paying the transfer fees in installments and also the lengthy contracts giving room to sell them at a very good fee in future.
Perhaps, the footprints of Abramovich still remain at Stamford Bridge, only better and smarter.
MANCHESTER UNITED (Winners)
The Red Devils spent heavily last summer upon the arrival of Erik ten Hag at Ajax, especially after their woeful defeats to Brighton & Hove Albion and Brentford at the start of the season, going for the Brazilian duo of Antony and Casemiro for a combined (£152 million), joining them with Tyrell Malacia, Christian Eriksen and Lisandro Martinez who were purchased before pre-season.
Those signings proved to be crucial as United’s form improved with 12 wins in 18 games since those aforementioned defeats and are now in the top four and have been muted as title contenders as well.
Current United owners, the Glazer family, have been looking to sell the club since their announcement last November and this has led to reports of lack of funds to strengthen the squad any further. Despite the setback, the club was still able to make three loan signings in goalkeeper Jack Butland from Crystal Palace, Dutch forward Wout Weghorst from Burnley and Austrian Marcel Sabitzer from Bayern Munich. The latter was a deadline day signing while the former were purchased earlier in response to Martin Dubravka and Cristiano Ronaldo leaving the club respectively.
These names are very good options for a stop gap especially Sabitzer who replaces Eriksen who is expected to be out for the next months due to injury. There’s that ease of mind despite the lack of quality in all areas on the pitch, Ten Hag can make do with what he now has to ensure they finish the season on a high, probably higher they ever have since the end of the Alex Ferguson era.
BAYERN MUNICH (Winners)
The Bavarian giants have struggled for form and consistency in the Bundesliga this season, which has cast doubts on their ability to win a 11th straight title as the likes of Union Berlin, Freiburg and Eintracht Frankfurt are not far from them, clubs they should be way ahead of on the table by their extremely high standards.
Bayern have however been able to find a solution by signing Joao Cancelo on loan from Manchester City until the end of the season with an option to buy Portuguese for £62 million. The 28-year-old versatility on either flank at full-back and his attacking prowess make him one of the steals of the transfer window and has already gotten into the swing of the action with an assist in Bayern’s 4-0 bashing of Mainz on Wenesday.
It is rather unfortunate Cancelo reportedly fell out with Guardiola but his addition with experienced Dutch player Daley Blind and Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer, could get Julian Nagelsmann’s side back in the groove.
NOTTINGHAM FOREST (Winners)
The Reds caught eyes of many when they went on a signing spree last summer after gaining promotion to the Premier League for the first time in 23 years.
Indeed, they signed a mammoth 18 players which is understandable considering they lost almost about the same number in departures, many of them being loanees. Forest ended up splashing a whopping £160 million last summer which was big spending for a newly-promoted side. Some of the big name recruits included Taiwo Awoniyi, Jesse Lingard, Emmanuel Dennis, Morgan Gibbs-White, Serge Aurier among others.
Steve Cooper’s men well , with just one defeat and two wins in their first four games. They however went on a run of just one in 11 games between the end of August and the World Cup break, suffering seven defeats and languished in the relegation zone. They eventually found some steam after the World Cup break and are currently out of danger.
The East Midlands outfit used the January transfer window to strengthen when further and went ahead to get Danilo, Felipe, Jonjo Shelvey and Andre Ayew. These are players majorly oozing with experience, particularly the latter two who have played for as clubs such as Liverpool, Newcastle United, Swansea City and West Ham United. It might just be what ensures Forest’s survival come the end of the season.
LIVERPOOL (Losers)
If the 2020-21 season was bad for the Reds, the ongoing 2022-23 season could be much worse.
Jurgen Klopp’s men have struggled to make an impact from the very beginning of the season when they failed to beat newly-promoted Fulham on the opening day of the season. They’ve lost six games and won just eight from 19, a far cry from the team that was close to winning the Premier League last season.
This time they sit in ninth place, 21 points off the top and a huge part of this horror show is a good number of key players such as Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota, Roberto Firmino, Virgil van Dijk, Thiago Alcantara, Joel Matip, Andy Robertson and others are either currently injured or were at some point during the season.
Liverpool didn’t really strengthen during the summer beyond getting Darwin Nunez in a £64 million move from Benfica and with the amount of injuries and generally poor form, January should have been an opportunity to strengthen, they however got only Cody Gakpo in a £37 million deal and even the Dutchman has failed to inspire, raising serious questions of whether the seventh season curse where Klopp’s previous teams imploded and found no way back, is really occurring at Anfield.
