So, another January transfer window has passed in the Premier League and most teams have added to their squads. It’s a time when managers and owners get to look at their team’s performance so far and decide which areas they could try to improve. Yet signing players in January can be a tricky and taxing affair. This is due to it being mid-season and both clubs and players being hesitant to make massive changes that might make them regress rather than progress. However that doesn’t mean that there haven’t been some classic January transfers when you look back through the history of the Premier League.
Here then are the most exciting and potentially rewarding transfers that happened this January in England’s top flight.
Bruno Fernandes
We start with the most expensive transfer, with Bruno Fernandes moving from Sporting Lisbon to Manchester United for an eye catching £46.5 million. The 25-year-old midfielder could be exactly what the Red Devils need to fire themselves into the Champions League places after a difficult first six months of the season and they find themselves in seventh place in the table.
Fernandes finished last year with a staggering 32 goals and 18 assists, which is now the most prolific goal scoring season by a midfielder in Europe. How United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær will hope he can continue that kind of record-breaking form in Manchester.
Comparisons will be drawn to another player that made the move from Lisbon to Old Trafford, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Fernandes has said himself that he wishes to emulate CR7’s success. United fans will have their fingers crossed that they could finally have another Portuguese midfield maestro strutting around the field.
Sander Berge
Sheffield United have had an incredible first six months back in the big time after being away from the top tier since their relegation in 2007. Thanks must go to manager Chris Wilder for dragging the club from League One into the Premier League and then having the tactical nouse and confidence in his system to now cement them there.
They now sit in sixth place, which is an incredible achievement for a club that was tipped by many to go straight back down. It’s because of these achievements that the club are managing to attract players that would’ve seemed impossible to capture not long ago. One of these players is 21-year-old Sander Berg who joined from Genk for £22 million.
Signing Berge is a real coup for the Blades, who actually tried to sign him in the summer but were knocked back. Yet with them flying high in the league table, it’s no wonder the Scandinavian hot prospect was now happy to join Wilder’s boys. Berge has also managed to get his national team Norway to a Euro 2020 play-off against Serbia in March. It will be a tricky game, but with his talent in the side, betting sites have his team as slight favourites.
Berge is a towering presence in midfield standing at 6ft 5in tall and has a great reading and understanding of the game for such a young player. He will be on hand to cover the defence when needed and snuff out any danger as it develops in the centre of the field. He will certainly be an intimidating presence for visiting players when they pull up at Bramall Lane.
Steven Bergwijn
Things seem to be on the up for Tottenham Hotspur. After the highs of getting to the Champions League final last year and moving into their new stadium this summer, they were brought back down to earth with some terrible results this season. This forced them to part with manager Mauricio Pochettino and install Jose Mourinho in his place. It seemed like things were going to be just as tough for Mourinho though, after star striker Harry Kane got a serious injury and will now be out for potentially the rest of the season.
Enter 22-year-old Dutch winger Steven Bergwijn, who moved to North London from P.S.V for £25 million. The skillful player found himself the star of Tottenham’s recent victory over Manchester City and capped off a dream debut for the club with an outstanding goal. This win has put the spring back in Spurs’ step and now has them just four points behind Chelsea in the race for Champions League qualification. What an incredible impact for the Dutch international.
Bergwijn is a player that has bags of pace and is at his best when he is running at speed, the ball seemingly stuck to his boots. He will be an exciting addition to the Premier League, and will no doubt give Spurs fans plenty to celebrate in their new home.