Manchester United's Marcus Rashford battles for possession with Matty Cash, of Aston Villa. Photo / Getty Images
Manchester United's Marcus Rashford battles for possession with Matty Cash, of Aston Villa. Photo / Getty Images
Nico Gonzalez’s transfer to Manchester City and Mathys Tel’s loan move to Tottenham were the major deals of an otherwise quiet transfer deadline day for the Premier League’s cash-rich clubs.
AFP Sports looks at the winners and losers of the window with plenty still to play for between now andthe end of the season.
Winners
Manchester City
A shadow of their former selves this season, the English champions were the biggest spenders with a £170 million ($210 million) splurge to mend some of the glaring issues in Pep Guardiola’s squad.
Guardiola has admitted his side of seasoned winners have grown old together and there was a focus on youth to bring some energy back into their play.
City’s season arguably never recovered from the moment Rodri went down with a serious knee injury in September.
Nico Gonzalez arrives from Porto in a £50m deal to provide cover for his Spanish compatriot and more bite to City’s midfield ahead of a blockbuster Champions League tie against Real Madrid this month.
Omar Marmoush, who scored 20 goals for Eintracht Frankfurt this season, provides a much-needed goal threat to lessen the load on Erling Haaland.
Abdukodir Khusanov endured a nightmare debut against Chelsea last month, but the 20-year-old Uzbek and Brazilian defender Vitor Reis have been bought with one eye on the future.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was busy in the transfer window. Photo / Photosport
Aston Villa
Villa cashed in on Jhon Duran, who headed to Saudi club Al Nassr for a reported £64m and set about transforming Unai Emery’s forward options.
Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio are the big-name arrivals on loan deals from Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain respectively, while Donyell Malen signed earlier in the window from Borussia Dortmund.
Crucially, Villa also held off interest from Arsenal in Ollie Watkins.
Tottenham
Spurs took their time to recruit the help that manager Ange Postecoglou said his injury-ravaged squad was desperately in need of but got there in the end.
Antonin Kinsky arrived at the beginning of January as cover for injured goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario.
Tottenham then hijacked Wolves to sign centre-back Kevin Danso from Lens.
Initially, it appeared their bid to bring Tel to the Premier League had failed as the player turned down a permanent move despite the clubs agreeing to a £50m deal.
However, the highly-rated French Under-21 international has joined on loan to the end of the season in a major boost with Spurs still alive in four competitions.
Losers
Manchester United
Ruben Amorim stressed the Red Devils are determined not to “make the mistakes of the past” by being panicked into splashing out on expensive deals.
Danish defender Patrick Dorgu joined from Lecce for a reported £25m but was the first and sole new recruit for Amorim to work with.
The Portuguese started Sunday’s 2-0 home defeat to Crystal Palace without a recognised striker as he left both Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee on the bench.
Despite Rashford’s departure and Antony’s move to Real Betis on loan, United still did not look to add a forward and look desperately short on goal threats for the final months of the campaign.
The Gunners may also live to regret not adding a striker if they end up finishing second in the title race for a third consecutive season.
Mikel Arteta’s men were rampant as they thrashed City 5-1 on Sunday, but no Arsenal player has yet reached double digits for Premier League goals this season.
Watkins could have been the perfect fit had they acted earlier in the window to tempt Villa before Duran’s departure.
Instead, a huge amount rests on Kai Havertz’s form and fitness with Gabriel Jesus ruled out for the season due to a knee injury.
Arsenal's Kai Havertz wins a header against Manchester City. Photo / Photosport
Newcastle headed into the window as one of the Premier League’s form sides but their chances of a top-four finish have been rocked by home defeats to Bournemouth and Fulham.
Despite being backed by the wealth of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, the Magpies have consistently had their hands tied in the transfer market by profit and sustainability rules.
That led to the sales of Miguel Almiron and Lloyd Kelly without Eddie Howe being afforded the chance to add to his squad.
“It’s not ideal for us in this moment,” said Howe. “I’ve got no problem dealing with what I know and trying to make the best of the situation.”