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR (Losers)
After finishing an unexpected fourth in the very short space of time Antonio Conte arrived at Spurs last year, it was expected they would strengthen in the summer for such goals to be achieved again, which they did by acquiring, Ivan Perisic, Fraser Forster, Yves Bissouma, Richarlison, Djed Spence, Destiny Udogie and Christian Romero, all worth £172 million.
The season however hasn’t gone smoothly for Spurs with a bulk of those signings failing to inspire. The Lilywhites now find themselves from tough to beat to an easy punching bag, holding on to a lead proving very difficult for the North London outfit.
One would have expected Spurs to strengthen again in January especially in defence, they however went for just two players in forwards Arnaut Danjuma and right wing- backPedro Porro on loan. There’s no certainty these two players will be enough to ignite a spark even though Danjuma has already opened his Spurs account in a 3-0 FA Cup fourth round win at Preston North End last week.
Conte’s possible long absence as he prepares to undergo surgery to remove his gallbladder might make things even more difficult as his presence in the dugout cannot be overemphasised enough. Only time will tell whether Spurs come the end of the season will be able to seal another top four spot and progress further in the cup competitions they are still involved in.
EVERTON (Losers)
After narrowly avoiding relegation on the penultimate game of last season, the Toffees went on spending spree in the summer, acquiring the likes of James Tarkowski, Dwight McNeil from relegated Burnley, Amadou Onana from Lille James Garner from Manchester United and old boy Idrissa Gueye returning, all worth £85.5 million combined.
None of that transmitted into better form as they only won three games during the first half of the season which has left them rooted in the drop zone again and led to the sacking of manager Frank Lampard. In his place has come former Burnley boss Sean Dyche who was a master at making the Clarets beat the drop multiple times.
The 51-year-old however finds himself in a situation where he did not make any signings hence has to make do with what he has. Before Dyche’s arrival Everton were interested in signing Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher but the Blues academy graduate didn’t seem content to move to Goodison Park. Arnaut Danjuma was another player that was on the verge of moving to the blue half of Merseyside from Villarreal. The deal was however hijacked by Tottenham Hotspur at the 11th hour and made the switch to North London.
The Everton hierarchy will look at themselves and wonder how such a window went past them without any arrivals when strengthening was required. It’s rather a high profile departure in Anthony Gordon to high-flying Newcastle United for £45 million that was the major transfer activity.
It also raises questions on whether Dyche can get the job done with what he has.
LORIENT (Losers)
Les Merlus have become a stable name in the French Ligue 1 since their promotion to the top-flight in 2021, and that’s largely thanks to one man in Terem Moffi.
The Nigerian forward has been such a colossal figure at Stade du Moustoir with his consistent knack for scoring goals. He had a hand in 41 goals, including 12 this season which keeps him in the hunt for the top scorer award.
That chapter is now closed for Lorient after they loaned Moffi to OGC Nice for the rest of the season with an obligation to buy him for £27 million at the end of the loan.
This is a big move for Moffi as he joins a team that is beeming with experienced players such as Aaron Ramsey, Ross Barkley, Dante, Kasper Schmeichel and Nicolas Pep, and are in the hunt for European qualification, something that could be a certainty in the coming years.
Lorient are equally on that trajectory this season, even ahead of Nice on the table and that’s why Moffi’s departure will be a very big loss for Regis Le Bris’ men as it could hurt their prospects for a very strong finish. How Lorient move on from here remains to be seen.
GENK (Losers)
The Smurfs find themselves in a position where they are top of the Belgian Pro League and look good for a first title since 2019.
One key element in such strong was Paul Onuachu. Since his arrival from Midtjylland in Denmark, the lanky Nigerian has been about consistency in from of goal.
He scored an incredible 85 goals in 134 competitive appearances for Genk, including 35 goals in 41 outings during the 2020-21 season and 16 goals in 19 league outings in the current season.
Onuachu’s consistency in front of goal has always linked him up with other European clubs and the move finally happened on deadline day of the January’s transfer window when Southampton purchased him for £18 million. Its definitely a good move for the 201cm tall player as he gets to play against the finest in the Premier League, its however a big loss for Genk who currently hold a seven-point lead at the top of the table.
Belgian clubs are known for scouting incredible talent that go on to be sold for good money. Onuachu is another case but for the sake of their title challenge, a big blow has been struck that any stop gap or replacement might not fill.
