Well, deadline day has come and gone and there was nothing surer than the money men of the Premier League would be the busiest workers, certainly at some teams.
Of course the richest club on the planet, Newcastle United, have splurged some serious money as we at SBOTOP predicted the moment the North East club was taken over by the Saudi-led consortium back in October.
The signing of defender Dan Burn from Brighton for a princely sum of £13-M took Newcastle’s January spending to over £90-M, which is not bad for a bottom-three club.
The Premier League 2022 betting odds have moved the Geordies ahead of Burnley and out of the relegation zone, which is the first aim of manager Eddie Howe and his expensively assembled group, and then they can think about taking over the world.
Newcastle’s megabucks didn’t tempt all their targets, though, after failed attempts to lure Diego Carlos, Sven Botman, and the much admired Reims striker Hugo Ekitike. But Burn follows fellow defenders Kieran Tripper and Matt Targett, while the big money signings of Bruno Guimaraes and Chris Wood made the Magpies the biggest spenders by far.
But I’ll defer judgement on whether the Magpies are winners or losers until May, when they will know their immediate Premier League fate after a final day trip to Burnley.
Winners
Liverpool
Jurgen Klopp had been pretty quiet through most of January but the Liverpool boss sprung into life when he heard that Tottenham were attempting to sign Luis Diaz from Porto.
The Reds had already been tracking Diaz and they swooped with a hefty £49-M to gazump Spurs and bring the prized asset to Anfield. He’s a likely successor to Sadio Mane should the Senegalese hitman move on and he’ll be pushing for a place immediately.
The 25-year-old Colombian striker has been in great form for Porto, scoring 16 goals in 28 games for the Portuguese club, and he looks set to become the next fan-favourite on Merseyside.
Tottenham
While Tottenham missed out on Diaz, they recovered their position with possibly the sharpest action on deadline day by strengthening considerably and making a tidy profit in the meantime.
Spurs offloaded the hopelessly out-of-touch Dele Alli to Everton for a great price of £40-M and then they set about spending the money wisely. Head coach Antonio Conte used his Italian contacts to bring Juventus pair Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur to North London.
Striker Kulusevski arrived on an 18-month loan deal, while midfield ace Bentancur has signed a four-year deal worth £21.5-M.
Brentford and Christian Eriksen
There’s an emotional return to London for a former Tottenham favourite with the news that Christian Eriksen has signed for Brentford.
The Danish star, who has recovered from heart failure at Euro 2020, has move to West London from Inter Milan as he is no longer allowed to play in Serie A.
The Bees had a great start to life in the Premier League but have lost seven of their last eight league games and the signing of Eriksen could be the key to them avoiding a swift return to the Championship.
Either way, the popular player is sure to feature in the Premier League 2022 highlights in the weeks to come.
Losers
Manchester United
The Red Devils have kept their powder dry in January with no incomings but a couple of outgoings and other problems to cope with.
Dutch midfield ace Donny van de Beek, who arrived at Old Trafford with high hopes, has headed out on loan to Everton while Anthony Martial has packed his bags for sunny Spain to play for Sevilla.
Unsettled forward Jesse Lingard was strongly linked with Newcastle but his move to the North East was scuppered when the club was embroiled in a scandal involving Mason Greenwood.
All is not well at the Theatre of Dreams.
Arsenal
While Spurs were busy bringing bodies in on deadline day, their North London rivals were sat on their hands, apart from when they opened the door for a number of their stars to exit for pastures new.
Former skipper and main striker Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang was transferred to Barcelona and he was the sixth player to leave the club along with Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Sead Kolasinac, and Calum Chambers.
Aubameyang has been out of favour for a while, but with Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah the remaining forward options, it makes little sense that Mikel Arteta has failed to bring in reinforcements. Has he just surrendered a top four place to Arsenal’s fiercest rivals?
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