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A lot of money was sent in the Premier League during the January transfer window.
£2.8bn to be exact.
Here’s how the 20 Premier League teams fared when spending all that money.
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Bournemouth spent more money than anyone was really expecting this January – particularly on deadline day when they brought in Hamed Traore and Illia Zabarnyi for around £40m.
The former will be a consistently good performer for the club, while the latter – according to FM23 – could become one of the better defenders with the right training, mentoring and gametime (the three things needed on FM23 anyways).
Also they probably dodged a bullet by missing out on Nicolo Zaniolo.
Grade: B+
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The Gunners needed some quality depth this winter, and they added exactly that.
Jorginho seems to be a particularly shrewd acquisition, with the midfielder adding winning experience to a youthful Arsenal team on the brink of Premier League glory.
Grade: A
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Alex Moreno has impressed since joining the club, while Jhon Duran is a long-term investment who could come good in the next few years.
They didn’t do a whole lot but Unai Emery already has a decent squad at his disposal so they didn’t really need to.
Grade: C+
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Kevin Schade is a fun signing. Keep an eye out for him throughout the rest of the season, he’s a winger who takes on his man which is quite rare in today’s game (even though it shouldn’t be).
The Bees probably could’ve done with signing a striker in case the ‘bad thing’ happens with Ivan Toney before the end of the season though. They could be made to rue that lack of investment in a replacement number nine soon…
Grade: C
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Brighton lost one of their bigger ticket players to Arsenal but, thanks to Kaoru Mitoma being amazing they haven’t exactly missed him at all.
Standing firm on Moises Caicedo was the right thing to do too. He’s brilliant and will be difficult to replace when he eventually leaves Brighton – they didn’t need that headache in January.
Grade: C+
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Where do you even start?
How do you even go about this?
Let’s just list the signings and give three word assessments I guess:
Grade: B
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Palace added some midfield depth with the deadline day signings of Naouirou Ahamada and Alberto Sambi Lokonga.
Good for them, maybe.
Grade: C-
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None.
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The Toffees needed to do a lot.
They did nothing instead.
A disaster.
A complete disaster.
Grade: F
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All their business was done on deadline day, and they made a few quietly shrewd signings to be fair to them.
Cedric is Premier League proven and Sasa Lukic is solid and consistent performer.
All in, quite good.
Grade: B
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Big big money was spent on Georginio Rutter, and he looks like he can be a great player in the long-term for Leeds. Max Wober has come in and impressed immediately.
What stops Leeds from getting a higher grade is the fact that they’ve signed Weston McKennie, who has been in utterly woeful form for Juventus in recent seasons.
Grade: B-
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Leicester City finally signed some players!
And they’re all ok!
Harry Souttar seems like a particularly good signing considering the club’s defensive woes this season.
Grade: C+
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One big signing in Cody Gakpo was definitely to keep Liverpool fans happy nor nearly enough to stop Liverpool’s slide down the table.
The Reds needed to do a lot more.
Grade: D
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They let one of their better players (Joao Cancelo) leave on loan and they now have a worse squad than they did at the start of January.
Bad.
Grade: E
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Man Utd didn’t make any particularly headline-grabbing signings in January, but the ones they did make seems like smart short-term investments.
Wout Weghorst adds a different dimension to the attack when needed, and Marcel Sabitzer will be an able replacement for the injured Christian Eriksen in midfield.
Grade: B
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Newcastle United didn’t need to do a whole lot in the transfer window because, well, they’re bloody brilliant.
They went out and signed Anthony Gordon for £40m though which seems like a gamble. He was decent last season, but awful this season. We’ll have to see which Gordon they’ll get.
Grade: C
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Forest may have just secured their place in the Premier League with a wonderful deadline day.
Steve Cooper’s men signed Felipe from Atletico Madrid, Jonjo Shelvey from Newcastle United and Keylor Navas from PSG – the latter being one of the better goalkeepers of the last decade.
Nice work.
Grade: A
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Fair play to Southampton, they’ve really given this transfer window a good go.
And they’ve signed some decent players during it.
Mislav Orsic seems like a particularly shrewd bit of business.
Grade: B+
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Tottenham Hotspur went out and signed their top target Pedro Porro on deadline day.
That’s a W in our books.
Grade: B
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Danny Ings seemed like a really nice bit of business for West Ham…and then he got injured on his debut.
Things just aren’t going the Hammers’ way right now.
Grade: C-
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It was utterly soul-destroying watching Wolves during the first half of the season.
After signing Matheus Cunha, Pablo Sarabia and Joao Gomes, the second half of the season will likely not be as soul-destroying. Dare we say it might even be fun for Wolves fans.
Grade: B+
