FOOTBALL: JANUARY Transfer Window
ArsenalWould he, wouldn't he? That was the question on everyone's lips as the Andrei Arshavin transfer saga rumbled on before his arrival from Zenit St Petersburg was finally confirmed the day after the window officially shut. Youngster Jay Simpson was the only high-profile departure as he made a loan move to West Brom. Many fans were calling for Arsene Wenger to strengthen his defensive options rather sign Arshavin, who is similar to Theo Walcott, Samir Nasri and Tomas Rosicky. The lack of transfer activity will be disappointing as they need new blood to stay in touch with the top three.
Aston VillaMartin O'Neill has boosted his striking ranks with the signing of England international Emile Heskey from Wigan for a bargain £3.5million and Heskey rewarded his his manager with a winning goal against Portsmouth. Wayne Routledge is the only player to leave Villa Park as he snubbed Cardiff for a move to Championship play-off contenders Queens Park Rangers. It's been a quiet month for O'Neill but in Heskey he has signed a quality striker who should link well with Villa's current options as they fight for a top-four place. Manchester City defender Micah Richards was linked with Villa - but no approach materialised.
BlackburnSam Allardyce has been reunited with El Hadji-Diouf, who has joined Rovers for £2million from relegation rivals Sunderland. Marseille defender Gael Givet has joined the Lancashire side on loan for the rest of the season and Blackburn have also signed youngster Nick Blackman from Macclesfield Town for an undisclosed fee. One of the more surprising moves of the window was that of Matt Derbyshire leaving on a six-month loan move to Greek side Olympiakos. Allardyce has also offloaded Eddie Nolan and Sergio Peter to Preston North End and Sparta Prague respectively. Leaving Ewood Park on loan is Alan Judge, who has joined Championship side Plymouth. Allardyce will see keeping prized asset Roque Santa Cruz as a major coup during January after the striker was heavily linked with Manchester City. But he may well be disappointed not to fill the void left by the injured Brett Emerton, who is out for the rest of the season.
BoltonGary Megson has been fairly busy in this transfer window with hot prospect Mark Davies joining for an undisclosed fee from Wolves while Megson has used the window to tie down two loan deals. Benfica's Ariza Makukula has joined until the end of the season and so has defender Sebastien Puygrenier, who scored on his debut after joining the Trotters from Zenit St Petersburg. Leaving the Reebok is club captain Kevin Nolan, who has joined relegation rivals Newcastle for £4million and QPR signed striker Heidar Helguson for an undisclosed fee. Megson missed out on midfielders Jimmy Bullard, Miguel Veloso and Sean Davis after trying to fill the position Nolan held. Bolton were priced out of their major moves.
ChelseaChelsea made a last-ditch attempt to snatch Ricardo Quaresma from Spurs and succeeded, signing him on loan from Inter for the rest of the season. Surprisingly, Carlo Cudicini has left to join Tottenham on a free transfer and Wayne Bridge has joined the Manchester City revolution for £12million. Youngster Jack Cork has been reunited with Brendan Rogers at Watford on loan until the end of the season while Scott Sinclair has been loaned to Championship contenders Birmingham for a month. Real Mallorca also swooped for Spain Under-17 international Sergio Tejera, who has initially joined on loan with a view to a permanent deal at the end of the season. Luiz Felipe Scolari was under pressure from fans to freshen up his squad in order to end the Blues' poor run of form on the pitch - and the signing of Quaresma has been applauded from many of the club's faithful.
EvertonEverton made Manchester City's Jo their only signing this month, securing the Brazilian striker on a loan deal until the summer. John Paul Kissock is the only player leaving Everton this month, with Accrington Stanley bagging him on loan for a month. Toffees boss David Moyes was keen to add to his striking department after a long list of injuries at Goodison Park but though he signed Jo he'll be disappointed to miss out on Kevin Kuranyi, who failed to make his move to Merseyside this month.
FulhamFulham have boosted their wide positions securing the signature of young Derby winger Giles Barnes on loan with a view to a permanent deal at the end of the season. And Coventry winger Julian Gray has also signed after a successful loan spell with the Cottagers. The experienced Olivier Dacourt has made a return to the Premier League on loan from Italian side Inter. Roy Hodgson has offloaded Jimmy Bullard to Hull for £5million. Leon Andreasen joined German side Hannover until the end of the season while Lee Cook rejoined QPR after failing to impress at Craven Cottage. Two other players left on loan as Hameur Bouazza and Seol Ki-hyeon joined Birmingham and Al Hilal respectively for the rest of the season. Hodgson was keen to add more experience to his midfield and boost his attacking options after the loss of Bullard. Although Hodgson did miss out on Leeds' Fabian Delph, fans should be pleased with the Cottagers signings.
