With that transfer window closed, the circus is set to role away from a club near you for at least another six months. What have have to have learnt from this transfer window is that there is no value in buying top talent at this stage of the season. It is clear that Sir Alex Ferguson's stance on not improving his squad at this time of the year is totally correct. Nobody is arguing that Manchester United do not need a key signing in the next 12 months, but this January Ferguson was right not to buy.

If we look at the signings that were made over the course of the transfer window, have clubs really improved their squads with their new additions? Have Manchester City really added a new dimension to their attack with the signing of Edin Dzeko, and have Chelsea panicked and signed an out of sorts Fernando Torres to play in an out of sorts team. It seems to me that this January in particular, clubs have fallen into the trap of spending vast amounts of money on players that do no warrant the value set, and greedy clubs looking to get as much money for a player as possible. Is that really the state that English football has come to? We have a player who wants to leave, so you must pay us extortionate amounts of money. That is not value, and sums up the attitudes of buyers in January.

It is clear that Andy Carroll is not worth the reported £35 that Liverpool shelled out for him. Sure, if Andy Carroll stays at Liverpool for the next ten years he may be worth his price, but can Liverpool really justify paying such an inflated price? If they had waited until the summer, they would have had longer to negotiate the deal and would have been able to bring his price tag down. For as long as clubs like Liverpool are willing to pay such astronomical prices for a player who was only the fourth leading scorer in the Championship last season, the transfer window will remain a circus, where clubs who really need players to help win or stay in the Premier League will simply be priced out. Maybe that is fair, maybe it isn't. All I know is Andy Carroll should not be worth more that Luiz Suarez.

Looking at the signings that were made in January, there is little value in the signings they have made. I can't see how clubs have improved, apart from Manchester City offloading Emmanuel Adebayor for six months. Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger will continue to frustrate fans who know the club needs strengthening. However, in a market that has produced some of the figures we have seen this month, how can anyone argue against Ferguson and Wenger staying well clear of the market?