League Focus: Winners and Losers of the January Transfer Window

It goes without saying that this transfer window has been one of the dullest in recent memory, but despite there being little action from any of the elite clubs in the Premier League, spending still managed to finish at a five-year high of £175m.

Here, WhoScored.com looks at the teams that can be pleased with their business and some who may live to regret not getting a particular deal over the line. Or in Aston Villa’s case, any deal.

It is perhaps fitting to start at the club that arguably needed the transfer window more than anyone else. Villa started the New Year 11 points adrift of safety and only managed to trim that gap by a point, despite a marginal improvement in results, over the course of January.

While their direct relegation rivals have strengthened, Villa failed to sign a single soul. They missed out on Seydou Doumbia, Wahbi Khazri, Mathieu Debuchy and Lovre Kalinic and it has been so disappointing for Garde that he is now said to be weighing up his future beyond the end of this season. 

Missing out on Doumbia and Khazri seems to have particularly grated with the Frenchman, especially as he watched them join fellow strugglers Newcastle and Sunderland respectively. Neither may have solved Villa’s underlying issues, but change was desperately needed to give them any hope of survival.

When you consider Villa have scored the fewest goals (18) in the league this season and are among the bottom five for chances created (256), it comes as no surprise that Garde was desperately looking to bolster his offensive options. 

Khazri makes the jump across the Channel as the third most creative player in Ligue 1 (54 chances created) this season and if Newcastle have signed the Doumbia that scored 66 goals in 108 league games for CSKA Moscow, then they should steer well clear of the bottom three. Other than shifting Joe Cole and Philippe Senderos off the wage bill, this was a disastrous window for Villa. 

For similar reasons, January also proved bleak for Chelsea. Not for the fact they are threatened by relegation, but the transfer policy that was only lauded 18 months ago has taken a bizarre left turn since the start of the season and continued in January.

They not only failed to offload Loic Remy and Radamel Falcao, but they are now a midfielder lighter following Ramires surprise departure and they also having to clean up the debris from the bombshell John Terry dropped last week regarding his future at Stamford Bridge. 

It was always going to be difficult for Chelsea to attract players to the club without a long-term manager and the appeal of Champions League football next season, coupled with the fact it is January, but their decision to sign Alexandre Pato, who has been plying his trade away from Europe for so long, on loan until the end of the season doesn’t give the impression of a club with any real plan.

The former Brazil international was dubbed as one of the brightest talents of his generation when he transferred to Milan as an exciting teenager in 2007, but he has spent the last three years rebuilding his career back in his homeland. At 26, Pato still has time to rediscover his potential, but having spent the majority of last season with Sao Paulo as a left winger, it doesn’t really make Chelsea’s decision to sign him as a striker any clearer. 

Pato appears to have put his injury concerns behind him in recent years, but it remains to be seen how his hamstrings in particular will cope with the intensity of the Premier League. He hasn’t played since November, but does arrive to Chelsea off the back of his best league tally in four years (10 goals). Chelsea have also gone from trying to sign John Stones to MLS novice Matt Miazga in January. Not a window that suggests their previous woes are completely behind them just yet. 

While Chelsea’s campaign has been a train wreck, Spurs’ has been almost faultless up to now. Mauricio Pochettino appears to have completely transformed the outlook of the club and has them positioned to enjoy one of their most successful to date. It has hard to pick faults in Spurs’ transfer business in January, and you can understand their decision to steer clear of Saido Berahino, but not signing any striker to help Harry Kane could prove equally detrimental to their ambitions of winning their first league title in 55 years. 

Since breaking through into the first-team last season, there is nothing to suggest Spurs should be particularly worried by Kane breaking down with injury. Kane has scored at least five more goals than any other player in the Premier League since January last year (29) and while Spurs’ trust in Kane is well placed, they may have just missed a trick in this incredibly unpredictable and inconsistent season.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom for Premier League clubs, however. Teams like Newcastle, Southampton and Norwich can be particularly pleased with their business. 

Steve McClaren has been beaming with joy ahead of their clash with Everton on Wednesday and understandably so. Newcastle spent more money than any club across Europe’s top five leagues in January (£28.5m) after signing two England internationals - Jonjo Shelvey and Andros Townsend - highly-rated midfielder Henri Saivet from Bordeaux and Doumbia on loan until the end of the season in January. 

Mike Ashley has been criticised for under-investment in recent years, but you have to applaud him this month, although it has probably come too late in the day to turn the heads of Newcastle fans. It would be the most expensive relegation in Premier League history if Newcastle were to go down now, but there should be real cause of optimism over the remainder of the season on Tyneside. 

Norwich manager Alex Neil should also be suitably pleased with his business. Not only has he effectively put himself back on the pitch with the acquisition of Steven Naismith, but Timm Klose and Ivo Pinto look smart signings as Neil seeks a solution to their porous defence. Only Sunderland (46) have shipped more goals than Norwich (43) this season and Russell Martin’s form has become incredibly concerning for the Canaries in recent weeks. Not only that, but they have also shown they have one eye on the future with the signing of James Maddison from Coventry, who had been linked to Spurs and Liverpool. 

As for Southampton, signing Charlie Austin for £4m is arguably the bargain of the window. Other big clubs were reportedly deterred from his hefty wage demands, but when you consider clubs like Chelsea are willing to lavish six figures a week on a striker that even Jorge Mendes is having trouble selling, not much makes sense.

Austin’s impact at Southampton has already been immediate, as he scored the winner against Manchester United just eight minutes into his debut. Only three players scored more goals than Austin in the Premier League last season (18) and he already appears the regular contributor that Southampton have been sorely missing this season.

Who were the biggest winners and losers of the January transfer window? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below