January Transfer Window

Football (soccer) fans everywhere are excited about this day, the transfer window deadline day. Unlike American sports, football has two designated windows in the course of a year for players to be able to be purchased (traded) by clubs around the world. This time is marked by changes to teams, and a well orchestrated transfer window can mean great performances in the following months. Noting that the January window is in the middle of the European season, so clubs are not so eager to let players go, and the market tends to inflate due to the situation at hand. If a club is going to buy a player in January, it usually means they are not doing well and are desperate for a change, thus allowing prices to sky rocket.

In this blog post I will be reviewing the largest transfers that occurred in this January’s transfer window, rumors that never turned out to be true, loans to satisfy team rosters, and the best deals for clubs.

Rumors that could have but didn’t happen:

Garreth Bale to Manchester United

There was much drama at the Bernabeu after the Club World Cup win as Whales international Garreth Bale seemed to be in bad terms with his teammates, reflecting on the pitch. Madrid lost two matches in a row after their 22 match winning streak they had previously been in. Bale had instances where a goal was surely on if he had chosen a lay off instead of taking it on himself, yet he chose to be greedy, without success. This edged on transfer rumors of a huge transfer that would’ve been if Bale was indeed to go to Manchester. This was not the case to Madridista’s delight. Bale will stay at the Bernabeu.

Lionel Messi to Chelsea

Another English club that was rumored to make a huge transfer in January, Chelsea were thought to have sent a 200 million pound bid for four time ballon d’or winner Lionel Messi. This was followed up by some online drama when Messi followed Chelsea on Twitter. This move was made a rumor after a few weeks when Messi went back to his previous statements that said he wouldn’t leave Barca for a while.

Notable transfers:

Odegaard to Real Madrid

Odegaard holds up a Real Madrid shirt. He will be playing for the reserves team that plays in the second division until the end of the season.

The wonderkid everyone was fighting over finally chose a team to go to… and make bank. The 16 year old Norwegian is making 80 thousand pounds a week, more than Marco Reus and Paul Pogba make! This came as a shock to many fans, yet catering to a potential super star is a good investment for Madrid.

Torres to Atletico Madrid

Fernando Torres has lost his form that made him a star earlier in his career, but ever since his move back to Madrid, where he became a star, he has scored 2 goals against Madrid in the first leg in the quarters of the Copa, and then opened the tally against Barca in the semi’s.

Victor Valdez to Manchester United

A free transfer saw the ex-Spanish international that was a free agent sign with the English giants. He will be the second Spanish keeper at Old Trafford. De Gea is still to be the starter as of right now but having such a legend in the club is always good.

Andre Schurrle to Wolfsburg

The Chelsea German international and world cup champion is on his way back to Germany after not finding space in the Chelsea regular squad. The 23 million pound move was a last hour transfer that will define his career.

Loans:

Podolski to Inter

As the 14/15 season progressed, it became clear Arsenal would be marked for their injuries in the season once again, yet even then Podolski couldn’t find a place in the squad, so a loan to Inter was the right choice. The German international had a good time in Brazil, being crowned world cup champion, even with his club performances being sub-par. He will be meeting up with Shaquiri who left Bayern for similar reasons, yet not performances, but really space in the club.