Transfer deadline day: Recapping the biggest deals and deals that weren't
The January transfer deadline has come and gone. The final windows slammed shut at across Europe at 6 p.m. ET. Several big names – Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Olivier Giroud, Lucas Moura – got their moves. Others – Riyad Mahrez, Mauro Icardi – didn’t.
Below is a roundup of the deals that did and didn’t get done on deadline day. Scroll to the bottom for a complete list of January’s top transfers.
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TOP STORIES
— Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang completed his $78.5 million move to Arsenal. Both the Gunners and Borussia Dortmund announced the deal around midday.
In fact, the full striker-swap triangle was completed. Dortmund announced the signing of Michy Batshuayi on loan until season’s end. A minute later, Olivier Giroud was officially unveiled as a Chelsea player.
The Giroud deal is reportedly for around $21.7 million, with $3.1 million in potential incentive-based bonuses. The 31-year-old French striker will sign through June 2019, with an option for a second full season.
— The other big Arsenal news of the day was that Mesut Ozil, previously on a contract set to expire at the end of the season, has signed a massive extension at the club. So it was a fantastic deadline day for the Gunners.
EXCLUSIVE: Mesut Ozil signs a new three-and-a-half year contract to remain at Arsenal until summer 2021. Becomes highest-paid player in club history on around £350k per week before tax. Deal agreed last weekend, signed at Colney this morning. Could take him to 8yrs at #AFC & 32yo pic.twitter.com/600XtVnbnH
— David Ornstein (@bbcsport_david) January 31, 2018
— It was not a fantastic deadline day for Riyad Mahrez. The Algerian winger handed in a transfer request on Tuesday, and reportedly went AWOL on Wednesday in an attempt to force through a deal to Manchester City. But the Citizens, per reports, never came close to meeting Leicester’s $135 million asking price. City’s best offer was reportedly around $85 or 90 million. And so Mahrez, who has been in search of a move to a bigger club for almost two years now, is staying put.
— Lucas Moura is officially a Tottenham player. Spurs announced the signing with several hours to spare. The Brazilian winger joins for around $35 million on a five-and-a-half-year deal after seeing his playing time diminish at PSG. And at that price, he would appear to be great value for money.
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) January 31, 2018
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— Finally, Mauro Icardi, even after his cryptic Instagram post, is staying put at Inter Milan. He was likely never close to joining Real Madrid, though could be a summer target for Los Blancos.
LATEST DONE DEALS
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang | Borussia Dortmund —> Arsenal — Aubameyang is the biggest transfer of the day. But does he really represent a coup for Arsenal?
Olivier Giroud | Arsenal —> Chelsea — With his path to first-team football blocked by Alexandre Lacazette, and now further impeded by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, it was time for Giroud to go. He leaves a strange Arsenal legacy behind. He was largely very good. But fans, for some reason, always wanted something more. They always wanted him to be something he wasn’t. He never could quite extend his game. He’s a decent fit as a backup and supersub at Chelsea, though.
Michy Batshuayi | Chelsea —> Borussia Dortmund — A loan until season’s end for the Belgian striker, who has been decent for Chelsea when he’s played. But that hasn’t been often. Antonio Conte clearly doesn’t rate him. His German excursion is a fantastic opportunity to reignite his career after a brief dry spell.
Lucas Moura | PSG —> Tottenham — A dribbling whiz who hasn’t quite perfected his end product, but who’ll now get a chance to under Mauricio Pochettino. Tottenham has been in need of a proper winger for some time. The 25-year-old will fill that need. This is very solid business from Spurs.
Andre Ayew | West Ham —> Swansea — Ayew returns to Swansea for $27 million as the most expensive player in club history. So, a quick rundown of the past two-and-a-half years in Ayew brotherhood: Andre joined Swansea in 2015. A year later, he left for West Ham. The following summer, Jordan joined, and six months later, the brothers are reunited.
