DEADLINE DAY Winners and losers of the 2025 January transfer window: Man City’s rebuild is well under way – but Man Utd and Arsenal’s failure to sign a forward leaves them short of options

The winter window has slammed shut, with deadline day throwing up a few interesting deals. Tottenham, for example, managed to convince Mathys Tel to join them on loan from Bayern Munich, but failed to persuade Axel Disasi to do likewise, with the Chelsea-owned defender opting instead to move to Aston Villa.

Manchester City also took their January spending above £185 million ($230m) by signing Nico Gonzalez from Porto, having already snapped up Omar Marmoush, Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis and Juma Bah as Pep Guardiola tries desperately to arrest his side’s shocking slump in form.

As usual, things were pretty quiet outside of England, even if AC Milan moved to overhaul their attack, while there was one major deal in the Saudi Pro League, with Villa’s Jhon Duran joining Cristiano Ronaldo at Al-Nassr.

So, who were the big winners and losers of the winter window? GOAL breaks it all down…

LOSER: Ansu Fati

You do have to sometimes remind yourself why certain players make moves motivated by money. Football is a tough profession, careers can be cut short, and one serious injury can change everything. Just look at Ansu Fati. At 16, the kid looked like a generational talent. At 22, nobody seems to want him.

Despite Barcelona making it abundantly clear that they were once again willing to listen to offers for the forward, Fati is still at Barca and his playing prospects look grim. The former Spain international has started just one game under Hansi Flick and seen only 186 minutes of game time.

One of the most promising players ever to come out of La Masia is facing an awfully uncertain future at not only Barca – but also the highest level of the game itself.
WINNER: Pep Guardiola

A lot of people are starting to ask uncomfortable questions of Pep Guardiola. Even when he was being accused of ‘overthinking’ things in big Champions League games, he was still racking up domestic titles at Manchester City. However, Guardiola now looks a little lost for the first time in his career, completely incapable of coping with the biggest (and arguably only) crisis he’s ever faced as a coach.

Luckily for the Catalan, though, his employers retain the utmost faith in the man who’s delivered six Premier League titles and a Champions League during his spell of unprecedented success at the Etihad. As well as backing Guardiola to the hilt in the transfer market to rejuvenate an ageing, injury-hit squad by bringing in four players during the winter window (spending almost as much money as every other Premier League club combined in the process!), City’s Abu Dhabi-based owners also tied star striker Erling Haaland down to a ludicrously long and lucrative new contract.

So, while Pep may be under pressure in the press, he’s not coming under any from above. The City Football Group clearly believe he’s the man to oversee the start of a new era of domestic dominance.

LOSER: Ruben Amorim

The winter window has not been without its positives for Ruben Amorim: firstly, he’s got rid of the constant distraction that was Marcus Rashford; secondly, new signing Patrick Dorgu looks a good fit for the Portuguese’s precious formation. However, the beleaguered Manchester United manager needed an awful lot more than a versatile 20-year-old winger from Lecce to give himself any chance of turning this atrocious campaign around.

United’s lack of quality, creativity, cohesion and a clinical finisher were once again laid brutally bare in Sunday’s dismal defeat at home to Crystal Palace, in which centre-back Lisandro Martinez suffered what looked like a season-ending injury.

Based on what we’ve seen so far from Amorim, who hasn’t managed to improve United’s league position – or all-round game – since taking over from Erik ten Hag in November, there are going to be a lot more painful afternoons at Old Trafford between now and the end of the season.

Rather ominously for their already under-pressure manager, his squad looks weaker now than it did when the window opened, particularly from an offensive perspective.

WINNER: Brazil

The only beneficiary from Neymar’s spell in Saudi Arabia was his bank balance. It was a catastrophic transfer for everyone involved, but particularly Al-Hilal, who paid a €90m (£75m/$92m) transfer fee and more than €200m (£166m/$206m) in wages for seven appearances in 18 months – before finally deciding to terminate his contract last week.

Santos have unsurprisingly welcomed Neymar back to Vila Belmiro with open arms – especially as he agreed to a massive wage cut to make the move happen – and you could see at his unveiling just how much it meant to him to be back where it all began for him. There is every chance, then, that this will prove a happy reunion for both parties – even if Neymar staying fit and focused can never be taken for granted.

However, this transfer is also a big boost for Brazil, who have sorely missed their talismanic forward during his lengthy spell on the sidelines. The Selecao are still on track to qualify for the 2026 World Cup because of the very forgiving nature of the South American set-up, but their performances under Dorival Junior have been atrocious and so devoid of any joy that Ronaldinho even ‘resigned’ as a fan of the national team last summer.

The likes of Vinicius Jr have found the Brazil jersey a heavy burden to bear, but a revitalised Neymar has the God-given talent to put a smile back on his compatriots’ faces in the lead-up to next year’s tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

LOSER: Arsenal

Make no mistake about it, Liverpool have taken a big risk by deciding against strengthening their squad during the winter window. Injuries and fatigue eventually caught up with them last year and history could repeat itself in 2025 – particularly as they still look short in defence. However, at least Arne Slot’s side are sitting pretty at the top of the Premier League, having also progressed directly to the last 16 of the Champions League.

By contrast, Liverpool’s closest English title rivals, Arsenal, have a lot of ground to make up. The north Londoners are six points behind the Reds having played one game more, meaning they can ill-afford any more slip-ups between now and the end of the season, and the last thing Mikel Arteta wants is to be left lamenting his team’s lack of a reliable goal-scorer.

