The rich got richer in the English Premier League during the January transfer window. Chelsea and Manchester City made the two biggest splashes as the top two teams in the table opened up their accounts and were very active.
Chelsea agreed to sign star winger Juan Cuadrado while Manchester City bolstered their scoring with the addition of last year’s league leader in goals, Wilfried Bony. However, while the top two teams both made strong additions, there were a number of teams that failed to make any major moves and bolster their lineup. As a result, it looks like we’re going to see a two-horse race down the stretch of the EPL season.
Here is a quick look at the three biggest losers during the January transfer window.
Manchester United
United’s pursuit of a Premier League title took a wrong turn throughout December and in to January, and their lack of a major move during the window will only hurt their overall chances even more. Any type of significant addition could have given the team a boost in morale or at least changed the momentum, but it didn’t happen.
Now the focus appears to have shifted to securing a Champions League spot and building for next year, but the fact that there were so many reports surrounding the club and that they never managed to get something done has to be disappointing for the fans at Old Trafford. The rumors surrounding David De Gea won’t go away, and while the team remains very interested in acquiring Gareth Bale and has reportedly set aside money to try and land the star striker in the summer, that does them no good right now. That will be then and this is now, and United didn’t help themselves.
They’ll have a tough time climbing any higher than they are now in the Premier League table – even with a rather easy schedule in February – and if they slide any further, it will make a no-show at the transfer window deadline that much more disappointing.
Arsenal
More than a few heads turned when Arsenal moved Lukas Podolski from Arsenal to Inter Milan, but they certainly weren’t done there as they continued to unload despite being right there in the mix for a Champions League spot.
Yaya Sanogo and Joel Campbell were both moved. And though Arsenal landed both Gabriel Paulista and Krystian Bielik, those aren’t the type of elite level players that are going to make the difference that a player like Cuadrado will make for Chelsea. Arsenal is currently tied for fourth in the Premier League table with Southampton, just two points up on Tottenham and four points up on Liverpool. Maybe even more frustrating is the fact that they are just one point behind United for third and six points behind Man City for second. Even so, they proved to be sellers and as a result, big losers.
There isn’t much room for error for a Gunners team that has already struggled with consistency this season and now that they’ve unloaded, they’ll likely finish out of the top five.
Liverpool
Another team in the mix for a Champions League spot that didn’t add to its roster is Liverpool, who welcomed back Daniel Sturridge to the mix (from injury) but didn’t address any other areas of need. The reports of Mario Balotelli’s exit were clearly exaggerated and while he could forge an interesting partnership up front with Sturridge over the next couple of months, there were a number of other more pressing areas of need that the team failed to address.
Inconsistent play from both United and Arsenal has kept Liverpool in the hunt for a Champions League spot despite its own struggles but they failed to capitalize on the opportunity. The end result could be missing out on a chance to compete with the best in Europe on the Champions League stage next year.
