This January will see the opening of the mid-season transfer window across Europe and after what has been a very intriguing start to the season, there could well be a number of top stars looking for new clubs in the New Year.
First of all we have developments at Newcastle, which has seen their new owners ready to pump plenty of money into the club for manager Eddie Howe to spend on new players to help his team battle against the drop. The question is, whether Howe will be able to attract enough top quality players willing to join in a relegation battle.
Then we have the situation at clubs like Barcelona, Juventus, Inter Milan and many others where financial considerations are playing a key role and clubs are looking to offload some of their higher earners that are not contributing much to the team.
And then we have the African Cup Of Nations taking place in the early part of the year, which will see a number of teams losing key players for the tournament, such as Liverpool who will lose Sadio Mane, Mo Salah and Naby Keita, will teams affected by this look to bring in replacements in January, even on a short term loan basis?
With Manchester City odds on at 8/15 with bet365 Sport to win the Premier League, it may well be the case in January that moves made then can change the outlook of the rest of the season as we reach the halfway stage of the EPL.
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Let’s now look at some of the transfers that have been mooted for January involving some of
the bigger teams and players from the Premier League and across the world.
Possible January Transfers
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Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal)
The Gabon international has had a very public falling out with manager Mikel Arteta of late over returning late to training from a trip back to see his family. Not only has Aubameyang been left out of the matchday squad, he has also been stripped of the captaincy of the club.
Barcelona and Juventus are believed to be two clubs keeping an eye on the striker’s situation at Arsenal, which comes only a short time after he signed a huge new deal to keep him at the club around 18 months ago.
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Jules Kounde (Sevilla)
The French International centre back was reportedly furious with his current club after they rejected a move to Chelsea for him ahead of this season and the interest fron the Londoners has not diminished despite that deal not going through.
However, it is thought that Manchester United boss Ralf Rangnick is a big admirer of the Sevilla star and the Red Devils could make a move for the player to rival Chelsea for his signature, especially if they can get some other stars off their payroll in January.
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Juan Mata, Edinson Cavani, Antony Martial, Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard (Manchester United)
It is believed that Ralf Rangnick may have to move some big earners from the Manchester
United wage bill to facilitate some more signings during the January window, although how many players he will be allowed to sign as interim manager may be open to debate.
Juan Mata is reportedly interesting Barcelona, as is Edinson Cavani, with the Catalan side eyeing cut price deals for two United stars that are not making an impact on the first team.
Newcastle United are thought to be keen on a loan deal for Antony Martial, and with the Frenchman out of form and out of favour at the club, that loan move may well suit all the parties involved.
The big deal could well be regarding Paul Pogba with Paris St Germain reportedly still very keen to sign the French Midfielder and with his contract set to expire this June, could United sell now to regain some capital for the star they spent over £89 million on in 2016. Pogba will be able to sign a pre-contract deal with any club in January anyway, but could a team come in with an offer to tempt him away beforehand?
Finally, Jesse Lingard was persuaded to stay at United with the promise of more game time, but that hasn’t really materialised. A loan spell for him at West Ham last season was a huge success and I can see the Hammers coming back in for the United star, possibly on a permanent deal, to help them with their Champions League push.
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Dele Alli (Tottenham Hotspur)
The England man has fallen out of favour at Spurs over the past year or so and has gone from being a regular for club and country, to barely making a matchday squad at one point for Spurs. He has been a feature on the substitutes bench this season but he can’t be happy with that and a loan move in January is being mooted.
It’s unlikely Spurs would sanction a move for Alli to one of their rivals, but Newcastle are thought to be ready to offer him regular first team action and a six-month loan may well suit both clubs and the player too as he seeks to get back his best form and back into Gareth Southgate’s World Cup plans.
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Nat Phillips (Liverpool)
Having performed so well for Liverpool last season, Nat Phillips proved he is capable enough
to play at Premier League level but as the fifth choice for Liverpool, his action this season has been very limited.
A number of clubs including Newcastle United, West Ham United and Brighton are believed to be keen on the Liverpool man who could be available for around £15 million.
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Kylian Mbappe (Paris St Germain)
It seems to be an open secret that Kylian Mbappe is going to leave Paris St Germain when his contract expires in June. He has been linked with Real Madrid very heavily over the last few months and that does seem to be his most likely destination.
However, Liverpool have also been strongly linked with the player and with the Reds being very quiet in the market over the summer, could they be keeping their funds in reserve to try and make a move for Mbappe when he is allowed to speak to other clubs in January?
January is always an intriguing time in the transfer market as teams attempt to reshape their squads for the rest of the season and the summer window, big moves are rare at this time of the year but with a number of top stars out of contract on June, it is going to be an interesting to see who signs a pre-contract deal with another club.
