Not everybody got out in the transfer window…
Arsenal – Reiss Nelson
Joe Willock and Ainsley Maitland-Niles both got away from the Emirates to play some football for half a season, but Nelson was left behind on deadline day. The winger was available for a loan but, like Calum Chambers, no suitable offers were forthcoming. The prospects of him playing for Mikel Arteta this season look remote since he hasn’t been involved in a match-day squad since two substitute appearances in the draw and defeat at Leeds and Wolves in November. It feels like a long time ago that Nelson was tearing up the Bundesliga with Hoffenheim under Julian Nagelsmann.
Aston Villa – Bjorn Engels
Dean Smith’s squad looks strong across the board, except for perhaps the absence of plentiful cover for Oli Watkins. At the back, Villa are stacked, which means Engels’ wait for a game will likely extend beyond a year. The Belgian, because of injuries and the emergence of Ezri Konsa and Kortney Hause, has not featured since March 9 last year.
Brighton – Ali Jahanbakhsh
The one-time club record signing admitted recently that he needs to “play a lot more and have better conditions” but despite being linked with a loan move to the Championship or Holland, the £17million striker remains stuck at the AmEx. “I should not be satisfied with my current situation,” he said at the start of January, since when things have got even worse. He hasn’t featured in the last four match-day squads.
Burnley – No one
The Clarets need their full squad and all their senior players, evidenced by the fact that they have loaned out no one aside from Ben Gibson, who is dead to Sean Dyche.
Chelsea – Kepa
It will take more than a new manager coming in to breathe life into Kepa’s Chelsea career. The world’s most expensive goalkeeper is a real problem for the Blues. His value is depreciating all the time, and while a loan move may have helped him restore his confidence and salvage a slither of his reputation, his recent form meant there were no takers willing to put the safety of their goal in his poppadom hands. So Kepa will remain sat on the bench while his value and standing continues to plummet.
January 2021 transfer window – the winners
Crystal Palace – Mamadou Sakho
Palace shifted Max Meyer, who was the only player who desperately needed to flee Selhurst Park in January. Overall, it was a serene month in anticipation of a busy period with numerous Eagles approaching the end of their contracts. One of them being Sakho. The centre-back clearly doesn’t feature in Roy Hodgson’s thinking and chances to put himself in the shop window before the summer will be limited. There was interest, apparently from Nice, but Sakho seems content to sit and collect his £100,000 a week until summer. Hardly ‘stuck’, we know…
Everton – Bernard
When we first looked at which players needed a January move, Tom Davies was Everton’s representative. Immediately after that was published, the midfielder made five consecutive Premier League starts, only dropping to the bench for Saturday’s dire defeat to Newcastle. Bernard’s prospects haven’t improved, however, especially in the wake of his collapsed move to Al-Nasr on deadline day. Unless that move can be resurrected before the Saudi deadline, then the bench beckons for the rest of the season.
Fulham – Fabio Carvalho
Fulham’s lack of depth was evident in their FA Cup defeat to much-changed Burnley and the players they were content to be rid of – Jean Michael Seri, Neeskens Kabano, Aboubakar Kamara and Maxime Le Marchand – were all shipped off for the rest of the season. Carvalho, an exciting 18-year-old attacker – was given eight minutes at the end of that cup defeat, and with little prospect of Premier League action for the youngster while Fulham fight it out at the foot of the table, a loan move to bridge the gap between Under-23s and senior football may have been in the player’s best interests.
Leeds – Oliver Casey
Leeds dispatched three players with little to no prospect of bothering Marcelo Bielsa for a role in their Premier League campaign, but Casey’s case is different. The young centre-back was available for loan, with MK Dons among the clubs interested. But none of the offers really grabbed Leeds, with Casey sticking around to plug away in the Under-23s.
Leicester – Hamza Choudhury
Brendan Rodgers was perfectly content to let Choudhury spend the rest of the season away from the King Power to continue his development in someone else’s first team. Newcastle represented a great opportunity for the 23-year-old but Matty Longstaff’s reluctance to go to Watford meant Nathaniel Chalobah wasn’t able to come to Leicester, leaving Choudhury stuck on the fringes of Rodgers’ XI.
Liverpool – Ben Woodburn
In December, we lobbied for the release of Xherdan Shaqiri but Jurgen Klopp opted instead to trim Takumi Minamino from his attacking options. The Reds presumably tried to shift Woodburn back out on loan, with the Wales international having just been returned by Blackpool, but no move materialised. So the 21-year-old will be left to stagnate in the Under-23s.
Manchester City – Eric Garcia
Garcia has a problem. Free agency looms this summer but before then, the Spain international has a European Championships squad place to consider. The centre-back will struggle to cement his spot by continuing to sit on Pep Guardiola’s bench, especially while City’s first-choice centre-backs continue to excel.
Manchester United – Sergio Romero
Free, free, free Sergio Romero.
Newcastle – Any Longstaff
Remember when Sean Longstaff was being linked with Manchester United and Matty Longstaff was scoring against them? It was only just over a year ago. But neither has pushed on and the arrival of Joe Willock certainly won’t help. The brothers were linked with Watford but neither took the hint from having not featured in any of the last three Premier League games.
January 2021 transfer window – the losers
Sheffield United – No one
Chris Wilder can’t fill his bench so the chances are everyone will get a chance in the coming weeks while the Blades attempt to serve the dubious honour of being the Premier League’s worst ever team.
Southampton – Michael Obafemi
The Saints youngster looked all set to join Swansea or Stoke on loan, with a move badly needed for his development. He has played just 19 minutes in the Premier League this season. But injury struck at a most inconvenient time, leaving the Republic of Ireland striker on the side-lines for the rest of the season, whether crocked or not.
Tottenham – Dele Alli
Arguably the biggest loser of the window.
West Brom – Kamil Grosicki
The Albion winger loves a late-window drama and reports from his native Poland suggested the 32-year-old again fancied moving on. Grosicki was given a couple of starts by Sam Allardyce last month, then promptly dropped from the squad altogether. Dijon were keen and Nottingham Forest linked too. Instead, he’ll be spending much of the rest of the season watching Big Sam-ball.
West Ham – Issa Diop
Not long ago, Diop was valued by the Hammers at around £65million. Now he’s fourth man behind Fabian Balbuena, Angelo Ogbonna and Crag Dawson. Liverpool reportedly asked about the 24-year-old, which makes sense since they seemingly enquired about every centre-back in Europe in recent days. But Diop remains stuck on David Moyes’ bench, which he hasn’t left in the last eight Premier League games.
Wolves – No one
Nuno has plenty to ponder at the moment, but Wolves got rid of the players who might have been getting under his feet. Deadwood like Patrick Cutrone and Roderick Miranda are someone else’s problem while Luke Mathieson is away to continue his development at Ipswich.
Ian Watson
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