Soccer

Every Premier League club’s best January signing

Transfer deadline day was more than two weeks ago, but it feels like just yesterday with the winter break. If you are not aware already, the Premier League is the best soccer league in England. Every year, lots of deals go through at the end of January kind of like a trade deadline in the United States. Another transfer window just slammed shut and I compiled a list of the player from each team that will be the most influential to the team.

Arsenal: Pablo Mari

Arsenal signed defenders Pablo Mari and Cedric Soares in January, both of which will help repair Arsenal’s depleted defense. Mari gets the choice in this list, mostly because he’s younger and I thought the Soares signing was a little bit odd. The 26 year old played for Flamengo in 22 matches last year, helping them win the Brazilian league, Copa Libertadores and helping them finish second in the FIFA Club World Cup.

Aston Villa: Pepe Reina

Just like in the summer, Aston Villa spent big again in January. They signed five players who play all over the field. Their marquee signing was Pepe Reina from AC Milan. After their main goalkeeper, Tom Heaton went down vs. Burnley, Aston Villa quickly needed to find a goalie. They found a really great player in Reina and he will play a lot for Aston Villa. Shoutout goes to Mbwana Samatta from Genk, but Reina will make a bigger difference.

Bournemouth: no one

Bournemouth was one of three clubs who didn’t bring in anyone in January. They probably could have signed someone because they were in the relegation zone in January. But they didn’t.

Brighton: Tariq Lamptey

Brighton made two signings in January 2020. They permanently signed Aaron Mooy from Huddersfield and signed Chelsea youngster Tariq Lamptey as well. Lamptey has been highly sought after by some big Premier League clubs and it’s huge for him to sign for Brighton. He has played mostly for the Chelsea and England under 23 teams and has played 31 minutes for Chelsea’s first team.

Burnley: Henri Ogunby

Burnley didn’t do a lot in January, but they did sign Henri Ogunby. The 19-year-old Man City winger played two seasons for the Man City youth side, playing four total times. His time is certainly not now, but he is one for Burnley’s future.

Chelsea: Hakim Ziyech

This signing technically shouldn’t count. Ziyech wasn’t signed in January; he was actually just signed two days ago. I had to pick him anyway because he was the only signing. Despite appealing a transfer ban that said that Chelsea couldn’t sign anyone in January, they didn’t sign any one until Ziyech arrived. Ziyech played eight seasons in the Netherlands on three teams with over 200 matches played. In his last four seasons for Ajax, Ziyach scored 38 goals and had 51 assists. What must have impressed Chelsea especially would have been Ziyech’s five goals and seven assists in the past two seasons in the Champions League. He won’t actually start playing for Chelsea until next season. In any event, this is a huge signing for Chelsea and a huge signing for Ziyech.

Crystal Palace: Cenk Tosun

A wonderful signing from Everton who scored a huge goal for Palace against the champions Man City at the Etihad. Crystal Palace will expect more goals like that from the Turkish striker and hopefully he can help Crystal palace finish in the top half.

Everton: Jarrad Branthwaite

A simple decision for me for Everton. They only signed one player and it was Jarrad Branthwaite from Carlisle United. The 17-year-old midfielder has played for the League Two side for the past two seasons and will be part of Everton’s future.

Leicester City: Ryan Bennett

In January, third-place Leicester City brought defender Ryan Bennett from Wolves. The Premier League veteran has made over 100 Premier League appearances, 34 of those last year for Wolves. This year, however, Bennett has only made 11 appearances, four of those off the bench. Bennett will fit in better at Leicester at maybe make some appearances if Leicester defenders get hurt or on the bench.

Liverpool: Takumi Minamino

The 25-year-old Japanese striker from RB Salzburg fits perfectly with Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool. Klopp has a certain place in his heart for versatile forwards that can play anywhere across the front line. Minamino has proven he can do this and will be perfect for the league leaders. In six seasons, Minamino has scored 42 goals and has 20 assists. He will hope to keep up those numbers for Liverpool, even with a rock-solid front line.