*Eliaquim Mangala | Manchester City —> Everton — Everton announced late Wednesday night that it had agreed in principle to take the French center back on loan. It clarified, though, that the deal awaits Premier League clearance. There’s an outside chance it didn’t get done in time.
Islam Slimani | Leicester City —> Newcastle — Slimani had fallen down the pecking order at Leicester. He had been linked with an exit throughout the month. He finally found a temporary one, on loan at Newcastle – which was in dire need of a striker. A deal that makes sense for all parties.
Badou Ndiaye | Galatasaray —> Stoke City — Stoke paid around $20 million for the midfielder, and introduced him at halftime of Wednesday’s 0-0 draw with Watford.
Hector Moreno | Roma —> Real Sociedad — Out of nowhere, for $7.5 million. The Mexican defender joins on a three-and-a-half-year contract.
Admir Mehmedi | Bayer Leverkusen —> Wolfsburg — The Swiss winger signs with Wolfsburg on a four-and-a-half-year deal. The fee is reportedly $12.5 million.
Alexander Sørloth | FC Midtjylland —> Crystal Palace — Palace had been linked with several more expensive strikers. They instead settled for a promising 22-year-old Danish striker who could prove to be a bargain. But he also could prove to be a nobody.
Jordan Hugill | Preston —> West Ham — The 25-year-old English striker will take the step up from the Championship to the Premier League after West Ham shelled out $11.3 million.
Mathieu Debuchy | Arsenal —> Saint Etienne — On a busy day at the Emirates, this one will barely register. And frankly, there’s no reason it should. A year or two ago, Arsenal hoped it could recoup some of the $17 million it paid for the French right back. It couldn’t, and his value only tumbled, to the point he’s now off to Saint Etienne on a free.
Lazar Markovic | Liverpool —> Anderlecht — A last-minute loan.
Martin Dubravka | Sparta Prague —> Newcastle — Newcastle’s short-term solution at goalkeeper, on loan until season’s end.
Aleksandar Mitrovic | Newcastle —> Fulham — Mitrovic’s move to Anderlecht fell through at the 11th hour. Somehow, he was able to make it back to England in time to secure a loan move to Fulham
Isaac Success | Watford —> Malaga — The first-choice all-name team winger hasn’t had much – *tries to avoid pun* *fails* – success in England, and joins Malaga on loan until the end of the season.
Didier Ndong | Sunderland —> Watford — Watford has been busy over the past few days. Its (likely) final signing is the Sunderland midfielder on loan with an option to buy over the summer.
Milot Rashica | Vitesse Arnhem —> Werder Bremen — Around $11 million for the 21-year-old attacking midfielder.
OTHER NEWS
Crystal Palace’s deal with Lille for Ibrahim Amadou has fallen through because the French club – currently serving a transfer ban – was unable to recall a player from a loan in Spain. It therefore wouldn’t allow Amadou to depart in January. Both Palace and the player were reportedly very frustrated.
Javier Pastore‘s proposed move to Inter Milan also appears to have broken down.
