The January transfer window for 2024 is officially shut for the Premier League. This season’s winter period was a far cry from the record £815 million spent in January 2023, with only an estimated £100 million spent according to Deloitte, a leading accountancy and consultancy firm. Despite the tightening of belts in the English top division, some sides managed to make sensible improvements to their squad.
To round off the end of the transfer window, we picked the Premier League’s three biggest winners of the January window.
Premier League’s Biggest Winners of the January Transfer Window
Number Three: Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest had a much more busy window than most, despite being referred to an independent commission for breaching the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules for last year’s business. This season however, their transfers have been more restrained, even if there was a lot of activity.
First, they signed Rodrigo Riberio on loan from Liga Portugal’s Sporting CP, at just 18-years-old, he has represented Portugal at a youth international level and played Champions League football.
While he has only seven league appearances and is clearly a project for the coaching staff at the City Ground, a loan with a purchase option in the summer (with the fee still undisclosed), seems a very reasonable deal.
Next, Borussia Dortmund and USA wonderkid Gio Reyna joined, also on loan, until the summer. Despite a lack of starts for Edin Terzic’s side this season, he is still rated very highly and offers Nuno Espirito Santo an option in central attacking midfield.
They ended the transfer window with a deal to purchase goalkeeper Matz Sels from Strasbourg for a reported fee of £5.5 million. Their starting keeper Matt Turner is statistically among the worst in the league, even if he isn’t always helped out by his defence. A new option in net gives Santo an option to test at a relatively small cost.
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Nottingham Forest’s Shock Sale of Oriel Mangala Raises Cash & Concerns
One shock move for Nottingham Forest came through the sale of Oriel Mangala to Ligue 1 side Lyon. The Belgian midfielder had featured in 20 Premier League games so far and was clearly very talented. While fans may have been disappointed to see him go, a loan-to-buy package totalling £30 million is not bad a bad price for a 25-year-old acquired from Stuttgart for just £10.5 million in the summer of 2022.
The sale should ease any financial concerns and allow them to strengthen further in the summer, if they survive in the Premier League. At just 16th in the table, selling a midfielder of Mangala’s profile who can progress with the ball at his feet and is press-resistant, is a risky move for Santo’s side. If it comes back to bite them, perhaps this window won’t be looked upon favourably after all.
There were few other notable outgoings, however Scott McKenna, who had become an outcast at the club due to tensions over his contract, has now joined FC Copenhagen on loan and will play Manchester City in the Champions League this month.
Costs have also been cut through the loan deal for Emmanuel Dennis, who will return to Watford until the summer.
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Number Two: Sheffield United – January Transfer Window Coup For Ben Brereton Diaz Led The Way
It says a lot about the tightening of financial rules in the Premier League that a relatively steady January window for Sheffield United could end up being the second best of any club in the English top division.
However, Chris Wilder’s side have made a small number of significant improvements to the squad, without overburdening themselves financially when they are (probably) relegated at the end of the season.
The highlight for the Blades was undoubtedly the signing of Ben Brereton Diaz from Villareal on loan. After a strong career at Blackburn Rovers, scoring 22 goals in the Championship in 2021/22, and then 14 in 2022/23. Despite this, he had a blank start in La Liga and didn’t score once in 14 appearances.
Since joining Sheffield United on loan, he has two league goals in his first two starts and helped his side grab a point against West Ham in a 2-2 draw, but was unable to prevent a debut defeat to Crystal Palace, despite scoring in the first minute of his debut at Selhurst Park.
With no obligation to buy, attracting a 24-year-old with strong finishing instincts and a history of Championship success, The Blades have made themselves a potential destination for Brereton Diaz in future.
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The Blades Continued Sensible Business With Holgate & Grbic
They also managed to complete a loan deal for Mason Holgate from Everton, a defender with solid Premier League experience with a defence-first club.
