Late flourish unlikely as transfer window quietly closes

Paris (AFP) – Headline grabbing transfers have been hard to find in the January transfer window, which closes on Thursday night with late moves from the Premier League’s biggest clubs unlikely after a month in which the major movers have been on the continent.

In England, the biggest deal on deadline day has been Newcastle United’s capture of Paraguay midfielder Miguel Almiron from Atlanta United for a reported club-record fee of £20 million ($26 million).

But of the Premier League’s ‘Big Six’, the only ones to dip into the market on Thursday have been Arsenal, who took midfielder Denis Suarez on loan from Barcelona.

Their rivals have kept their cheque books closed ahead of the window shutting at 2300 GMT, although Chelsea had already signed Gonzalo Higuain on loan from Juventus after buying USA winger Christian Pulisic from Borussia Dortmund for £58 million, loaning him back for the rest of the season.

“It’s a tough situation because people tell you ‘here’s a player, there’s a player’, and you buy him, but it’s helpful for three weeks, and after that you have a problem because the other boys come back,” Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp told the BBC this week, confirming he does not want short-term fixes to defensive injury problems.

Apart from Almiron, Newcastle also took Monaco full-back Antonio Barreca on loan. Elsewhere, Wolves completed an £18 million deal to sign Jonny Castro permanently from Atletico Madrid.

Meanwhile, Leicester City signed Belgium midfielder Youri Tielemans on loan from Monaco, with Adrien Silva going the other way.

– Brexit factor? –

The possible elephant in the room in a comparatively low-key window has been Brexit, given the uncertainty caused by the issue dominating British politics.

The resulting impact on sterling’s value against the euro and the dollar might not help, but are clubs genuinely holding back on transfer deals because of the United Kingdom’s impending departure from the European Union?

One British-based agent told AFP there is “great uncertainty” among some foreign players, but added that he had not “seen a change in behaviour from clubs at this point”.

– Barcelona lead the way –

While the window has been quiet in England, some of Europe’s biggest names have made moves, mostly well before deadline day, with Barcelona leading the way.

The Spanish champions agreed to pay Ajax 75 million euros — plus 11 million in bonuses — to take 21-year-old midfielder Frenkie de Jong for next season.

from World Soccer Talk http://bit.ly/2HHOYhT