Hull CityTigers manager Phil Brown has strengthened his struggling side this month with some good signings. Jimmy Bullard joined from Fulham for a record £5million and Manucho joined on loan from Manchester United. Kevin Kilbane signed from Wigan and Brown was quick to make Kamil Zayatte's loan deal a permanent one for £2.5 million. Stelios left the KC for a move back to his homeland. The World Cup winner joined Greek side Larissa. Brown may be disappointed not to add more experience to his squad after missing out on former Liverpool and Fulham defender Steve Finnan, Roma's Christian Panucci and Tottenham's Darren Bent.
LiverpoolLiverpool failed to add any additions to their squad to keep their push for the title going. Indeed it was the outs making all the headlines at Anfield with Robbie Keane returning to Tottenham and Jermaine Pennant ending his Kop stay with a loan move to Portsmouth. Benitez didn't fill the void left by Keane's departure despite being linked with Real Madrid's Javier Saviola. Liverpool fans were quick to criticise Benitez's decision to let Keane go after he failed to make an impact, with many wondering how he was expected to do so when he was on the bench or not even in the squad.
Manchester CityAs predicted, City were the big spenders and splashed out millions on four players. Wayne Bridge was the first of Mark Hughes' January signings joining the Blues from Chelsea for £12million. Craig Bellamy followed, signing from West Ham. Holland international Nigel De Jong signed from Hamburg and Shay Given ended his love affair with Newcastle signing a four-and-a-half year deal at Eastlands. Tal Ben Haim departed for Sunderland on loan while Jo joined Everton in a similar deal and young midfielder Paul Marshall has joined Championship strugglers Blackpool for a month. Clayton MacDonald also left City on loan after a last-minute bid from League Two Chesterfield. Hughes missed out on long-term target Roque Santa Cruz but looks likely to renew his interest in the Blackburn striker in the summer. City, of course, also missed out on Kaka and West Ham's Scott Parker. But Hughes has bought wisely and City's relegation woes should quickly be banished.
Manchester UnitedThe champions have boosted their ranks with the arrival of three youngsters. Serbians Zoran Tosic and Adem Ljajic have joined from Partizan Belgrade for a combined fee that could rise to £17million while Stoke defender Ritchie De Laet was a surprise arrival. Leaving Old Trafford is striker Manucho, who has joined fellow Premier League side Hull on loan until the end of the season. Ferguson has signed these younger players primarily for the future - though Tosic has already made the breakthrough - with his first-team squad already looking strong enough for a successful title defence.
MiddlesbroughBoro swooped to take Marlon King on loan from Wigan after a similar agreement he had at Wigan was cancelled. Mido moved in the opposite direction. After Boro were beaten by Wigan to the signature of Ben Watson, manager Gareth Southgate will be pleased to keep Spurs target Stewart Downing and Pompey target Gary O'Neil. But with only one loan signing in January, Boro could have their work cut out climbing clear of trouble.
NewcastleNewcastle have signed former Rangers winger Peter Lovenkramds until the end of the season after his release from Bundesliga side Schalke while in a more high-profile deal Kevin Nolan has joined Newcastle from Bolton in a £4million deal that will add more bite into their midfield. Ryan Taylor has also boosted Newcastle's midfield after signing from Wigan as part of the deal that took Charles N'Zogbia to the JJB. Leaving Newcastle is fans' favourite Shay Given, who ended over a decade at the club by joining Manchester City. Joe Kinnear failed in attempts to sign Kieran Richardson and Michael Johnson on deadline day, with midfield his key focus as he looks to steer Newcastle away from trouble at the wrong end of the Premier League.
PortsmouthPompey signed six players in January including Greece international Angelos Basinas from AEK Athens and Hayden Mullins from West Ham. Nadir Belhadj joined in a £4.4million deal from French club Lens and Jermaine Pennant ended his disappointing spell at Liverpool with a loan move to Fratton Park for the rest of the season. Pele (not that one) has joined Pompey on loan from Porto and they also signed Bayer Leverkusen striker Theofanis Gekas on loan until the end of the season, with a view to a permanent deal. Departures at Fratton Park in January included Jermain Defoe rejoining Spurs for £15million and Lassana Diarra signing for Spanish giants Real Madrid for a fee believed to be around the £20million mark. Glen Johnson, Peter Crouch and David James all committed themselves to Pompey to dismiss speculation linking them with a move away from Fratton Park. Tony Adams simply had to take new faces to the South Coast in a bid to ease Pompey's relegation fears. But after holding onto Crouch and Johnson, Adams missed out on Giovanni Dos Santos and Gary O'Neil.