Manchester City: no one

Another team that didn’t sign anyone. Unlike the other teams, Man City doesn’t need to sign anyone. They have a lot of depth and they don’t need anyone, especially since they just got suspended from the Champions League and fined by UEFA after breaching FFP rules.

Manchester United: Bruno Fernandes

A promising young Portuguese attacker signed by Manchester United from Sporting CP for a high fee. Sound familiar? Well, if it doesn’t, the last player to fit those constraints was none other than Cristiano Ronaldo. That’s the player that Fernandes could become. In 83 matches for Sporting, Fernandes scored 39 goals and got 28 assists.

Newcastle: Nabil Bentaleb

The only team to bring in more players than they sent out, Newcastle were willing to spend big. The 25-year-old Algerian defensive midfielder spent three years at Spurs before playing three more at Schalke. Bentaleb started 38 games in 46 matches for Spurs and started 59 in 73 matches for Schalke. He’ll be great player and key signing for Newcastle and hopefully he can save them from relegation.

Norwich: Ondrej Duda

From one Bundesliga signing to the next. Duda was brought in as another athletic player that fits in to Norwich’s system which is very German. Brought in from Hertha Berlin, Duda definitely had his best ever season last year. In 32 games, Duda scored 11 goals and had five assists. This year, Duda had a significant drop off. He played in seven games and only had one assist. Norwich will hope to get Duda up to last season’s form if they want the slightest chance of surviving.

Sheffield United: Sander Berge

Sander Berge is one of the world’s brightest stars and was sought after by lots of big European clubs. Before this season, Sheffield United were a team coming from the Championship with not a lot to look forward to in the Premier League. Now their in fifth in the league and they’ve signed an exciting player with a bright future.

Southampton: Kyle Walker-Peters

Before the season started, Walker-Peters was supposed to take over as the regular Spurs right-back and be part of England’s depth in that position. After Mourinho was brought in, Serge Aurier was considered Mourinho’s right defender and Walker-Peters didn’t play a lot. A loan move away was the best option for him and that’s what he got. He’s a player that could another defender for Ralph Hasenhuttl to use and is pretty much a replacement for Cedric Soares.

Spurs: Steven Bergwijn

What a goal Bergwijn scored on his debut and what a player he could be. A beautiful volleyed goal against Man City to lead to a huge two to zero win is an amazing way to announce yourself at the club. Bergwijn wasn’t actually the only arrival in January either. Spurs also brought in Portuguese midfielder/winger Gedson Fernandes from Benfica and made the Real Betis loan for Giovanni Lo Celso permanent, but the Bergwijn signing will be most influential. In six seasons for PSV Eindhoven, Bergwijn scored 29 goals and got 30 assists. What is probably more impressive for Tottenham manager Mourinho is the fact that he scored 14 and assisted on 12 last year. Now I just need to learn how to do his celebration!

Watford: Ignacio Pussetto

Another signing from the long stretch of deals between Udinese and Watford, two friend clubs. Pussetto will be another attacker that Nigel Pearson can trust to get goals for him. Last year with Udinese, Pussetto scored four goals and got four assists. The year before that, he scored nine and had five assists.

West Ham: Jared Bowen

Bowen is another player who has a bright future. Multiple big clubs were reported to want him, but no one got the Hull City player. That is, of course, until the hammers snatched him up, and now Bowen is at a club he’s happy to play for. In four seasons for Hull, he scored 53 goals and got 10 assists. In all three seasons in which he scored, he reached double digits in goals and consistency was one of his strengths. He is a very exciting player and he’ll hope to get West Ham out of the relegation zone.

Wolves: Daniel Podence

It wouldn’t be a complete transfer window without Wolves signing a Portuguese player. This time they went for Olympiacos midfielder Daniel Podence, who scored five and assisted on seven last year while helping Olympiacos win the Greek league. Rochdale youngster Luke Matheson almost made it on this list, but the defender is too young to judge. Regardless these are big signings for a relatively new Premier League club. No block selected.