THE REST OF JANUARY’S TOP DONE DEALS
(Chronological order)
Sandro | Everton —> Sevilla (loan)
Emerson Palmieri | Roma —> Chelsea ($24 million)
Marc Bartra | Borussia Dortmund —> Real Betis ($13 million)
Dodi Lukebakio | Anderlecht —> Watford
Jack Harrison | New York City FC —> Manchester City ($5.7 million)
Jack Harrison | Manchester City —> Middlesbrough (loan)
Inigo Martinez | Real Sociedad —> Athletic Bilbao ($39.8 million)
Roque Mesa | Swansea —> Sevilla (loan)
Ahmed Musa | Leicester City —> CSKA Moscow (loan)
Aymeric Laporte | Athletic Bilbao —> Manchester City ($80.8 million)
Charly Musonda | Chelsea —> Celtic (loan)
Daniel Sturridge | Liverpool —> West Brom (loan)
Gerard Deulofeu | Barcelona —> Watford (loan)
Miguel Layun | Porto —> Sevilla (loan)
Pietro Pellegri | Genoa —> Monaco ($24.6 million)
Baba Rahman | Chelsea —> Schalke (loan)
Diafra Sakho | West Ham —> Rennes ($12.4 million)
Ali Gabr | Zamalek —> West Brom (loan)
Leonardo Ulloa | Leicester City —> Brighton (loan)
Joao Mario | Inter Milan —> West Ham (loan)
Nikola Maksimovic | Napoli —> Spartak Moscow (loan)
Guido Carrillo | Monaco —> Southampton ($27.2 million)
Gabriel Barbosa | Inter Milan —> Santos (loan)
Neven Subotic | Borussia Dortmund —> Saint-Etienne (free)
Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla | Montreal Impact —> Barcelona (undisclosed)
Axel Tuanzebe | Manchester United —> Aston Villa (loan)
Lassana Diarra | PSG (free)
Aaron Lennon | Everton —> Burnley (undisclosed)
Kenedy | Chelsea —> Newcastle (loan)
Jaroslaw Jach | Zaglebie Lubin —> Crystal Palace ($2 million)
Javier Mascherano | Barcelona —> Habei ($12.3 million)
Rafinha | Barcelona —> Inter Milan (loan)
Alexis Sanchez | Arsenal —> Manchester United (swap)
Henrikh Mkhitaryan | Manchester United —> Arsenal (swap)
Leon Goretzka | Schalke —> Bayern Munich (summer, free)
Jurgen Locadia | PSV Eindhoven —> Brighton (19.5 million)
Ezequiel Barco | Independiente —> Atlanta United ($15 million)
Robin van Persie | Fenerbahce —> Feyenoord (free)
Kostas Stafylidis | Augsburg —> Stoke City (loan)
Cedric Bakambu | Villarreal —> Beijing Guoan ($49 million)
Theo Walcott | Arsenal —> Everton ($27.6 million)
Martin Hongla | Grenada —> Barcelona (loan)
Lisandro Lopez | Benfica —> Inter Milan (loan)
Manuel Akanji | FC Basel —> Borussia Dortmund ($27 million)
Alex Pritchard | Norwich City —> Huddersfield Town ($16.6 million)
Yerry Mina | Palmeiras —> Barcelona ($14.2 million)
Francis Coquelin | Arsenal —> Valencia ($14.4 million)
Fousseni Diabate | Gazélec Ajaccio —> Leicester City ($4.8 million)
Renato Steffen | FC Basel —> Wolfsburg ($2 million)
Mark Uth | Hoffenheim —> Schalke (summer, free)
Moritz Bauer | Rubin Kazan —> Stoke City ($6.8 million)
Georges-Kevin Nkoudou | Tottenham —> Burnley (loan)
Kevin Mirallas | Everton —> Olympiacos (loan)
Philippe Coutinho | Liverpool —> Barcelona ($192.5 million)
Cenk Tosun | Besiktas —> Everton ($36.5 million)
Wesley Sneijder | Nice —> Al-Gharafa (undisclosed)
Ross Barkley | Everton —> Chelsea ($20.3 million)
Marko Pjaca | Juventus —> Schalke (loan)
Konstantinos Mavropanos | PAS Giannina —> Arsenal ($2.4 million)
Terence Kongolo | Monaco —> Huddersfield Town (loan)
Virgil van Dijk | Southampton —> Liverpool ($101.4 million)
Diego Costa | Chelsea —> Atletico Madrid (€71.5 million)
Adrien Silva | Sporting CP —> Leicester City ($29.8 million)
Previous transfer roundups: Jan. 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 29 | 30
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Henry Bushnell covers global soccer, and occasionally other ball games, for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Question? Comment? Email him at henrydbushnell@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @HenryBushnell.
