The real transfer winners and losers this January

So, one of the busiest and extravagant transfer windows has come to a close. Who could have predicted the level of spending we would see in the final hours before the deadline.

Below I try and establish which clubs have come out of this month’s window well, and which will be left feeling a little short changed.

Winners

Newcastle United

Andy Carroll is not worth £35 million pounds, in fact, not even close. Yes, he is a young man with a lot of potential, but I struggle to remember the last time so much was lavished on such an unproven player.

Newcastle fans will be frustrated that their Shearer in waiting has been taken from them, but should be thankful that Liverpool have been panicked into securing a replacement for Fernando Torres at short notice.

Newcastle may struggle to complete a top half finish this term with limited resources up front, however, with their midfield firepower they should not be relegated and will have a healthy transfer kitty to invest come the summer.

Manchester City

After just over a year in charge at the City of Manchester Stadium Roberto Mancini will finally feel he has a squad that is truly his own. This has meant, from the Italian’s perspective, letting a number of players left over from Mark Hughes’ reign at Eastlands go out on loan.

Whilst Mancini only added one purchase to his squad, striker Edin Dzeko, the noises coming out of Eastlands suggest that the club believe they have a squad of players capable of challenging for top honours.

Chelsea

Tough one to call. Chelsea fans will be delighted to see one of Europe’s top strikers land at Stamford Bridge. The price tag for Fernando Torres is exorbitant, however, when you consider the money spent on Liverpool’s two new acquisitions, Torres begins to sound very good value.

The squad remains weak in other areas, however, and it is not as if Nicholas Anelka and Didier Drogba have been failing to put chances away. The purchase of David Luiz from Benfica at the 11th hour is a massive boost to the squad defensively, and should enable Branislav Ivanovic to revert to right-back.

There is still a paucity of creative options in the middle of the park for the league champions and I was surprised that this was not top of Chelsea’ list. Buying Torres and Luiz will not all of a sudden fix the team’s stability, however it may be enough to secure a Champions League spot and push the squad towards a challenge in Europe this season.

Liverpool

Another example of a club benefiting from the ridiculous pricing that comes with premium player purchases at this time of year. Considering the lack of goals coming from Fernando Torres over the last year, a £50m price tag is incredible business for Kenny Dalglish.

That said, Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll are both massively overpriced, and rather unproven in the Premier League. How these two settle in at Anfield will go a long way to establishing if the club were right to let Torres leave.

Blackpool

Somehow, with ever other want-away player securing a move after submitting a transfer request, Blackpool have managed to keep hold of Charlie Adam. In all likelihood, Adam will make a move during the summer, but Ian Holloway will hope that in the meantime Blackpool will have secured survival for next season.

The only concern for Holloway is that the speculation surrounding Adam beings to affect the midfielder’s performances. The player himself will know that nothing in football is certain and that a strong second half of the year is mandatory if he is to secure that big move in the close season.

Aston Villa

Considering the money lavished on strikers over the course of this transfer window, the 18 million spent by Aston Villa to prise Darren Bent away from Sunderland must look an absolute snip.

Gerrard Houllier will have known that a proven goal scorer would be the most important part of his transfer policy during the window, and the acquisition of Bent should be enough to safeguard Villa’s position in the top flight. The loan move for Michael Bradley from Borussia Moenchengladbach could be a shrewd move, although Steven Ireland’s inability to settle in at Villa Park and subsequent loan move to Newcastle is less positive.

Losers

Arsenal

One Arsenal fan described transfer deadline day as being in detention when the other kids are out playing in the playground.

Arsene Wenger has long been reluctant to get involved with the January transfer window, and this year has been no different. Fans of the North London club will have wanted the Frenchman to strengthen the Gunner’s back line with an experienced central defender and a reliable goalkeeper. Lacking in both of these may well reduce the London club’s chances of securing the biggest prizes this year.

Tottenham

After a great deal of talk and speculation, Spurs delivered only one player to their squad during the transfer window. David Beckham’s proposed loan move from LA Galaxy collapsed, and bids for Phil Neville and Scott Parker were rejected.

Tottenham still have a ludicrously strong squad, and whilst some fans might grumble about the lack of striking options, the goals of Rafael Van der Vaart and Gareth Bale has been enough to compensate thus far. Spurs might have wanted additional firepower going into the knockout phase of the Champions League, however many of Harry Redknapp’s potential targets would have been cup tied. Expect some movement in the summer.

Everton

David Moyes must have looked at the spending going on elsewhere in the division and longed for a fraction of the funds afforded Chelsea and Liverpool. The long serving Everton boss saw influential Steven Pienaar move to Spurs and had to fend off late bids from the same club for his captain, Phil Neville.

The blue half of Merseyside have recruited young players, Eric Dier and Apostolos Vellios, with the hope that both can provide added spring to a tired looking squad. Moyes will hope these kids will be another example of his pulling a rabbit from the hat, but the lack of financial clout at Goodison Park is going to hamper long term plans to push for European football.

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