Despite the frugality, the January sales were still as interesting as ever
Written by: Phil Viles
3 February 2010
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Man City tempted Adam Johnson from Boro'
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This season’s January transfer window witnessed a down turn in expenditure. It may have been announced just last week that Britain was out of the recession but football chairmen were still clutching their wallets very tightly.
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In January 2009 a total of £175 million was spent on transfer deals. Admittedly, Manchester City contributed to almost half of this figure as they planned their assault on the Premier League’s top 4, but this year’s spending is down by 80%, and with just over £30 million being spent, it’s the lowest since 2003’s £33 million outlay.
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But a quick glance through the list of transfers which were completed last month reveals no signs of a quiet window. Indeed, it was hard to keep up with the constant trickle of deals being made. But look closely and you’ll notice that the vast majority of the deals that went through were loan deals, as managers opted for the cautious ‘Try before you buy’ option, most probably to prevent wasting their money on duds.
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And those that weren’t loans left us guessing as to the amount paid for a player where the suffix of ‘Undisclosed’ was equivocally attached.
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But although the money exchanging hands was minimal, there were still some eyebrow-raising deals being pushed through.
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Manchester City’s persistence finally paid off as they snapped up Middlesbrough’s exciting winger Adam Johnson just before the window slammed shut on February 1st. Johnson joined Patrick Viera at Eastlands, who had joined earlier in the month on loan from Inter Milan.
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City were the subject of the window’s biggest transfer saga, too, with the on-off adventure that was Robinho’s move to Santos. The sulky striker finally got his wish and although the move is not yet permanent it’s hard to see him back in City colours next season. The club also bid farewell – albeit temporarily – to Jo (Galatasaray), Benjani (Sunderland), Javan Vidal (Derby) and Vladimir Weiss (Bolton), who were all shipped out on loan until the summer.
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Spurs equalled City’s dealings despite Harry Redknapp’s claim that he didn’t foresee much activity during the window. Younes Kaboul was re-signed from Portsmouth for a fee in the region of £5 million, and Eidur Gudjohnsen came in from Monaco on loan. This move paved Robbie Keane’s path to his boyhood heroes Celtic, where he’ll stay until the summer. Also leaving for the short term are Kyle Naughton (Middlesbrough), Alan Hutton (Sunderland), Giovani dos Santos (Galatasaray) and Jamie O’Hara, who has returned to Portsmouth for the remainder of the reason.
Wigan landed an Eagle
- Wigan were busy bees, too. They managed to beat a whole host of club’s to the signature of Crystal Palace’s prodigious attacker Victor Moses, beating stiff competition from the Championship’s top three clubs WBA, Newcastle and Forest (and Real Madrid if you believe the papers).
- Roberto Martinez also secured the loan signing of Marcelo Moreno from Shakhtar Donetsk, and tied up deals for defensive pair Gary Caldwell (Celtic, undisclosed) and Steven Gohouri (unattached), while Sporting Lisbon ‘keeper Vladimir Stojkovic also came in.
Kaboul returned to Spurs
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Portsmouth’s cash-flow troubles were eased slightly by virtue of a last-gasp swoop for Asmir Begovic from Stoke City, who paid £3.25 million for the highly-rated stopper, while Kaboul’s transfer would have eased the financial strain somewhat, too. And although David Nugent is still registered as a Portsmouth player, they’ll be glad to have him off the wage bill while he’s at Burnley for the rest of the season. Mike Williamson, too, who never pulled on the blue shirt, was offloaded to Newcastle. The only arrival was former Arsenal prodigy Quincy Owusu-Abeyie, who arrived from Spartak Moscow until the summer.
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Moneybags Birmingham tried with all their might to bring in big names like Spurs’ Roman Pavlyuchenko, but had to settle for midfielders Craig Gardner from Villa and Michel from Sporting Gijon, both for £3m.
McCarthy swapped Parks
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Brum’s former owners David Gold and David Sullivan were quick to make their intentions known down at West Ham, as three strikers joined the club.
- Benni McCarthy (Blackburn), Brazilian Ilan (Saint-Étienne) and Mido (Middlesbrough) all arrived at Upton Park, the latter two on loan deals, whilst McCarthy’s fee was undisclosed.
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Other Premier League deals worthy of note were Sol Campbell’s surprise return to Arsenal (not many saw that one coming!), Fulham’s eventual capture of Italian Under-21 striker Stefano Okaka from Roma on a six-month loan deal, Turkish playmaker Yildiray Basturk’s switch from Stuttgart to Blackburn, aloof Egyptian striker Amr Zaki’s return to our shores (Hull on loan), exciting Argentinian Maxi Rodriguez’s switch from Atletico Madrid to Liverpool on a free transfer, and American ace Landon Donovan’s short-term loan to Everton from LA Galaxy.
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Outside of the top flight it was Gordon Strachan whose phone bill will be the costliest this month. No fewer than 7 players arrived through the famous Ayresome Park gates which welcome you to the Riverside Stadium, with 5 of those 7 coming south from Glasgow. Scott McDonald (undisclosed), Stephen McManus (loan), Willo Flood (free), Chris Killen (free) and Barry Robson (undisclosed) all joined from Strachan’s former club Celtic. Tottenham’s Kyle Noughton and Aberdeen’s Lee Miller (£500,000) also join Gordon’s Teeside revolution.
Best in toon
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Newcastle had a successful month, too. They bolstered their title challenge with Leon Best from Coventry (undisclosed), Chelsea youngster Patrick van Aanhol (one-month loan), Fitz Hall from QPR (six-month loan) and his Rangers teammate Wayne Routledge, who’s fee was undisclosed. Forgotten man Geremi, meanwhile, left the club for warmer climes at Turkish club Ankaragucu.
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Other notable Championship deals included two Sunderland reserve strikers arriving at Portman Road, when both David Healy and Daryl Murphy linked up with their former boss Roy Keane at Ipswich until the summer, while at Deepdale father did son a favour when Sir Alex Ferguson lent his Manchester United striker Danny Welbeck to his son Darren at Preston.
Nobby became a cunning old Fox
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And finally, Nobby Solano returned to English football when he signed a short-term deal with Leicester City.
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So you see, not such a dull month after all. But it may be a sign of the times that so many of the deals that occured during the month will be undone during the summer, and the players who’ve moved will be making the return journey come June. Blame the economy. Blame over cautious chairmen if you like, but just enjoy your loan stars while you can.
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