Getting their business done early …

Were there an Early Bird Award for prompt recruitment, Eintracht Frankfurt would be making space in their trophy cabinet. Before the transfer window even opened they had announced the signings of Younes Ebnoutalib and Keita Kosugi, reportedly for a combined £13m, while Ayoube Amaimouni-Echghouyab and Arnaud Kalimuendo followed within a week. Throw in the arrival of Love Arrhov from Brommapojkarna, a deal agreed last May but effective on New Year’s Day, and they had five new names in the squad in time for their first game after the Bundesliga’s winter break, a 3-3 draw with Borussia Dortmund. Ebnoutalib, an imposing 6ft 3in striker signed from second-division Elversberg, scored in that game, assisted by Kalimuendo, who arrived on loan from Nottingham Forest. In fact, it has been a promising start for their January arrivals: Amaimouni-Echghouyabe opened his account the following week against Stuttgart, while Kalimuendo has scored against Bremen and Hoffenheim. Unfortunately, Frankfurt won none of those matches. Even so, there are reasons to hope their signings can help revive a listless season. Will Magee

A late flurry on deadline day

For most of deadline day, the focus was more on what wasn’t happening than what was. Jean-Philippe Mateta’s move from Crystal Palace to Milan fell through; Arsenal were surprisingly linked with the teenage Hearts striker James Wilson, but it didn’t happen and, ultimately, he signed on loan with Tottenham. As the clock ticked down, however, several headline-grabbing transfers fell into place, not least Palace’s £43m deal to sign Jørgen Strand Larsen from Wolves. It’s a huge outlay for a forward with one league goal this season, albeit in a struggling team and after a bright first season in England. Wolves, meanwhile, secured two late signings in Adam Armstrong and Angel Gomes, Everton secured Tyrique George on loan with an option to buy and Sunderland signed Nilson Angulo for £17.5m. Oh, not to mention Liverpool announced the £60m capture of Jérémy Jacquet for next season. Outside the Premier League, Atlético Madrid were the big spenders as they brought in Ademola Lookman, Rodrigo Mendoza and Obed Vargas for a combined £47m. WM

Semenyo sparkles among star signings

Manchester City made the most eye-catching moves this window. Antoine Semenyo has already started to pay back the £62.5m (the highest fee this January) paid to Bournemouth, scoring in four of his first five games for City. Pep Guardiola also eased his defensive headache with the £20m bargain buy of Marc Guéhi, whose deal at Crystal Palace had less than six months to run. City, the window’s biggest spenders (£82.5m), recouped some of their money through the sale of Oscar Bobb to Fulham for £27m. Other headline deals include Conor Gallagher to Tottenham for £34.6m (balanced by the £35m sale of Brennan Johnson to Crystal Palace) and Lucas Paquetá to Flamengo for £36.7m, the highest fee paid by a Brazilian club. The Premier League’s expenditure of about £382m in fees, unsurprisingly, dwarfed that of Europe’s other “big five” leagues again, although Serie A (about £206m) was well ahead of La Liga (£65m), Ligue 1 (£87.3m) and the Bundesliga (£83.7m). Billy Munday

Desperate times, desperate measures

In the Premier League, only Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham and Palace have spent more than West Ham in this window. The Hammers have invested £45m, with Nuno Espírito Santo backed financially to secure Taty Castellanos and Pablo Felipe, though costs have been offset by the sale of Paquetá. West Ham look a more fluent side with their additions, but the gap to safety is six points. They are not the only team in relegation danger to roll the dice. Mainz began January bottom of the Bundesliga before their new recruits, Silas and Phillip Tietz, helped to spark a run of three wins in four games. In Italy, Fiorentina have focused on loans in an effort to escape a shock relegation – with Daniele Rugani, Manor Solomon, Jack Harrison, Giovanni Fabbian and Marco Brescianini arriving on temporary deals – but their neighbours Pisa have been bolder. Having won one league game, the promoted club spent almost £15m, including a club-record £7.8m on the Plzen striker Rafiu Durosinmi. It’s a transfer strategy which looks about as stable as the city’s famous landmark and it hasn’t paid off so far, with the manager, Alberto Gilardino, leaving after the recent 6-2 defeat to Inter. Niall McVeigh

False dawns and new horizons

As ever, the January window has been a frenzy of loan activity. For some, it is an opportunity to correct ill-fated loans agreed in the summer. Daniel Peretz, for instance, was recalled from Hamburg by Bayern Munich early in January after making two appearances, then sent on to Southampton where he has since made five consecutive starts in goal. Leon Bailey, who failed to score in 11 appearances on loan at Roma, has returned to Aston Villa amid the club’s injury crisis, coming straight back into Unai Emery’s squad and making two substitute outings. While recalls can open an unexpected window of opportunity, there have also been fresh adventures for those with limited game time at their parent clubs. Ethan Nwaneri’s loan from Arsenal to Marseille will be watched with particular interest, with Mikel Arteta saying: “What I would love to see from Ethan is that he scores [a] goal every three days, he plays a lot of minutes, he gets the exposure that he needs, he continues to grow – mentally, physically, in all the technical and tactical aspects that are necessary at this level – and that’s the reason we’ve done it.” WM

