Eleven bells rang on Monday February 2 and it marked the end of a pretty uneventful January transfer window writes Kieran Kilkelly. A total of £130 million was spent which equals that which was spent in the previous year but it lacked excitement from previous years.
The most active team during the window was newly appointed manager Alan Pardew’s Crystal Palace who signed six players. Pardew left it late to finalise his deals with five of his signings coming within the last five days of the window and two being signed on deadline day.
The focus was primarily on the attacking side of things with Yaya Sanogo coming in on loan from Arsenal and a reuniting with former Newcastle United striker Shola Amoebi on a free transfer.
Palace fans were also treated to a former player’s return with Wilfred Zaha ending his Manchester United nightmare and being bought for £6 million. Jordan Mutch (from QPR), Papa Souare (from Lille) and Lee Chung-Yong (from Bolton) were the other signings made by the Eagles bringing their total spending to about £16 million.
West Brom were another side who had a new manager at the helm but the Baggies were far less active than their relegation rivals.
Tony Pulis obviously seen that gaps in midfield were contributing to their poor defensive record and signed the energetic Callum McManaman from Wigan for £4.5 million and the experienced former Manchester United dogged-midfielder Darren Fletcher.
On the face of it, it seems like another two examples of astute transfer business by Pulis.
The two main deals of this window unsurprisingly came from the two most ambitious clubs in the Premier League – Chelsea and Man City. However, even these deals were ruined by the expectancy of them.
Normally a deadline day signing by a top club – especially Chelsea – would warrant much discussion (think Fernando Torres) but the £27 million capture of Colombian international Juan Cuadrado left nothing to the imagination or to be talked about.
In truth the deal had been done many days previous and the crossing of the ‘t’s and dotting of the ‘i’s was the only thing that made it a deadline day deal.
The same can be said of Man City transfer, Wilfried Bony. Speculation was rife in the days leading up to his £28 million pound move – the record transfer of the window – and when it finally arrived it was a relief to everyone, except the Swansea fans that it.
But in the selling of Bony they acquired a nice transfer kitty for themselves but Gary Monk decided it best to keep it as a nest egg for the summer window.
There was no replacement striker brought in and it seems as though Bafetimbi Gomis will have to fill his boots and emulate his goalscoring record with loan signing Nelson Oliveira providing back-up.
Jack Cork, who has had an impressive spell at Southampton this season was brought in for £3 million and Kyle Naughton signed for £5 million from Spurs thus concluding a quiet window for the Swans considering the money they had to spell.
Swansea weren’t the only side to have a relatively quiet transfer window with Liverpool, Newcastle, Stoke and QPR all failing to make a permanent signing. While surprisingly Manchester Utd, amid all the rumours only managed to get the signature off out of contract goalkeeper Victor Valdes.
Other notable signings was the move of Gabriel Paulista to Arsenal, Ryan Betrand’s completion of a permanent £10 million move to Southampton from Chelsea and the return of Jermain Defoe to the Premier League at Sunderland.
Kieran Kilkelly
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