Premier League transfer window rundown
The 2018 January English Premier League transfer window was an exciting one. It featured teams trying to improve for this season by buying players, and it featured teams selling and putting players on loan to gain capital to spend later. This will cover the biggest names bought, sold, and out on loan by all 20 premier league teams.
Arsenal broke their transfer record this window by spending $78 million on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. This is just one year after they broke their previous transfer record this summer when they spent $67 million on Alexandre Lacazette. Arsenal’s other big addition was Henrikh Mkhitaryan. They swapped Alexis Sanchez for him since Sanchez was about to walk away for nothing. Other big names Arsenal sent away were Francis Coquelin to Valencia, Olivier Giroud to Chelsea, and Theo Walcott to Everton.
The only addition Bournemouth made this January was bringing Lewis Grabban in on loan from Sunderland. Bournemouth sent out a list of players. Most of the players were not on the main team, sent to tier two teams, or both.
Brighton brought in four players with the biggest being striker Jurgen Locadia. They broke their transfer record spending about $22 million on the striker. Another player that they got during the window is making his return to the team. Brighton brought Leonardo Ulloa back to the team. Brighton & Hove Albion also sent out a list of players. The biggest two they sent away were Kazenga Lualua to Sunderland and Jamie Murphy to Rangers.
Jurgen Locadia in his first press conference with Brighton
Burnley brought in two top tier players. They brought in Aaron Lennon from Everton and Georges-Kevin Nkoudou from Tottenham. Burnley is expecting both of these players to come in and make a consistent positive impact on the main team. Burnley sent out a list of players to try to make up for the deficit they received when acquiring Lennon and Nkoudou. They were all sent to tier two or below teams.
Chelsea only brings in big players. They brought in Ross Barkley from Everton, Olivier Giroud from Arsenal, and Emerson Palmieri from Roma. Giroud has been one of the Premier League’s top scorer’s over the last five years including the goal of the year last year with his scorpion kick. Chelsea sent a few players including Michy Batshuayi being sent to Borussia Dortmund.
Palace did not make any huge moves during January. They brought in three players and sent out five. Crystal Palace is the bottom half of the table, and it looks like the moves they made during January are not going to change that.
Everton brought in three players and sent out a long list of 12 players. All three of the players Everton brought in, Cenk Tosun, Eliaquim Mangala, and Theo Walcott, are expected to make impacts on the first team. The players Everton sent out were sent to teams on all different levels. The biggest ones that were sent out Ross Barkley to Chelsea, Aaron Lennon to Burnley, Ademola Lookman to RB Leipzig, and Sandro Ramirez to Sevilla.
Huddersfield Town brought in three players, and one was them was just a loan recall. The best player they brought in was Terence Kongolo on loan from Monaco. They sent out ten players of their own to tier two and below teams.
Leicester only made a grand total of seven moves in all of January. The five players they sent off will most likely make a bigger difference on their new teams than the ones Leicester brought in. They sent off players to mainly tier one teams including Swansea City, CSKA Moscow, Newcastle United, Real Betis, and Brighton.
Liverpool added two players during January with the biggest definitely being Virgil Van Dijk. The defender from Southampton was more than excited calling Liverpool the “perfect, perfect match.” Liverpool also sent 12 players away during the window. The most expensive and most talked about player that Liverpool transferred away was Philippe Coutinho. With a transfer fee of $151 million, Coutinho’s new club FC Barcelona is definitely looking for a new group of “Tres Amigos.”
Virgil Van Dijk celebrating being at Liverpool
League dominating City brought in American Jack Harrison from NYCFC and Aymeric Laporte from Athletic Bilbao. With an almost perfect team, City did not see any reason to go out and try to change it. They were much more focused on sending out players, a total of eight, and making money while they have the team they want.
Alexis Sanchez in his new Manchester United kit
Second place united, this seems to be the year of Manchester, made their biggest news by swapping Henrikh Mkhitaryan for Alexis Sanchez. United, looking to win now, was fine with giving up a good player with three and a half years for a great player whose contract is up at the end of the season.
Newcastle was very loan happy this January. They added three players from top tier clubs, all on loan, for the rest of the season. Only two of the players are from the clubs’ top teams, however. Newcastle also sent away 12 players on loan for the rest of the season.
Southampton’s only addition was striker Guido Carrillo from Monaco. They also sent away five players with the biggest name being Virgil Van Dijk. Southampton made $105 million just when they sent Van Dijk to Liverpool.
Stoke brought in as many players as they sold out for a total of eight players moved. Three of the players they acquired will be put on the first team. All of the players they sent out were sent out to tier two or below teams.
Swansea added three players and sent away nine during January. They both added and sent Jack Withers on loan during the month. They brought back Andre Ayew from West Ham and added Andy King to help the first team stay out of the relegation zone. Roque Mesa was the biggest player sent away by Swansea. He was sent to Sevilla.
The Spurs added Lucas Moura from Paris-Saint Germaine as their lone addition. Tottenham sent away eight players, but Moura is of much higher quality than any player they sent away. Tottenham definitely tried to propel themselves into the top four with this transfer window.
Watford brought in four players while sending away 11. The biggest team they dealt with was FC Barcelona when they added Gerard Deulofeu. Watford have one big win against Chelsea since the transfer window has ended, and they are looking to keep using their new additions to climb upward in the table.
West Brom brought in four players and dealt nine away. The biggest player overall in all their deals was Daniel Sturridge. Sturridge was brought in from Liverpool, and Alan Pardew, manager of West Brom, believes this move will show the fans West Brom is “fighting to stay in the Premier league, not just on the pitch but in the market place as well.”
West Ham moved a total of ten players bringing three in and sending seven out. West Ham did not make any big moves, and they almost looked complacent during January. West Ham is just outside of the top half, and they look content on staying there.
The Premier League transfer window is always surrounding in tons of speculation, and the speculation is now over for a few months. The teams will most likely remain largely the same for the rest of the season. Now it is just up to the teams to use what they have to secure a title.
For a full list of all Premier league transferred players, click here.
Co-Editor of The Purple Quill. I once met sometimes starting quarterback Daniel Nieman. "I was gonna kick your a**."- Daniel "Hardball" Nieman.
