Mohamad Abadi | Staff Writer
The January transfer window officially closed and many clubs splashed out to boost their squads ahead of the final stretch of the season. Over 500 million dollars were spent by teams from the top five leagues combined. As per usual, some clubs failed to acquire the team assets they needed while others had to pay up to secure the services of their new players. Here, we will look at which clubs had a successful window and which ones failed to satisfy the needs of their team.
Winners
Juventus: Despite the constant financial crisis that is reported by the media, Juventus managed to shell out 85 million euros for the twenty-one-year-old Serbian striker, Dusan Vlahovic, who is designated as one of the best youngsters in the world of football. Juventus managed to score only thirty-four goals in the first half of the season, which compared to Inter Milan (53 goals) is humiliating. The signing of Vlahovic will be a huge boost for their attack as they look to finish the season strong, as he already scored and created a goal in his first two games for the club. The other signing was Denis Zakaria from Borussia Mongladbach for a fee of around 7 million euros. He was considered to be relatively low-cost because his contract is due to expire in the summer. He will thus, certainly give his manager, Massimiliano Allegri, more options in the midfield.
Newcastle: The first transfer window after the Saudi Arabian takeover saw Newcastle finish as the highest spenders with a whopping 122.31 million dollars. Notably, the Magpies brought in Chris Wood from Burnley, Kieren Trippier from Atletico Madrid, and paid a sum of around 40 million dollars for Bruno Guimaraes. The new owners are hoping that this backing will push the club to avoid relegation as they prepare for a massive squad overhaul this summer. Up until now, Trippier has been an outstanding signing but sadly, he has suffered a broken foot and will be out till May at least.
Barcelona: Another club that is said to be in financial crisis is Barcelona. However, with the help of a few accounting tricks, the club managed to register several new players. Starting off with the marquee signing Ferran Torres from Manchester City for 65 million dollars. They also managed to sign Adama Traore on loan till the end of the season with a buy option if he managed to impress; which he has so far as he has been a perfect fit into the team. Lastly, they secured Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for free a few minutes before the transfer window closed. Joan Laporte, the current president, is counting on these signings to propel his team into a top-four finish.
Losers
Tottenham Hotspurs: A few teams spend 70 million dollars and find themselves in more trouble, and Spurs is one of them. With the arrival of Antonio Conte, Spurs expected him to be backed up by the club with new exciting signings. However, despite offloading record signing Tanguy Ndombele, they missed out on their prime target Luis Diaz, as the young player went to sign for Liverpool instead. Conte had to settle at the end with the Juventus Duo, Bentancur and Kulusevski, who are both yet to impress.
Arsenal: After chasing Vlahovic for the majority of the month and failing to secure a deal, Arsenal also lost their former captain Aubameyang for free without getting a replacement. Their squad number was depleted as they got rid of several unwanted players without finding any replacements. This could backfire them in their difficult quest to finish in the top four.