4 biggest losers of the 2019 winter transfer window

The 2019 winter transfer window officially closed on the 31st of January and that signified that all clubs in Europe would have to make do with whatever players they have in their squad.

There was expectedly a lot of movement within this winter window, with clubs making last-ditch attempts to strengthen their squads. And while some clubs largely made some acquisitions which were significant, others were left lagging behind as they either failed to land their intended targets, did not make signings at all or got extremely overrated players for an inflated amount.

In this piece, we shall be taking a look at the four biggest losers from the 2019 January transfer window.

#4 PSG

Neymar has been ruled out through injury

The Parisian moneybags were hit with the news late last month that marquee signing Neymar had suffered a recurrence of the injury he sustained last year. This meant that he would be ruled out for at least two months, meaning he would miss their make or mar Champions League clash with Manchester United.

It is no secret that the French outfit has sought European dominance ever since their billion dollar take over in 2009, with billions of pounds invested into player and coach recruitment in order to achieve that aim.

With Neymar's injury, the club made frantic attempts to get a replacement for their Brazilian superstar, enquiring about Willian and Mesut Ozil, with nothing coming out of either deal.

Earlier on, they were also left with their tails in between their legs after they were turned down by highly rated Ajax midfielder Frenkie de Jong who chose to move to Barcelona despite the Parisiens reportedly leading the race for his signature.

PSG were linked to numerous players including Idrissa Gueye, Willian, Mesut Ozil and Frenkie de Jong, but ended up getting only Zenit St Peterburg's Leandro Paredes for a grossly inflated sum of €40 million.

This coupled with a potential loss of wantaway midfielder Adrian Rabiot for free in the summer, means PSG have had a horror show.

#3 Idrissa Gueye

Idrissa Gueye has slowly but steadily established himself as one of the more underappreciated holding midfielders in the Premier League and led the way for tackles made in the entire division in the 2016/2017 season.

The 29-year-old emerged as a late surprise target for PSG during the winter window, with Everton refusing to entertain offers for him despite repeated inquests by the Ligue 1 side, leading Gueye to submit a transfer request in a bid to force through the move.

Everton were however determined in their resolve not to let the Senegalese international go and the result was that Gueye still finds himself at Merseyside for at least another six months.

It is not every time that an offer from one of the biggest clubs in the world comes by for a player, with titles guaranteed to be won and his wages sure to be increased and with Gueye missing this opportunity, it might be one which does not come around again in his career.

#2 Tottenham

Tottenham Hotspur made no signings for a second window running

Tottenham made history last summer when they became the first club in Premier League history not to make a signing during the summer transfer window and they have gone one further by becoming the first side to go two consecutive windows without any new addition.

Although the club has done relatively well in keeping up with the big spenders at the top of the table (they are just two points behind Manchester City) and made it to the knockout rounds of the UCL, the fact that they have failed to augment their squad is one that would not sit well with too many fans.

Given, the club is in the midst of a Stadium rebuild which guarantees that funds would be on a premium, Spurs have been operating on a frugal method for too long.

Pochettino and Daniel Levy deserve credit for forging Tottenham into a top Premier League team without breaking the bank, but for them to take that next step into being genuine title contenders, they must begin to match the bigger clubs in terms of spending.

Harry Kane and Dele Alli are currently sidelined with injuries and the club failing to try to replace them could cost them in their quest to fulfil their season's objectives.

#1 Arsenal

It has long been an established fact that Arsenal are one of the more frugal 'big' clubs in Europe, operating on a cost-effective method of buying young players on the cheap and selling them for higher amounts when they come of age.

It is a method that drew constant ire from the fans with Arsene Wenger the target of their frustrations.

The big money arrivals of Mesut Ozil, Pierre Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette in recent years seemingly ushered in a new era of big spending. So it must have come as a shock to fans of the Gunners when manager Unai Emery suggested that Arsenal were not in a financial position to make any permanent transfers, with loan arrivals the only option.

Arsenal's defence has not really been their strongest point this season, while they are also a bit short in midfield, so it was expected that the club would go all out to fill in these voids.

However, the club failed to land any significant transfer coup, failing in their half-hearted pursuit of Inter Milan's Ivan Perisic, while their only arrival was Barcelona outcast Denis Suarez.

In another twist, they also failed to offload Mesut Ozil who is on a rather very high wage but doesn't seem to be in the plans of Unai Emery, while highly-rated head of recruitment Sven Mislintat departed the club barely a year after taking up the job.

All in all, it was a disastrous transfer window for Arsenal and only the most optimistic of fans would believe they can achieve a top-four finish.