One eye on the future

Premier League clubs have made a point of investing heavily in youth this winter. Villa have spent almost £20m combined on the 17-year-old striker Brian Madjo and the 19-year-old winger Alysson. Brentford have brought in the 18-year-old forward Kaye Furo for £8.7m. Bournemouth have acquired the 19-year-old forward Rayan and the 20-year-old midfielder Alex Toth for about £35m in total, Tottenham have signed the 19-year-old left-back Souza for £13m, and Fulham have paid £27m to Manchester City for the 22-year-old academy graduate Oscar Bobb. Their managers now have half a campaign to settle them and gauge their development before deciding on their role for next season. Not all of them will make an instant impact, but there is clearly a concerted effort to sign players with untapped potential who, if all goes well, could increase rapidly in value. WM

Deadwood gets chopped

Another necessary task during the winter window: squad clearouts. Milan set the tone when, on 23 December, they finally parted ways with Divock Origi via mutual contract termination, two and a half years after his last appearance for the club. While West Ham have done their best to belatedly spend their way out of relegation trouble, they have also aggressively pared down their squad with Niclas Füllkrug, Guido Rodríguez, Andrew Irving, Igor Julio, James Ward-Prowse and Luis Guilherme all departing. Then there was Raheem Sterling’s long-awaited exit from Chelsea, having been frozen out this season despite being the club’s highest earner on £325,000 a week. While he was not solely to blame for his underwhelming spell at Stamford Bridge, it will go down as one of the most wasteful episodes of the BlueCo era. WM

World Cup looms large

The upcoming World Cup in North America has had a clear impact on the January market, with dozens of players seeking regular game time and the chance to work their way into national squads. One high-profile example is Conor Gallagher, whose last England cap came in June’s friendly defeat to Senegal. He is likely to be a far more central figure at Spurs than Atlético Madrid and could catch Thomas Tuchel’s eye by lifting his new team out of their malaise. Two of Aston Villa’s new recruits, Tammy Abraham and Douglas Luiz, were unlikely to make the cut had they stayed put at Besiktas and Nottingham Forest respectively. Elsewhere, Marc-André ter Stegen has joined Girona on loan in an effort to finally secure Germany’s No 1 shirt at a major tournament, while one of Barcelona’s new arrivals, the 31-year-old loanee João Cancelo, has left Saudi Arabia to show he can still operate at the highest level. NMc

Dynasty members on the move

“I am my own person and player,” were among the first words said by Maximilian Ibrahimovic, the 19-year-old son of Zlatan, when he moved from one of his dad’s old clubs (Milan) to another (Ajax) on loan. The forward has not made his first-team debut for Milan and will start off with Ajax’s under-23s. Ibrahimovic is one of a handful of footballers’ offspring on the move this window, with Jaden Heskey, the 20-year-old son of Emile who plays for Manchester City along with his younger brother Reigan, loaned out to Sheffield Wednesday. Then there’s Etienne Eto’o, the 23-year-old son of Samuel, who will spend the second half of the season on loan at Villarreal B from Rayo Vallecano. The latest off the Gray production line at Leeds, 17-year-old Harry, has moved on loan to Rotherham, while In Italy, Paolo Maldini’s 24-year-old son, Daniel, has joined Lazio on loan from Atalanta and Gianluigi Buffon’s 18-year-old son, Louis, who is a striker, has moved on loan from Pisa to third-tier Pontedera. BM

Hey, big striker

Set pieces are all the rage in the Premier League at the moment and every club is after a towering frontman of their own. Three clubs in the top flight brought in strikers over 6ft 3in this window. Aston Villa signed two: Tammy Abraham (6ft 4in) from Besiktas and Brian Madjo (6ft 4in and, aged 17, probably still growing) from Metz. Madjo already has three caps for Luxembourg but now represents England at youth level. Brentford, one of the leaders of the set-piece revolution, brought in the 18-year-old Kaye Furo (6ft 3in) from Club Brugge. With Chris Wood out long-term with a knee injury, Sean Dyche’s Nottingham Forest loaned in Lorenzo Lucca (6ft 7in) from Napoli; 50% of the Italy striker’s goals this season have been headers, albeit one out of two. This follows on from the summer when Benjamin Sesko, Thierno Barry, Hugo Ekitiké, Nick Woltemade and Viktor Gyökeres were among the lofty arrivals in the Premier League. BM

Stick, not twist

As hyperactive as the transfer market may seem, not everyone went in for a January sugar rush. In France, Lorient and Brest eschewed any new additions; in Germany, it was Dortmund, Freiburg and Union Berlin. In fact, some of Europe’s wealthiest clubs were notably quiet during this window. Paris Saint-Germain restricted themselves to signing the teenage midfielder Dro Fernández, Barcelona and Real Madrid made one signing each in the shape of João Cancelo and Adrián Arnu, while, in the Premier League, Newcastle and Manchester United were the only clubs not to add any new faces. WM

Hidden gems and undervalued markets

While Premier League sides continued to flex their financial muscle in the transfer market, clubs from the other leagues had to be smart to find value signings. Bologna, widely admired for a transfer strategy which relies on unearthing hidden gems and then moving them on for huge profit, continued the trend of “big five” clubs shopping in Scandinavia with their £7.4m acquisition of Eivind Helland, a hulking 20-year-old centre-back, from Brann, while Lyon followed suit with the £6.5m transfer of Noah Nartey from Brøndby. Likewise, the Scotland to Serie A pipeline kept on pumping as Verona signed the Hibernian forward Kieron Bowie for a £6m fee. Poland also proved a happy hunting ground, with Lazio signing Adrian Przyborek from Pogon Szczecin for £5.2m and Verona snapping up Andrias Edmundsson, Serie A’s first Faroese player, from Wisla Plock. WM