We know that Arsenal wanted a centre-forward; their bid for Ollie Watkins was evidence of that fact. But it’s hard not to feel that they left it far too late to make their move. Even if Gabriel Jesus hadn’t gone down injured, they should have been trying to bring in Watkins before Villa went a long way towards solving their Profit & Sustainability Rules (PSR) issues by selling Duran to Al-Nassr.

As it stands, Arsenal are going to have to reel in the Reds while once again relying on Kai Havertz to play with the kind of consistency that has always eluded him during his time in England.

WINNER: Chelsea’s ‘Bomb Squad’

Despite Enzo Maresca’s constant claims to the contrary, the situation at Stamford Bridge last summer was a joke, with the club’s insane spending spree leading to the creation of the infamous ‘Bomb Squad’ – a group of players deemed surplus to requirements that had to be sold before the close of the transfer window.

The likes of Raheem Sterling and Romelu Lukaku managed to get out, but others were not so fortunate and ended up wasting about six months of their respective careers (although it must be said that some were willing to do so in order to avoid having to take a wage cut to move elsewhere!).

However, more members of the ‘Bomb Squad’ have now moved on, with Ben Chilwell, Axel Disasi, Carney Chukwuemeka and Cesare Casadei all securing badly needed transfers, while the unwanted Joao Felix has also gone to AC Milan in search of regular game time.

There’s still a lot of work to be done in west London in terms of constructing a squad that’s actually capable of challenging for the Premier League title (which is staggering when one considers that more than £1 billion has been spent in players over the past couple of years), but at least they’ve started to clear some of the ‘dead wood’.

LOSER: Dusan Vlahovic

Three years ago, Juventus signed Dusan Vlahovic from Fiorentina for an initial €70m (£58m/$72m). Superstardom beckoned for the Serbian striker, who had scored more league goals across 2021 than Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi and Mohamed Salah.

However, things have not gone according to plan for Vlahovic in Turin. The hope was that he would enjoy playing up front for Thiago Motta a lot more than he did under Massimiliano Allegri, but even though the 25-year-old is Juve’s top scorer this season and was on target in Sunday’s win over Empoli, he only did so after once again starting on the bench, where he watched the Bianconeri’s new striker, Randal Kolo Muani, net his third goal in his first two Serie A games.

Perhaps even more worryingly for Vlahovic, at a time when a number of elite European teams were looking for a top No.9, nobody came knocking on his door. The next five months could be tough going for the Serb – particularly if Motta manages to see out the season.

WINNER: Aston Villa

Aston Villa fans feared the worst when Arsenal made a formal offer for Watkins just a few days before the close of the transfer window. It was common knowledge that the club was having trouble balancing the books and that a high-profile departure was a possibility as a result.

In the end, though, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) came to Villa’s rescue by funding Al-Nassr’s staggering £64.5m ($80m) signing of Duran – a talented but temperamental 21-year-old with much still to prove at the highest level.

Even better was to follow for Villa. Having already brought in Donyell Malen, they made what could prove very shrewd loan moves for both Rashford and Marco Asensio, two talented players desperate to rediscover their best form, before then finally strengthening an injury-weakened defence by beating Tottenham to the signature of Disasi.

All of a sudden, a top-five finish (which should be enough to qualify for next season’s Champions League) looks well within Villa’s reach, with Unai Emery’s side just four points behind Manchester City and now buoyed by the arrival of some rather intriguing January additions

LOSER: Jordan Henderson

Jordan Henderson’s reputation took a hammering because of his decision to leave Liverpool for Saudi Pro League side Al-Ettifaq in the summer of 2023. The Ajax captain was slated again last week after allegedly trying to force through a mid-season move to Monaco, leading to a remarkably heated confrontation with a Dutch journalist in a press conference on Sunday.

“I wasn’t myself on Thursday [for the Europa League clash with Galatasaray] and I think 99 percent of people, if they knew the inside information, wouldn’t have played the game,” the former England international said. “And yet, people in this room have questioned my professionalism and me as a person – I think it’s bang out of order.

“I can deal with it. I’ve had a lot worse in my career. But I’ve got a family, wife, kids, mum, dad, who read nonsense in the media from you guys… The only way the move came about was because of the situation that the club is in and that’s as much detail as I’m prepared to give.”

What followed was a horribly awkward exchange in which Henderson repeatedly refused to disclose any more precise information on what exactly had happened before Ajax’s press officer finally stepped in. The hope is that the club will eventually shed more light on the situation, but what’s already clear is that Henderson is not a happy man right now, bitterly upset that his character is once again under intense scrutiny.

WINNER: Chelsea women

Most clubs struggle to make a statement signing during the winter window. Chelsea’s women’s side managed two.

On January 26, the Blues paid San Diego Wave a record-breaking £890,000 ($1m) for Naomi Girma, the 24-year-old defender that helped the United States win gold at the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Five days later, Chelsea pulled off another incredible coup by convincing Keira Walsh to move from Barcelona to west London. The England international admitted that being closer to her family played a big part in her decision, but so too did her new club’s remarkable ambition.

Chelsea are presently on course to win a sixth-consecutive Women’s Super League (WSL) title and now look set to dominate the English game for years to come. However, by signing two of the very best players in the world right now, they’re also clearly intent on displacing Barca as the dominant force in Europe.