With the January transfer window coming to a close and all deals now finalized, here’s a recap and grade of each team’s window.

Arsenal

Grade: D+

In:

Denis Suarez (Loan from Barcelona w/ option to buy)

Arsenal’s biggest weakness is by far their defense, and they did nothing to address that. Denis Suarez is a solid pick up but I don’t see him being a consistent starter in this team. He’ll likely just be depth and will rotate in and out of the squad. Arsenal’s biggest plus from the winter transfer window is that they held onto Aaron Ramsey and kept him from joining Juventus. Again, Suarez is a decent edition but they better hope their defense doesn’t blow their chance at a top 4 spot because it’s been pretty bad up till this point in the season.

Chelsea

Grade: B-

In:

Christian Pulisic (Loaned back to Dortmund till summer)

Gonzalo Higuain (Loan from Juventus w/ options to buy or extend)

Out:

Cesc Fabregas (To Monaco)

Alvaro Morata (Loaned to Atletico Madrid with option to buy)

The best way to describe this window for Chelsea is that it could have been worse. They addressed their biggest need which was a striker hopefully upgraded at the position with bringing in Higuain, but that remains to be seen because Higuain hasn’t been top level so far this year with Milan. Worse case scenario he’s worthless just like Morata and then you’re back to square one. Chelsea’s big signing won’t even be joining the club till after the season so it does absolutely nothing for them this year in their battle for a top 4 spot. Fabregas was sold off to Monaco due to little playing time under Sarri’s system. I still believe that Fabregas could contribute but the departure doesn’t impact the team much since he was getting no playing time. And lastly of course, Morata is out on loan. Morata’s career at Chelsea got off to such a hot start and fell to pieces. What a shame. In the end with Pulisic not joining the team yet, Higuain is the only impact signing so we’ll see how that turns out. I’ll give them a B- at this point in time.

Liverpool

Grade: N/A

Liverpool made no January signings, but can you blame them. The team has been firing on all cylinders up to this point so they really don’t need anybody else. They were rumors they would be in for a back up striker but with Sturridge staying there’s really no need. As far as departures from the team there was nothing big. Nathaniel Clyne left on loan to Bournemouth and Dominic Solanke was sold to Bournemouth but again neither of these affect the current squad in any way. Liverpool should be set to this season to win some silverware as long as they can avoid any big injuries.

Manchester City

Grade: N/A

Manchester much like Liverpool made no big splashes as they had no glaring weaknesses. They did sign an 18 year old Croatian and immediately loaned him back to his club, but other than that they had no additions. Brahim Diaz being sold to Real Madrid was their biggest departure but he sees zero playing time for City, so no change really.

Manchester United

Grade: F

Look this winter January transfer window was terrible, there were really no moves being made and United much like Liverpool and City made zero additions. But the reason I’m giving United an F is that unlike Liverpool and City they don’t sit in 1st or 2nd place in the table and they definitely could have improved. United’s biggest weakness is for sure their defense. Granted I’ll give it to them that they have been playing better under Solksjaer, they still could have improved. Young is 33 and will need to be replaced soon, so they could have upgraded at RB. Then of course United could have upgraded at CB. I’ll admit that Jones and Lindelof aren’t bad players but they’re the type of guys that get paired with a top tier CB to make a great CB pairing. Either of them would be the Gary Cahill to John Terry, but unfortunately for United they’re missing a John Terry. This was something that Mourinho wanted addressed in the summer transfer window but now they’ve failed twice so surely they have to address this issue in the coming summer transfer window.

Tottenham

Grade: F

What in the hell are Tottenham even doing? Not only did they not sign a soul in the summer transfer window they follow it up by not signing anybody in January as well. I mean why would they sign anybody though? Their sitting in 3rd place and who really cares about winning the league lol. You know you’d think after finishing third in the premier league last season and having such a good young team that Tottenham would have an ounce of ambition and sign some more players, but apparently they are good where they’re at will will be happy with another third place finish. I mean look, as a Chelsea fan I’d be ecstatic with a 3rd place finish but to not even try to reach higher has to be a little upsetting for their fans.

Harry Redknapp is the Tottenham board and Luka Modric are the fans

Well there you have it, this was one of the worst January transfer windows in recent memory. Not only was their a lack of big names on the move there was little to no drama leading up to deadline day. I’m going to give the transfer window as a whole a solid D-.

January Transfer Window Grades