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The old cliche of ‘there’s no value in January’ still rings true, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t a few gems.
Last winter saw Chelsea blow the word ‘value’ out of the water by spending over £200million on Enzo Fernandez and Mykhailo Mudryk alone, but that hasn’t always been the case.
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Even the Blues in their heavy-spending days under Roman Abramovich found a number of bargains in January.
They’re far from the only ones, though, giving plenty of hope to 2023/24’s Premier League strugglers.
Tottenham have been paying attention, going early to bring in Timo Werner and Radu Dragusin, while rivals Arsenal are lagging behind, with the general consensus that they’re in desperate need of a striker.
Key signings at this juncture turn also-rans into title winners.
But what does history tell us about where to look in January, well it starts in defence…
Goalkeeper – Asmir Begovic
Begovic joined Stoke for £3.25million on February 1 2010 after jumping around on loan while at Portsmouth, but to say he settled is an understatement.
The Bosnian went on to rack up a mammoth 172 appearances for the Potters where, became, under Tony Pulis, he becoming a legend among the fanbase before his departure to Chelsea in 2015.
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Right-back – Branislav Ivanovic
Considered by many as Cheslea’s best ever right-back, and perhaps the Premier League’s greatest ever too, the £9.7m dished out to Lokomotiv Moscow is one the Blues most legendary investments.
Arriving in January 2008, the stocky Serb could do it all, chipping in with goals, assists, tackles, and blocks – and even did a good turn at centre-back too.
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Left-back – Patrice Evra
Manchester United landed Evra from Monaco in 2006, beating Inter Milan to his signature.
Snapping up the France international for £5.5million, it’s fair to say they scored one of the biggest bargains in league history.
Evra went on to win 14 trophies as a Red Devil, notching five Premier League titles to become one of the greatest defenders the division has ever seen.
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Centre-back – Virgil van Dijk
Liverpool had to wait for Van Dijk after failing to agree a deal with Southampton in the summer of 2017, but boy was it worth it.
Joining for a club record £75m on December 27, Reds fans had the best late Christmas present they could have asked for, with Van Dijk key in landing all seven trophies on offer, while becoming an all-time great.
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Centre-back – Nemanja Vidic
Relatively unknown at the time, Vidic signed for Manchester United from Spartak Moscow in 2006, and the rest was history.
Now widely-recognised as one of the league’s best-ever defenders, Vidic’s partnership with Rio Ferdinand is the stuff of legend, and the Serbian left for Inter in 2014 with 15 major trophies under his belt.
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Centre-back – Gary Cahill
It might be rare to see an all-star eleven with an overloaded defence, but in this case it’s easy to see why.
Cahill was attracting interest from a number of clubs when it became clear he was leaving Bolton in 2008, but the Blues won the sweepstakes.
The England defender went on to win eight titles alongside John Terry, including the club’s Holy Grail of the Champions League, making his £7m fee an absolute snip.
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Midfield – Nemanja Matic
Chelsea once again showed their January know-how when they signed Nemanja Matic from Benfica for £21million in 2014.
Matic had previously turned out for the Blues as a youngster, but he returned as an all-conquering defensive midfielder, proving crucial in two Premier League titles and an FA Cup.
He then made Chelsea a decent profit in 2017 when he joined Manchester United for £40m.
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Midfield – Bruno Fernandes
It may be slightly hard to remember given this season’s struggles, but Fernandes was an absolute sensation on arrival from Sporting CP in 2020.
The Portuguese racked up 20 goal involvements in just half a season after his £47m January arrival, and followed that up with 46 in 58 games the next year.
Now captain and his country’s most important player, United showed that going big in the winter to get your man isn’t necessarily a bad idea.
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Midfield – Philippe Coutinho
Coutinho looked like he might not fulfil his promise from Brazil with a failed move to Inter, but Liverpool were there to pick up the pieces in 2013.
Buying the magician for just £8.5m, Coutinho quickly became a favourite not just at Anfield but across the Premier League.
Key in the Jurgen Klopp revolution, Coutinho then gave Liverpool the biggest profit in league history by joining Barcelona for £142m in 2018, allowing them to land Alisson Becker and become an elite level side once again.
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Striker – Luis Suarez
Liverpool were left in a panic when Fernando Torres ditched them for Chelsea mid-season in 2011, but they somehow managed to come out on top.
That’s despite wasting £35m of the £50m they received on Andy Carroll, as the rest went on Luis Suarez from Ajax.
The Uruguayan went on to be one of the most unplayable strikers English football has ever seen, and while that only resulted in a single trophy for the Reds, it wasn’t down to Suarez who proved to be one of the most electric players in Premier League history.
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Striker – Edin Dzeko
Before Sergio Aguero it’s easy to forget there was Edin Dzeko.
Aguero may have scored the club’s most important-ever goal in 2012 when he won the Premier League in stoppage time, but that was only possible as Dzeko had equalised minutes earlier.
The Bosnian joined six months earlier than Aguero in 2011, signing for £27million from Wolfsburg, and is arguably the crucial player in taking City from big spenders to serial winners.
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