Premier League transfer window
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Premier League: Ranking every team’s transfer window

Qasim Mujtaba Naqvi·
Premier League
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Here we rank every Premier League team based on the impact of their January transfer window and their respective actions in the market…

20. Chelsea

Frank Lampard was left blue-faced (no pun intended) on the 31st, when he quashed a month of speculation by announcing Olivier Giroud would be staying at Chelsea. Despite reiterating a need for reinforcements, Super Frankie was not able to sign a single player in the window. The lack of activity left many scratching their heads, especially given that Chelsea’s transfer ban had just been lifted after a year. After signing nobody in the summer due to the aforementioned ban, Lampard was looking forward to moves that could help him strengthen the team’s stuttering top four challenge.

Instead, highly-rated youngster Tariq Lamptey left the club for Brighton, while first team players Victor Moses, Marc Guehi, and Danny Drinkwater all left on loan. They might not have been first-choice in their respective positions, but they were still options to be called upon. With fellow top four challengers Tottenham, Manchester United, and Sheffield United all making changes, Lampard faces an uphill battle for a Champions League berth next season. Funnily enough, the club’s verified Twitter account posted the tweet above to stifle the unrest caused by a lack of signings. A testing four months await.

19. Bournemouth 

Like Chelsea, Bournemouth needed to sign players to push on in the second half of the season. Also like Chelsea, Bournemouth failed to sign anyone. However, Bournemouth are navigating through financial issues as a club and don’t possess the necessary spending power. This affords them just enough leeway to rank a spot above Chelsea.

Even so, while Lampard’s men fight for a European spot at the top of the table, Bournemouth linger just 2 points above the relegation zone at the time of writing. An otherwise uneventful window could’ve ignited on deadline day had Bournemouth not asked Manchester United to cough up £50 million for Joshua King. As it turned out, Bournemouth let Asmir Begovic leave on loan and their squad has only gotten thinner.

18. Everton

For a club that recently recruited one of Europe’s top coaches and pipped Arsenal to his signature, Everton weren’t ambitious enough in January. By that I mean they attempted nothing at all. The club’s owner, Farhad Moshiri, reportedly sees Europa League as the bare minimum for this season – but his unwillingness to cough up funds didn’t align with his expectations.

Everton also rejected an £85 million bid from Barcelona for Richarlison. Striker Cenk Tosun was the most notable departure after heading to Crystal Palace on loan, and the Merseyside club’s failure to rid themselves of Oumar Niasse sums up the nature of their transfer window.

17. Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace, like Everton, pushed for nothing. Their search for a reliable striker seemingly continues – and we can add Cenk Tosun to a list already containing Conor Wickham, Alexander Sorloth, Christian Benteke, Glenn Murray, and Jordan Ayew among others.

With no high profile departures, Palace have currently amassed 30 points and sit 6 points above the relegation zone. Roy Hodgson’s experience should be enough to guide them from there to a mid-table finish, but one must wonder where the club is headed. While Wilfred Zaha didn’t attract much interest this time around, he’s expected to turn heads in July and a move to greener pastures seems justified.

16. Burnley

Burnley, another Premier League side that seemed a little too comfortable, completed the most notable move of their transfer window by recalling an in-form Nahki Wells from his loan spell at QPR and selling him off to Bristol City.

They find themselves in a similar situation to Crystal Palace, but possess a game in hand. Sean Dyche seems confident in his side’s ability to secure another season in England’s top flight – but it’ll be interesting to see whether his confidence is misplaced or reflective of good foresight.

15. Norwich City

Norwich sit 6 points from safety at the foot of the table right now, with Daniel Farke’s men looking perilously close to the point of no recovery. They were able to hold on to crucial players like Teemu Pukki and Todd Cantwell, while adding Bundesliga stalwarts Ondrej Duda and Lukas Rupp to the mix.

However, will their dealings provide enough quality to keep them afloat? It’s difficult to say – but more business was due for the Canaries. As it stands, they’ll have to battle it out for another season at this level and are unlikely to find any relief until the very end of the season.

14. Southampton

There isn’t much to report on the South Coast except a straight swap at right-back. Kyle Walker-Peters joins from Tottenham on loan, while Cedric Soares heads to Arsenal for the remainder of the season.

Southampton also loaned out club veteran Maya Yoshida to Serie A side Sampdoria. Other than that, the Saints board evidently trust Ralph Hasenhuttl to see them through to a mid-table finish, with the team in 11th at the time of writing.

13. Watford

For what they seemingly want to achieve, Watford seem to be doing quite well. They’ve signed Ignacio Pussetto from Udinese and Brazilian prodigy João Pedro will finally link up with the squad.

Despite sitting 19th in the league, their style of play is improving and the squad looks well-stacked for a run aimed at surviving the drop. Whether they can accomplish it or not is another matter, but they’ve definitely set themselves up well for a late charge.

12. Manchester City

It’s almost as if Manchester City have given up on chasing Liverpool now, with their half-hearted business indicating a lack of interest. Guardiola’s money-throwing tendencies were on show during the winter transfer window, as he shipped out Angeliño to RB Leipzig with an option to buy just six months after his Premier League arrival. That leaves them with an injury-prone Benjamin Mendy and a makeshift Oleksandr Zinchenko at left-back.

Moreover, director of football Txiki Begiristain wasn’t able to get Pep the centre-back he asked for. Given that the club are very much alive in domestic cups and the Champions League, the lack of activity makes very little sense and is reminiscent of the transfer windows Pep had right before his departure from both Barcelona and Bayern.

11. Arsenal

For a team that qualified for the Champions League in 19 consecutive seasons, Arsenal’s absence from Europe’s top competition is astounding. The fact that they’re currently 12th in the table, 25 games into the season, is absolutely shocking.

Mikel Arteta’s first Premier League transfer window has come and gone, with the Gunners loaning Pablo Marí from Flamengo and Cedric Soares from Southampton. Early signs are encouraging, and fans remain hopeful – but there’s a lot of ground to make up for Arteta’s men if they’re to reach Europe, let alone the Champions League.

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