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Well, the January transfer window is quite unlike the summer transfer window, to say the least. It's an entirely different scene. Clubs will have had a little while to assess the options at their disposal and they'll try to make sure that they make the right decisions because not a lot of funds would be available halfway through a season.
A lot of pre-contract agreements are also written up for free agents from January. But it doesn't mean that January signings can't be just like the high-profile summer transfer window signings. Manchester United signing Bruno Fernandes is a case in point.
On that note, let's take a look at five high-profile stars who could leave their clubs in January.
#5 Olivier Giroud (Chelsea)
Olivier Giroud proved to be something of a serendipitous find towards the end of last season for Chelsea when Tammy Abraham was struggling with form and injury. The Frenchman has, however, returned to the fringes this season once again with the pairing of Tammy Abraham and Timo Werner preferred over him.
As per reports, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United are among the Premier League teams that are interested in signing him this January. And it is also being widely reported that Giroud also has his heart set on a move away from Stamford Bridge in search of more minutes.
Giroud scored a late winner against Rennes to enable Chelsea to go top of their UEFA Champions League group. The reports further add that Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United will face stiff competition from the likes of Inter Milan, Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Miami.
#4 Isco (Real Madrid)
Isco has fallen in and out favour at Real Madrid and now it looks like the time has finally come for the Spaniard to leave the Santiago Bernabeu. Isco's father and agent Paco Alarcon talked to Spanish radio El Larguero recently and revealed that he son wants to move out of Real Madrid.
“Right now we have not received offers, but he wants to try in another league. Staying [until the summer] would not be a problem
Under Zinedine Zidane, Isco's prominence has faded greatly and he has fallen down the pecking order as he has not been able to make an impact whenever he's been deployed. As such, Real Madrid might just sell him if a good offer comes for him in the winter because they have enough squad depth without him.
#3 Mesut Ozil (Arsenal)
Mesut Ozil will not play for Arsenal until February after he was left out of the squad for the Premier League and the UEFA Europa League. It's a move that has brought a lot of flak and Mesut Ozil has even aired his discontentment at Mikel Arteta for not giving him a fair chance.
However, Arteta hit back saying,
"What I can tell you that I tried my best, I tried to give him as many opportunities as I could. And that from my own side, I’ve been patient, given him opportunities and been fair."
Mesut Ozil will be out of contract in the summer of 2021 and as such, there's every chance that should a team offer a decent amount of money to Arsenal, the club will sell him.
#2 Dele Alli (Tottenham Hotspur)
After initially looking like he'd be the face of the Jose Mourinho era at Tottenham Hotspur, Dele Alli has almost become a forgotten man at the club. Jose Mourinho does not seem to have any sympathy for the Englishman and he desperately needs to move from the club.
Alli has been excluded from seven of Spurs' last eight Premier League matchday squads and hasn't played more than 45 minutes in any of his UEFA Europa League outings either. He was recently named as the 19th member in the squad that faced Manchester City and the 24-year-old watched the game from the stands.
#1 David Alaba (Bayern Munich)
David Alaba and Bayern Munich's fallout over a new deal has gone too public and it's a given that he will leave the club in the summer. Bayern have confirmed multiple times already that talks over an extension has ended and that the club will not offer him a new deal.
Reports suggested that Alaba wanted a new 5-year deal at Bayern Munich that cost around €125 million. Bayern Munich had reportedly offered Alaba a new deal but the Austrian claimed that he was not given enough time to come to a decision and was upset that the club did not do anything against the 'false' reports of the contract demands he had apparently made.
Alaba had said,
"I didn't know how Bayern would react. After the last talks I told Bayern I don't have time. Seven days are not enough for me to decide, I told Bayern that immediately. We'd been travelling a lot, we've had away games, I told Bayern immediately that I wouldn't react."
Liverpool are among the teams that are interested in Alaba but it remains to be seen whether any team would want to go for a cut-price deal in January when they could sign him on a free in the summer.
