Busier than Usual: The 2016 January Transfer Window

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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Arsene Wenger noted recently that he expected the January window to be much busier than usual in the Premier League, as the coming TV windfall incentivizes clubs facing relegation battles to gamble on staying up. So while January is generally a time of many rumors and few moves, I think we could see more activity than usual among mid-to-lower table English clubs. Whether we will see any more activity in the higher end of the market is less clear to me. Most clubs with top players don't have the incentive to sell them in January and most players in contention for Euro 2016 have little incentive to move clubs mid-season.

A few moves so far:

Newcastle has been busy, spending 12m to bring in out-of-favor Jonjo Shelvey from Swansea and 5m on Bordeaux winger Henri Saivet. They are also reportedly interested in Lord Bendtner.

Bournemouth dropped 10m on striker Benik Afobe, 5m to bring Lewis Grabban back from Norwich, and have also loaned Juan Iturbe from Roma (reportedly with an option to buy).

One of these days Arsenal will finalize the move for Basel's Mohamed ElNeny, a CM/DM.

Liverpool loaned CB Steven Caulker from QPR/Southampton and bought midfielder Marco Grujic from Red Star then loaned him back.
 

bosox4283

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It's pretty quiet in Spain. At this point, there have been zero talks about players Real Madrid may want to buy. I'm guessing they stay put. The one player who may want out is Jese, the young striker who does not seem to fit on this squad.

There is talk that Barcelona may target a striker. Denis Suarez, the former ManCity attacking midfielder, is apparently coveted by Luis Enrique. Denis Suarez used to be at Barcelona, but since Villarreal is fighting for fourth place, it'll be interesting to sell if they sell. I doubt it.
 

bosox4283

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Barcelona are now rumored to be in talks to acquire Nolito, the striker from Celta de Vigo. Nolito was at Barcelona from 2008-2011, and Luis Enrique coached Nolito for a year or two at Celta. I think he's a very talented player, and I can understand why he'll move to Barcelona: bigger club, a chance to win titles, and to play with Messi and company. At the same time, I'm not sure how much playing time he'll see. Enrique does not rest his big three that often, and a player like Turan may be the first substitute for any of Neymar-Suarez-Messi.

On the other hand, this loss would be a big blow for Celta, a team with real aspirations to finish top-6 this year and enter into European play next year. The loss hurts even more after Atletico signed their captain, Augusto Fernandez.
 
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Dummy Hoy

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Scottish Messi to Norwich which hopefully frees up Gary Hooper to go back to Wednesday. After a tough start (when he was admittedly not in game shape), Hooper has really come on with 6 goals in his last 6 games. He still misses a sitter every game, but he repeatedly puts himself in good positions, and it's starting to pay off.
 

PedroSpecialK

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Weird move - Watford sign Costel Pantillimon from Sunderland.

Not as if Heurelho Gomes has been bad...
 

Cellar-Door

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West Ham brought in Sam Byram (snatched him from Everton) and rumor is Emmanuel Emineke on loan is next
 

FlexFlexerson

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West Ham brought in Sam Byram (snatched him from Everton) and rumor is Emmanuel Emineke on loan is next
Pretty happy with this signing - both for the talent coming in and as an indication that West Ham is becoming an attractive landing site for up and coming talent. It's enough to make one feel a certain perplexing and unsettling sense of... optimism.
 

Dummy Hoy

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Byram never really stood out for me, but I haven't seen him that often. Across the Championship, people spoke very highly of him and his game. A lot of power coming up from the back and can get the ball in to a good spot from out wide. I'd think he's a winger, although he has a lot of experience in the back. A very good signing for West Ham for sure- the kid is 22.
 

Cellar-Door

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I don't think it happens, but our personnel would make a really interesting 5 -4 - 1. 3 CB, Byram and Creswell as wing backs, 2 CM(from kouyate, song, Obiang, Noble) 2 attacking MF and a striker.
 

bosox4283

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Wow. Jackson Martinez is sold, after the deadline, to some Chinese team for 45M euros. Maybe it's 42M euros. Unreal. I think the conclusion is simple: Simeone didn't like him or his attitude.

There are secondarly implications, none of which are certain. It's possible that Atletico is a first-class money laundering machine. I'd like to know: did Atletico actually give any money to Porto when it bought Martinez? Who are the Chinese guys buying him?

Second, Marca is the official mouthpiece of Atletico, trying to spin the move as a way to bring in cash to bring back Diego Costa. There were rumors that Chelsea rejected a bid for Costa in this window, so perhaps there is truth to this rumor. I don't see Chelsea selling, frankly.
 
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Titans Bastard

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Looks like Alex Teixeira is off to Jiangsu Seals for €50 million.
24 hours later, Alex Teixeira is on the record as saying he'd rather have moved to England and Jiangsu's manager is on the record as saying that he thinks the club paid too much he would have preferred to buy multiple players for that sum. This will be fun while it lasts!!
 

Zomp

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Could be a blessing in disguise for clubs that wanted him. But him in the cheap next year. Of course his value will also go down playing in a lesser league.