4 biggest losers of the 2019 winter transfer window

#1 Arsenal

Arsenal needed defensive reinforcements

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.