Stoke CityStoke manager Tony Pulis drafted in four players in an attempt to steer the Potters away from the drop zone. James Beattie signed for the Potters from Championship side Sheffield United for up to £3.5million and Matthew Etherington was surplus to requirements at West Ham and Pulis snapped him up for £3million. Stoke also added more firepower to their squad securing a loan deal for Wigan striker Henri Camara, while Stephen Kelly also joined. Leaving the Britannia Stadium are youngsters Tom Soares, who has joined Charlton on loan, and Ritchie De Laet, who has signed for Manchester United. Pulis made some decent additions to his squad over January but rejected claims he made an attempt to sign Cardiff's Joe Ledley.
SunderlandSunderland manager Ricky Sbragia has bolstered his defensive options with the loan signing of Tel Ben Haim from ManchesterCity. Calum Davenport has also joined the Black Cats from West Ham to bolster Sbragia's defensive options. Sbragia has moved to offload players surplus to requirements including Pascal Chimbonda and El-Hadji Diouf. Chimbonda rejoined Spurs and Diouf links up again with Sam Allardyce, who worked together at Bolton. Liam Miller joined QPR and Ross Wallace joined Preston for undisclosed fees while Jordan Henderson has joined Coventry on a 28 day loan spell. Sbragia has been fairly quiet in his first-ever transfer window as a manager. He stated early on in the month his intentions were his defence and backed up those claims with the signings of Davenport and Ben Haim. Although he was interested in Darren Bent, no deal was ever agreed.
TottenhamTottenahm boss Harry Redknapp was a busy man, with three of his five signings former Spurs men. Jermain Defoe returned from Portsmouth and Robbie Keane rejoined from Liverpool six months after he left while full-back Pascal Chimbonda is back at White Hart Lane after a disappointing time at Sunderland. The signing of Carlo Cudicini on a free represents the bargain of the month, while Wigan's Wilson Palacios joined for £12million. Out-of-favour midfielders Hossam Ghaly and Kevin Prince-Boateng both left after failing to hold down a regular first-team place while goalkeeper Cesar Sanchez moved to Spanish side Valencia and Paul Stalteri left on a free transfer to join German Bundesliga strugglers Borussia Monchengladbach. Jermaine Jenas stayed despite interest from Inter Milan and long-term target Stewart Downing stayed at Middlesbrough. Chelsea nicked in to secure Ricardo Quaresma from under Redknapp's nose.
West BromWest Brom have used loan deals to attract players to The Hawthorns - and both signings have already put in s impressive performances since joining the club. Jay Simpson has joined on loan from Arsenal and has one goal and one assist since joining the midlands side. Striker Marc-Antoine Fortune has also signed on loan from French side Nancy and looks lively. The Baggies have released Bartosz Slusarski after his contract was terminated by mutual consent and fringe striker Sherjill MacDonald has joined Belgian side Roeselare on loan until the end of the season. Baggies boss Tony Mowbray has done his best to bolster his squad but given their current league position it'll be a struggle for him to keep them up.
West HamWest Ham have splashed out a reported £9million on striker Savio Nsereko from Brescia and Gianfranco Zola has strengthened his midfield with the signature of Czech Republic international Radoslav Kovac on loan from Spartak Moscow until the end of the season. Leaving Upton Park is star striker Craig Bellamy, who was sold to Manchester City. Lee Bowyer and Julian Faubert left on loan to join Birmingham and Real Madrid respectively. Matthew Etherington and Hayden Mullins left to join Premier League rivals Stoke and Portsmouth for undisclosed fees while Calum Davenport has joined Sunderland and youngster Kyel Reid has joined Wolves until May. It was widely reported West Ham had to sell players in order to buy and they brought in some good money which allowed Zola to splash out.
WiganLatics manager Steve Bruce strengthened his striking options after signing Mido on loan from Middlesbrough and Huge Rodallega form £4.5million to fill the void left by Emile Heskey's move to Aston Villa and Henri Camara's loan move to Stoke. Ben Watson was snatched from the hands of Boro after a late £2million bid for the former Crystal Palace man before Charles N'Zogbia became Wigan's record signing after leaving Newcastle for £6million. Along with Heskey's exit, Kevin Kilbane joined Hull, Wilson Palacios moved to Spurs for £12million and Marlon Kingreturned from his loan spell at Hull to join Boro on loan until the end of the season in a deal which brought Mido to the JJB. Ryan Taylor left the club to join Newcastle as part of the N'Zogbia deal. Bruce called for the January transfer window to be abolished after losing key men this month. Heskey and Palacios left but Bruce did keep hold of Antonio Valencia despite interest from Real Madrid, which is a real boost.
