WHO WILL YOUR TEAM SIGN?
CLUB-BY-CLUB GUIDE TO THE JANUARY WINDOW
ARSENAL
WHAT THEY WANT: A forward, midfielder, right-back, goalkeeper cover. WHO DO THEY LIKE: Alexander Isak (R Sociedad), Jonathan David (Lille), Dejan Kulusevski (Juventus), Denis Zakaria (B M’gladbach), Renato Sanches (Lille), Arthur (Juventus), Douglas Luiz (A Villa). WHO COULD GO: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Eddie Nketiah, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Sead Kolasinac, Mohamed Elneny, Lucas Torreira. WINDOW OUTLOOK: Priority is a forward who can play wide and cut in.
ASTON VILLA
WHAT THEY WANT: A left-back, centreback, attacking midfielder, right-winger. WHO DO THEY LIKE: Josh Doig (Hibs), Aaron Hickey (Bologna), Lucas Digne (Everton), Nicolas Tagliafico (Ajax), Florian Wirtz (Leverkusen), Denis Zakaria (M’gladbach), Glen Kamara, Ryan Kent (Rangers), Dejan Kulusevski (Juventus), James McAtee (Man City). WHO COULD GO: Axel Tuanzebe, Wesley Moraes, Kortney Hause, Bertrand Traore, Trezeguet, Anwar El Ghazi. WINDOW OUTLOOK: Keen to strengthen.
BRENTFORD
WHAT THEY WANT: Goalkeeper, a right-back, attacking midfielder. WHO DO THEY LIKE: Jonas Lossl (Midtjylland, signed £1m), Mykhaylo Mudryk (Shakhtar Donetsk), Brennan Johnson (Nottingham Forest). WHO COULD GO: Pontus Jansson. WINDOW OUTLOOK: Statistics will dictate their additions and manager Thomas Frank says: ‘Targets need to be a good guy who wants to work hard and be part of our culture.’
BRIGHTON
WHAT THEY WANT: A creative forward. WHO DO THEY LIKE: Kacper Kozlowski (Pogon Szczecin), James McAtee (Man City), Ben Brereton Diaz (Blackburn), Lyndon Dykes (QPR), Darwin Nunez (Benfica), Dante Vanzeir (Union SG). WHO COULD GO: Aaron Connolly (on loan to Middlesbrough), Zak Sturge. WINDOW OUTLOOK: Hope to bolster their attacking options to provide extra goal threat. Technical director Dan Ashworth’s discussions over a role at Newcastle could complicate matters.
BURNLEY
WHAT THEY WANT: Striker, attacking midfielder and right-winger with pace, centre-back. WHO DO THEY LIKE: Lyndon Dykes (QPR), Marcus Tavernier (M’brough), Nat Phillips (L’pool), Joe Worrall (N Forest) WHO COULD GO: James Tarkowski (but wants to see out his contract), Jay Rodriguez, Erik Pieters. WINDOW OUTLOOK: Loans more likely. Have a number of players out of contract so are scouring several positions but asking premium fees for Tarkowski, etc.
CHELSEA
WHAT THEY WANT: Centre-back, cover at wing-back and a central midfielder. WHO DO THEY LIKE: Jules Kounde (Sevilla), Nicolas Tagliafico (Ajax), Lucas Digne (Everton), Kieran Trippier (Atletico), Sergino Dest (Barca), Aurelien Tchouameni (Monaco). WHO COULD GO: Ross Barkley, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Malang Sarr, Lewis Baker, Charly Musonda, Andreas Christensen, Hakim Ziyech, Bryan Fiabema. WINDOW OUTLOOK: Injuries mean they will look at wing-backs in particular.
CRYSTAL PALACE
WHAT THEY WANT: Another attacking option. WHO DO THEY LIKE: Eddie Nketiah (Arsenal), Borja Mayoral (Roma). WHO COULD GO: Jean-Philippe Mateta, Jairo Riedewald, Rob Street (loan). WINDOW OUTLOOK: Palace are close to getting an extra forward in to help make more of their chances particularly with Wilfried Zaha, Cheikhou Kouyate and Jordan Ayew at the Africa Cup of Nations. They will then look at midfielders for the summer.
EVERTON
WHAT THEY WANT: Two full-backs and a midfielder are priority plus a forward. WHO DO THEY LIKE: Vitaliy Mykolenko (D Kiev, signed £18m), Nathan Patterson (Rangers), Sean Longstaff (Newcastle), Ainsley Maitland-Niles (Arsenal), Dwight McNeil (Burnley). WHO COULD GO: Lucas Digne, Mason Holgate, Cenk Tosun, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Jonjoe Kenny. WINDOW OUTLOOK: Rafa Benitez wants better defenders and a midfielder who can control the game.
LEEDS UTD
WHAT THEY WANT: A young left-back for U23s and a box-to-box midfielder. WHO DO THEY LIKE: Ross Barkley (Chelsea), Boubacar Kamara (Marseille), John Swift (Reading), Todd Cantwell (Norwich), James Maxwell (Rangers). WHO COULD GO: Crysencio Summerville (loan), Sam Greenwood (loan). WINDOW OUTLOOK: Finances are tight for the quality Leeds want to add so a loan may be best bet for the midfielder they desire.
LEICESTER
WHAT THEY WANT: Cover in the centre of defence. WHO DO THEY LIKE: Will wait to see how injuries recover and weigh up the loan market. Have been offered Ghana defender Abdul Mumin from Vitoria Guimaraes. WHO COULD GO: Daniel Iversen, Hamza Choudhury, Nampalys Mendy WINDOW OUTLOOK: Mounting injuries mean a loan deal or two may be required from what was going to be a quiet window.