Wilder told the BBC ““Mason’s desire to come here and join our fight is huge for me. He’s got a point to prove, he’s a local lad who knows what Sheffield United are all about, he has his finger on the pulse and knows what to expect here. He’s got valuable Premier League experience and can play all across the back which gives us options.”
In addition to this, they’ve also added Atletico Madrid backup keeper Ivo Grbic for an undisclosed fee. Grbic was the deputy to Jan Oblak and played 13 times in La Liga last season while Oblak was absent. He also has Ligue 1 and Champions League experience from his time at LOSC Lille.
Overall, little to be hugely excited about with this pick, but sensible, affordable improvements to a relegation-battling side which take on little risk or future liability are important for a club like Sheffield United. The fact is that this side probably doesn’t have the talent or depth to gamble on staying in the Premier League at big financial risk, so improving their standing without anything too bold is the aim for this club.
Number One: Tottenham Hotspur – Undoubtedly The Biggest Winners of The January Transfer Window
Ange Postecoglou made an incredible start to life at Spurs, bringing a more positive and enjoyable playstyle to a team packed with talent. Despite Harry Kane’s late and dramatic move to Bayern Munich, the club have managed to bring in impressive players to match the Aussie’s playstyle.
Despite winning manager of the month in his first three months of Premier League football, Spurs had started to fall behind Man City, Liverpool, Arsenal and importantly, Aston Villa. Unai Emery’s side are pushing for the fourth and final Champions League spot in lieu of Manchester United and Chelsea, who have struggled early on in the season.
Tottenham need the revenue from the top European competitions to continue to spend and improve the squad under profit and sustainability rules.
To fight for the prestigious tournament and opportunities it brings, they have added 21-year-old Radu Dragusin from Genoa, for a fee of just £25.8 million, reported by the Guardian. A six-foot-three centre back who can fill in at right back, he provides a solid rotation option with potential to break into the first team.
They made a deal for Timo Werner to join on loan, which could be scoffed at when we look back some of his lowlights at Chelsea. However, he is a player who once scored 28 Bundesliga goals in a season and showed tremendous potential, with his pace, passing and close control impressing many top European clubs.
With a buy option at just £14.5 million, it’s a pretty cheap option for the summer if he adjusts well.
Even if he can’t recapture some of that potential, the loan is so cheap that it’s a no-risk move. When their best players are back, he can be returned to the bench and rotated through the squad. The German international has already made two Premier League starts and provided two assists, one against Manchester United on his debut and another against Brentford.
If his start is anything to go buy, Spurs may have made the steal of the window.
Spurs Offload Wages to Balance Spending in January Transfer Window
With Regulion’s loan terminated by Manchester United, they managed to send him to Thomas Frank’s Brentford. This both cuts their wage bill and increases their chances that they can sell him in the summer and reclaim some value, as they transition to a new group of players under Postecoglou.
Next, they offloaded Eric Dier: it was clear the England international was not in the manager’s plans, and while he had served the club well, it was time for all parties to go their separate ways. Fortunately, Bayern Munich were keen to acquire him, reuniting Harry Kane with his old friend in the process. Getting an expensive 30-year-old off the books is positive, even if he was still a decent backup in defence.
The North London club looked set to lose out on 18-year-old Antonio Nusa, who was about to join The Bees in a club-record £31.5 million deal until the deal was called off due to concerns raised in his medical. The Club Brugge star could still join Brentford in the summer, but only if they can once again beat out Spurs, Chelsea, and other top clubs to his signature.
While they could have tried to force a last-minute deadline day move to sell Pierre-Emile Hojberg and purchase Connor Gallagher, who they have had interest in since the summer, ultimately they didn’t take any unnecessary risks. A botched attempt at the move could have left them without the experienced Danish midfielder and forced to match whatever price Chelsea would set on their homegrown talent.
Additionally, wage costs were cut thorough deals to offload veteran and world cup winner Hugo Lloris to LAFC, Djed Spence went on loan to Genoa as part of the Dragusin deal, while Japhet Tanganga joined Millwall on loan and Ivan Perisic headed to Hajduk Split until the summer.
