When discussing the winter transfer window in the English Premier League, one of the arguments you will probably hear often is that it is not the ideal period to bring in new players. Examples of multi-million pound transfers that flopped completely, like Fernando Torres moving from Liverpool to Chelsea for £50 million in January 2011 or Andy Carroll going from Newcastle to Liverpool in that same year for £35 million, are likely to follow that argument. But what about the likes of Virgil van Dijk coming to Liverpool in January 2018? Or Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang moving from Dortmund to Arsenal that same January?
The clubs in the Premier League brought in 50 new players this January and this figure includes moves like Tottenham making Giovani Lo Celso’s loan deal permanent. Sheffield United, Wolves and Aston Villa brought in the most new players with five incoming transfers, while Newcastle, Norwich and Watford share second place in terms of volume by welcoming four new faces each. The clubs are trying to match available players to their existing team to cover weakness and provide competition amongst their players just like match-bonus-code.co.uk helps match online players with bonuses. In this piece, we want to take a look at some of the transfers from the 2019-2020 campaign’s winter transfer window that have the potential to be a direct reinforcement for their new teams. In this case we will not be considering any loan deals made permanent, like the previously mentioned Lo Celso deal, but only players that are brought in by their new English employers during the January 2020 transfer window.
Sander Berge – Sheffield United (undisclosed fee)
After 98 appearances and 6 goals for Belgian side RC Genk since moving there from Norwegian club Valerenga in the summer of 2017, Sheffield United put down an undisclosed fee on the table to bring him to Bramall Lane. It may have been a surprise move for some, but the 21-year old has already been playing at the highest international for some years now, including in the Champions League with Genk and in tournament qualification rounds with the Norway national team for which he has already clocked 20 games. Not bad for a young central midfielder whose best is undoubtedly still to come. Blades manager Chris Wilder did not hesitate when he put Berge in the starting lineup just a day after finalising his move to the club. The Norwegian international played in the place of Lundstram and made it to 67 minutes before being taken off with his first 3 FPL points in the pocket. His position on the pitch and his goalscoring history at his previous clubs might not be too appealing from an FPL point of view, but he might be getting plenty of minutes over the second half of the season and at £5m, he could come into the mix as a fifth midfielder pick.
Steven Bergwijn – Spurs (£27 million)
If immediate impact would be the key parameter to judge the success of a January transfer, then Steven Bergwijn is probably this winter window’s best signing. Spurs boss José Mourinho welcomed the Dutch forward on January 29th and surprised the fiso forum members with a starting spot for his new signing just a few days later when reigning champions Manchester City came to London. Despite the skyblue dominance that game, Spurs got away with a 2-0 victory and it was Bergwijn who scored the opening goal with a wonderful low volley after a Lucas Moura pass. He was taken off just a couple of minutes later, in the 69th minute, but his debut for the North London could not have gone better. Bergwijn is classified as a midfielder in FPL, but he is more of a winger and he will be aiming for one of the spots on the wings or the number 10 berth. With the likes of Moura, Son, and Lo Celso all fit, competition is fierce and Stevie will most likely need some more time to really completely adapt to the Premier League, but with 10 FPL points from his first game, he has hit the ground running.
Danny Rose – Newcastle (loan)
England international Danny Rose has joined Newcastle United on loan from Tottenham Hotspur until the end of the season. The 29-year-old full back, who played in the 2018 World Cup semi-final and the 2019 Champions League final, was brought in by Magpies’ head coach Steve Bruce after starting left-back Jetro Willems suffered a season-ending injury. Rose got 11 minutes as a substitute for his new club during the first game after his move and it looks like he will be slotting right into the starting lineup. The question here is for which position he will be aiming, because Matt Ritchie is fit again and likely to play left wing-back and Rose played on the left side of the midfield when he came on for Allan Saint-Maximin in gameweek 25. The Spurs man has played higher up the pitch before for his previous club and it will be interesting to see if Steve Bruce has a similar role in mind for him during this second part of the season. That could make him a decent differential pick in FPL. It’s hard to imagine Rose not starting for Newcastle, so just keep an eye on the Magpies news for more information on his role in the squad.
Bruno Fernandes – Manchester United (£47 million)
The biggest transfer of the 2019-2020 Premier League’s winter transfer window is the move of Bruno Fernandes from Sporting Lisbon to Manchester United for £47 million. The Red Devils are going through a disappointing season and one of the reasons for that has been the lack of top class quality on the midfield. This, of course, can not be seen as completely unconnected to Pogba’s situation at the club. In any case, Fernandes was brought in to bolster the central midfield and it’s not too hard to see why when looking at his stats for Sporting: 63 and 52 assists in 137 games. As a result, he also has 19 caps for the Portuguese national team on his name and he was part of the Portugal squad that won the first UEFA Nations League in 2019. United coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer put him in the starting lineup against Wolves at Old Trafford in gameweek 25, just a couple of days after moving to Manchester, and he completed the 90 minutes. He recorded just 2 FPL points from that game, but he did leave a very good impression, in part thanks to creating more danger and having more attempts on goal than any other United player. At £8m, he’s quite expensive in the official game, but 2.2% of managers have already snapped him up. It seems unlikely that Fernandes will be involved in the goals as much as he was at Sporting, but we find it hard to imagine him not being a fixture in United’s starting lineup for the rest of the season.