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It has been a busy winter transfer window for most of the Premier League clubs. From the traditional 'Big Six', Tottenham and Manchester United have been big spenders while Manchester City and Chelsea kept their proceedings low-key with no players coming in.
Usually, the winter transfer window is that part of the season when clubs look to bring in players rather than off-loading them, with intentions of meeting their season objectives. This window saw a rather mixed response by the clubs as few of them ended up off-loading more players than recruiting some.
With all the new talent coming in, today we take a look at the top 5 signings from this winter transfer window, who are unlikely to succeed at their new club. Without much ado, here are our top 5 picks of the day!
#5 Kyle Walker-Peters (Southampton)
After struggling for minutes at Tottenham, Kyle Walker-Peters has made a switch to Southampton on a loan deal which runs through the end of the season.
As stalwarts like Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld have been aging for quite some time now, Spurs have begun their defensive revolution way back at the beginning of the previous season when they brought in players like Serge Aurier, Juan Foyth and Davinson Sanchez.
With Southampton's Cedric Soares moving to Arsenal on loan, Walker-Peters will find it easy to break into the first team as a regular starter but he finds himself in a squad that has been exposed time and again for their defensive flaws.
Having had average performances for Spurs beside a fairly strong back-line of Vertonghen, Alderweireld and Danny Rose, Walker-Peters is not expected to be a game-changer for the struggling and unimpressive Southampton defence where the back-four is going to be under immense pressure every minute of the game.
#4 Nabil Bentaleb (Newcastle United)
Since his departure from Premier League, Nabil Bentaleb has not been one of the most consistent players around Europe. Now he finds himself under the guard of Steve Bruce at Newcastle who is vying to keep the club afloat in the Premier League table's bottom half.
The Algerian fell out of favour at his previous club Schalke, which resulted in him openly expressing his desire to move away from Germany, especially to England - a country where he has played before, in his prime.
Signed to increase the squad depth in the midfield, Bentaleb had a poor debut against Oxford United when he was chosen in place of an injured Jonjo Shelvey.
To impress the Magpies' supporters, the 25-year-old will have to outperform the likes of Shelvey, Sean Longstaff and other upcoming stars, a feat which seems highly unlikely considering Bruce's confidence in both the existing midfielders.
#3 Odion Ighalo (Manchester United)
As a replacement for injured main striker Marcus Rashford, Manchester United was tipped to go for a striker in the winter transfer window, but the high profile pursuit of Bruno Fernandes left the club with hardly enough time for any serious negotiations for the forward position.
The Red Devils eventually moved for Odion Ighalo in the wee hours of the transfer deadline day, on a loan arrangement, which seemed to be a panic buy for a club of United's stature.
The red half of Manchester has been struggling with a mini goal drought in the absence of Rashford, and this means that the club needs someone right now who can adapt immediately to the Premier League conditions and starts banging in goals right from his debut.
Ighalo has way too little time to adapt at United considering his last spell in a very different Chinese League with Shanghai Shenhua.
Though the Nigerian has Premier League experience with Watford, it is unlikely that he will succeed very soon again in England, with existing players like Anthony Martial and Mason Greenwood competing for his spot.
Also Read: Josh King frustrated over failed Old Trafford move
#2 Pablo Mari (Arsenal)
The Gunners have begun their defensive overhaul as centre-backs David Luiz and Shkodran Mustafi fail to meet expectations week in week out. In a response to the same, the club has brought in Pablo Mari from Flamengo and Cedric Soares from Southampton, both on loan deals.
It is highly unlikely that Mikel Arteta will go for an immediate shuffle at the centre-back position and will slowly bring in the new signings in the starting eleven, which means that Pablo Mari has a big ladder to climb to seal his spot as a regular starting defender.
Arteta is tipped to give the existing defenders some more time and will prefer Cedric Soares in the beginning as he already has established himself in the English Premier League conditions.
Also, Pablo Mari comes from the Brazilian league which is tactically very different from English football and this makes it even more difficult for Mari to adapt faster, especially when he only has a few months to make an impression.
In addition to this, Mari's statistics at Flamengo also reveal that despite looking as an impressive centre-back, his numbers regarding interceptions, clearances and tackles succeeded have not been very good for a player who has been brought in to change fortunes for the Arsenal defence.
#1 Gedson Fernandes (Tottenham)
With Christian Eriksen almost on a sabbatical at Tottenham for quite some time leading to his move to Inter Milan this winter, Gedon Fernandes found himself in a favourable position in the Jose Mourinho camp.
But with the recent signing of Dutch midfielder Steven Bergwijn and exercising of the buyout clause of Giovani Lo Celso, Fernandes' chances of success look as bleak as his chances of getting a starting eleven spot.
His competition apart from Bergwijn and Lo Celso also include players like Moussa Sissoko and Tanguy N'Dombele who are perfect for Mourinho's managerial style, and this puts Gedson into an even tighter position to make an impression at the London based club.
Also, with Bergwijn impressing on his debut with a goal against Manchester City, it will be even more difficult for Mourinho to drop him and play Fernandes now. On an individual front, the 21-year-old also hasn't been really impressive for Spurs.
Overall, the stint at Tottenham looks absolutely dicey for the Portuguese midfielder with a squad full of midfield talent and a manager who is not known to have patience with his players.
