BEVERLY HILLS, February 02, (THEWILL) – As it often happens with deals for the movements of players between football clubs during the football transfer season, one club counts on the actualisation of their intention to get a replacement for the player they will lose to a transfer before freeing that player to move to another club. That process was in action again.
On Monday, as the deadline clock ticked towards the end of the January transfer window, THEWILL reported Liverpool’s moves for defensive reinforcements with Jurgen Klopp’s Premier League champions making two late signings.
From the second tier of English football came centre-back Ben Davies of Preston North End Football Club into the Anfield fold, with a further addition to the heart of their backline with the loan signing of Ozan Kabak from Bundesliga strugglers Schalke for the rest of 2020/2021.
It was the order of the day for the Reds who had decided for affordable investments for a defense structure debilitated by injuries. It was timely for Klopp because it was revealed on the same day that defender Joel Matip will be sidelined for the rest of the season with an ankle ligament injury.
This worsened an already deleterious situation at the back for a club in the thick of the battle for the defense of their Premier League title but without the services of the stern backbone that made the trophy-win possible. Strongman Dutch defender Virgil van Dijk and English centre back Joe Gomez are long-term absentees which forced Liverpool to play Jordan Henderson and Nathaniel Phillips at centre-back in Sunday’s West Ham victory.
Apart from those signing in, there was one from the Liverpool side shipping out. Out of the Anfield door was Japanese attacking midfielder and forward Takumi Minamino. He signed for the champions last January but, in search of more regular football minutes, the forward is moving to Southampton on a six-month loan deal.
With the agreement to get Minamino on the cards, Southampton made good business for themselves by loaning out veteran Shane Long, their Irish striker, to Bournemouth, who are currently invested in chasing promotion from the Championship to the Premiership.
On Bournemouth’s part, having secured Long as a striker for the rest of the season, they allowed their Norwegian forward Joshua King leave to join Premiership club Everton for a nominal fee in a loan deal.
The Gunners, at the north London end of the EPL, were also in the market with transactions of their own, aimed at cutting down their wage bill and keeping youthful players getting regular playing time. Having earlier concluded the incoming business, these deadline day signings were outgoing.
First, Ainsley Maitland-Niles went to West Brom on loan. Then, German defender Shkodran Mustafi, who had earlier been linked with a shock move to Anfield, signed for Schalke on a short-term deal after they released Kabak to Liverpool while young midfielder Joe Willock moved on loan deal to Newcastle United. Willock’s arrival unlocked Newcastle’s decision to let American midfielder DeAndre Yedlin go to Galatasaray in Turkey.
Galatasaray also got midfielder Gedson Carvalho Fernandes on a temporary deal from Benfica following an unsuccessful stint at Tottenham where the Portuguese failed to meet expectations.
German champions, Bayern Munich loaned out teenage Dutch forward Joshua Zirkzee to Serie A side Parma with an option to sign the 19-year-old on a permanent deal at the expiration of the contract.
Still in Italy, Atalanta know they remain firmly in contention for a top-four a Serie A finish and, desirous to keep that momentum going, have boosted their squad for that push by signing on Ukraine midfielder Viktor Kovalenko from Shakhtar Donetsk.
Meanwhile, Roma, contending for the same goals as Atalanta, brought in reinforcement in the form of teenage full-back Bryan Reynolds from MLS outfit Dallas on an initial loan deal, with an obligation to buy.
German central midfielder Sami Khedira, who has not been favoured by Juventus and has been frozen out of the midfielder has returned to the Bundesliga from the Serie A with a switch to Hertha Berlin. On loan from English side Manchester City is one of European football’s most exciting talents Jayden Braaf, who heads to Udinese, who have an option to make it permanent.
Wrapping up the other transfers, Everton defender Jonjoe Kenny joined Celtic on loan for the season, Brighton & Hove Albion signed highly rated midfielder Moises Caicedo from Independiente del Valle, West Brom loaned Okay Yokuslu from Celta Vigo and defender Teden Mengi moved from Manchester United to Wayne Rooney’s Derby County on a temporary basis.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
