January Transfer Window – Should it stay or should it go?

So, the dust has settled after the latest English transfer deadline day. We are now left to ponder our clubs new signings and decide whether they can make a positive impact in the second half of the season.

The January transfer window is notorious for panicky transfers, usually from those threatened by relegation or those with faltering title ambitions. A year ago we saw the desperate purchase of the ‘£50 million flop’ Fernando Torres, along with the baffling £38.5 million sale of Andy Carroll. Chelsea and Liverpool had poor starts to last season and tried to buy their way out of trouble. In January 2011, £225 million was spent on transfers. The £88.5 million spent on Torres and Carroll alone exceeded the £60 million spent by clubs in this window. Such a huge decline in transfer activity beckons the question as to why clubs have been more reluctant to splash out on mid-season signings.

Thats not to say that there weren’t several very interesting deals during January. Paul Scholes came out of retirement and slotted straight back into the Manchester United starting XI with great effect. In addition, we saw the return of arguably the greatest player to have ever graced the Barclays Premier League, Thierry Henry. Instead of breaking the bank in an effort to step up their title bids, Arsenal and United opted to look towards free deals for experienced, proven players.

Scholes scores on his return to United

As does Henry on his return to Arsenal

Louis Saha’s free transfer to Tottenham was probably the strangest deal on Tuesday until it was announced that Spurs had also signed Ryan Nelson. At 34 years old and with a history of bad injury problems, he is a big gamble. Harry Redknapp clearly felt that it was imperative to add more experience to his squad as both are well past their prime. Everton attempted to please their ever demanding fans by splashing out on £5.5 million Rangers striker Nikica Jelavic. QPR were the busiest of the lower place Premier League clubs with the signings of several players, including Bobby Zamora and Djibril Cisse for £6 million and £4 million respectively. Mark Hughes has made his ambitions clear since joining the club following the sacking of Neil Warnock and his dealings on deadline day reaffirmed these ambitions. Chelsea spent £7 million on Gary Cahill, a player whose form has flattered to deceive this season. They also acquired unproved winger Kevin De Bruyne for £9 million, although reports say he will be loaned back to his club Genk for the rest of the season.

Louis Saha at the Spurs Lodge

A key element was missing from this latest window – there were no marquee signings from the big clubs. No shocking, last minute, panic buys which often make January such an interesting time for football fans. Last season saw Torres, Carroll, Bent, Luiz and Dzeko all moving in big money deals. That was lacking this year and with FIFA financial fair play rules coming into effect from 2013 I can’t help but feel like a trend has been set. Football club owners are clearly keeping a tighter rein on their finances and this was reflected by the lack of activity in this window. I have never been an advocate of the transfer window system and think that clubs should be able to deal all year round. This certainly would help situations like that at Man City with Carlos Tevez and would probably help promote better finances for all football clubs.

I’m certainly not confident that this is what FIFA will do, but I think it would help. Are you a fan of the transfer windows? Were you also disappointed this year? Leave a comment in the section below.