LIVERPOOL
WHAT THEY WANT: Midfielder, forward cover. WHO DO THEY LIKE: Jarrod Bowen (West Ham), Denis Zakaria (Borussia Monchengladbach), Franck Kessie (AC Milan). WHO COULD GO: Nat Phillips, Divock Origi (but wanted as cover). WINDOW OUTLOOK: Jurgen Klopp wants to keep his squad intact amid Covid and the Africa Cup of Nations. Injuries could prompt a bid for a midfielder or forward.
MAN CITY
WHAT THEY WANT: Striker. WHO DO THEY LIKE: Erling Haaland (Dortmund), Dusan Vlahovic (Fiorentina), Darwin Nunez (Benfica), Harry Kane (Tottenham). WHO COULD GO: James McAtee, Jayden Braaf, Patrick Roberts (loan, Sunderland). Ferran Torres has already joined Barcelona. WINDOW OUTLOOK: Are open to deals but their transfer focus is on the summer. They will tee up targets and work on contract renewals.
MAN UNITED
WHAT THEY WANT: A midfielder. WHO DO THEY LIKE: Amadou Haidara (RB Leipzig), Boubacar Kamara (Marseille), Declan Rice (West Ham), Aurelien Tchouameni (Monaco). WHO COULD GO: Anthony Martial, Juan Mata, Phil Jones, Axel Tuanzebe (Napoli, loan), Teden Mengi (loan), Shola Shoretire (loan). WINDOW OUTLOOK: Will consider adding a midfielder this window but John Murtough and Ralf Rangnick plan most of their business for summer.
NEWCASTLE
WHAT THEY WANT: Defenders, all four positions. Centre-midfield and a striker. WHO DO THEY LIKE: Kieran Trippier (Atletico Madrid), Sven Botman (Lille), Boubacar Kamara (Marseille), Matheus Nunes (Sporting Lisbon), Moussa Dembele (Lyon), Arthur Cabral (Basle), Marcus Tavernier (Middlesbrough). WHO COULD GO: Sean Longstaff, Dwight Gayle. WINDOW OUTLOOK: Have £50m-plus to spend and will look at loans which, with relegation a threat, are more realistic.
NORWICH
WHAT THEY WANT: A forward is priority but also need a midfielder and full-back. WHO DO THEY LIKE: Dimitri Cavare (Sion). WHO COULD GO: Todd Cantwell, Max Aarons, Bali Mumba (loan), Isak Thorvaldsson. WINDOW OUTLOOK: Norwich don’t intend to do much business but have a bloated squad and will re-channel any sales into Dean Smith’s funds.
SOUTHAMPTON
WHAT THEY WANT: Left -sided centre-back, forward who can cut in from wing, goalkeeper. WHO DO THEY LIKE: Willy Caballero, James Hill (Fleetwood Town), Chukwubuike Adamu (RB Salzburg), Mohamed Ali-Cho (Angers). WHO COULD GO: Kegs Chauke, Jan Bednarek, Fraser Forster. WINDOW OUTLOOK: Chief executive Martin Semmens wants to keep squad intact and is relaxed about January but will assess need for cover as they go.
TOTTENHAM
WHAT THEY WANT: A goalkeeper, attacking right-back, winger, striker. WHO DO THEY LIKE: Nick Pope (Burnley), Adama Traore (Wolves), Dejan Kulusevski (Juventus), Dusan Vlahovic (Fiorentina). WHO COULD GO: Hugo Lloris, Steven Bergwijn, Dele Alli, Matt Doherty, Joe Rodon (loan). WINDOW OUTLOOK: Antonio Conte is hoping director of football Fabio Paratici will add two quality signings to boost European qualification hopes.
WATFORD
WHAT THEY WANT: Goalkeeper, leftback on loan, centre-back preferably on loan or small fee, and midfielder WHO DO THEY LIKE: Maduka Okoye (Sparta Rotterdam, signed), Sead Kolasinac (Arsenal), Kortney Hause (Aston Villa), Joe Rodon (Spurs) WHO COULD GO: Claudio Ranieri if results don’t improve. Ismaila Sarr is widely admired. WINDOW OUTLOOK: Sporting director Cristiano Giaretta has been challenged to sign three players on a small budget.
WEST HAM
WHAT THEY WANT: Left-footed centreback that can cover at left-back in an ideal world. A forward. WHO DO THEY LIKE: Lloyd Kelly (Bournemouth), Rob Dickie (QPR), Jonathan David (Lille), Adam Hlozek (Sparta Prague), Ben Brereton Diaz (Blackburn), Anwar El Ghazi (Aston Villa) WHO COULD GO: Ryan Fredericks, Darren Randolph, Andriy Yarmolenko. WINDOW OUTLOOK: They have identified two quality signings but fear it will be hard to get them this month.
WOLVES
WHAT THEY WANT: A centre-back, winger, striker. WHO DO THEY LIKE: Nikola Milenkovic (Fiorentina), Rob Dickie (QPR), Renato Sanches (Lille), Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Rubin Kazan). WHO COULD GO: Adama Traore. WINDOW OUTLOOK: Forward Hwang Hee-chan will sign permanently from RB Leipzig despite his injury while Dion Sanderson could be recalled from Birmingham to cover for Romain Saiss while he is at the Africa Cup of Nations.