Transfer Window Action a Turn-Off for Champions League Contenders

Sometimes, less is more.

That’s certainly the case with respect to the January transfer window, which may still stir considerable interest—especially in Premier League circles—but is still considered, to a large extent, the last refuge of the desperate.

The news that Newcastle United, for example, spent more than the Bundesliga’s 18 clubs combined is as clear an endorsement of this point of view that anybody could hope to find.

It’s also a point of view habitually endorsed by two of the Champions League’s biggest clubs, Barcelona and Real Madrid, hardly shy spenders but which tend to avoid big moves in the winter window. In fact, in the last five winter windows combined, Real have signed just two players. Barca have signed none at all over the winters during that same period.  

That Barca made any dent at all this winter was forced by circumstance, of course. Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal were both signed last summer but were not allowed to be registered under this transfer period, beginning on January 1, as part of the club's FIFA ban.

This ironically made the pair the ideal January additions, players not beholden to any of the normal on- and off-pitch challenges connected with a mid-season arrival—uprooting homes, living out of a suitcase or getting used to new team-mates, tactical systems and surroundings.

In essence, Turan and Vidal are more acclimatised than any other January newbies ever could be. This situation may yet be repeated depending on the appeal outcome and (if the punishments are upheld) ban deferrals that Real and Atletico Madrid may experience in relation to their own recent sanctions for infringing on FIFA’s rules relating to the transfer of minors.

There is a reason that Barca and Real don’t tend to do business in January. It’s more expensive than making things happen in the summer, and it’s overall more difficult to get megastars (the market to which this pair of behemoths are squarely pitching) to uproot in the middle of a campaign.

In terms of continuity and simply marketing, the summer fallow period makes better sense economically, sportingly and in making sure the news isn’t swallowed by an intense, already rolling calendar of competitive fixtures.

Atleti are in a different boat, of course—not quite in the same stratosphere as the big two, at least commercially, and traditionally more dependent on smart trading to keep their ship sailing in the right direction.

Diego Simeone also had a few specific needs to tend to in January—we’re talking about contingency rather than outright panic—given the nature of the injury to veteran midfielder Tiago, for example, which informed signing Augusto Fernandez and the return of Matias Kranevitter from his loan at River Plate.

Lalo R. Villar/Associated Press/Associated Press

Yet even Los Colchoneros have enjoyed a period of calmness consistent with excellent planning last summer. Diego Godin’s injury in last Saturday’s defeat at the Camp Nou was a blow but gives the little-used Stefan Savic an opportunity to get up to speed before the Champions League resumes.

Last year’s finalists, Italy's Juventus, can applaud themselves for similar foresight, having ridden out the departures of Carlos Tevez, Arturo Vidal and Andrea Pirlo last summer. The club’s work in doing that has become clearer still in recent weeks, as Paulo Dybala has ascended to being one of the division’s very best players.

Juve’s sole winter signing was Rolando Mandragora, who was loaned straight back to Pescara, where he’s been playing on loan from Genoa.

Paris Saint-Germain’s lack of action takes reasoning from this strand. Like Spain’s giants, the French champions wouldn’t have benefited from drafting in a huge name mid-season, especially with such a well-stocked squad already.

That owner Qatar Sports Investment (QSI) would take its lead from the clubs it aspires to emulate makes perfect sense. This group of players was already built with the final stages of the Champions League in mind.

Bayern Munich occupy a similar headspace, of course. The internationally accepted truth is that they too need European glory to validate their season and the tenure of the outgoing Pep Guardiola as a whole, though many in and around the club appreciate the aesthetic (and by definition brand) value that the Catalan coach has brought to the table as its defining characteristic already.

Their sole January signing, that of Spartak Moscow defender Serdar Tasci on loan on the window’s final day, may seem like the typical sort of panic we often associate with January moves, authored in reactions to a layoff from Jerome Boateng and another injury scare for his immediate replacement, Javi Martinez.

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In fact, the Tasci signing is exactly what a January move should be—the right one, instead of the eye-catching one. There’s no doubt that Bayern required cover, but the 28-year-old Tasci ticked plenty of the right boxes, with a good knowledge of the Bundesliga as a Stuttgart youth product (and veteran of 181 games in the competition), as well as an international pedigree with Germany.

That ethos, of the sensible rather than the sexy, was behind Arsenal’s pickup of Mohamed Elneny from Basel to challenge the now-integral Francis Coquelin for the holding midfield role.

Arsene Wenger may have become known for his stubbornness, but even he must be acutely aware of the extent to which his team have become dependent on Coquelin in the past 12 months. With this in mind, it’s not much of a stretch to say that Elneny (who comes with considerable top-level European experience already under his belt) could be the deal that keeps them in the mix until the final straight.

Opportunism will always have its place in the January window too, a motivation which explains Chelsea’s snaring of Alexandre Pato and Roma’s moves for Stephan El Shaarawy and Diego Perotti. Zenit Saint Petersburg, who have been relatively low-profile since their recruitment of Hulk and Axel Witsel in 2012, brought in much-feted striker Aleksandr Kokorin and the experienced Yuri Zhirkov in similar circumstances.

With El Shaarawy’s excellent start at the Olimpico and Kokorin’s clear potential to improve, these are deals that could have a bearing on the upcoming last-16 ties.  

On the whole, though, there will be considerable comfort in finding familiar lineups in front of us when battle recommences on February 16. The January transfer window is for emergencies, as Europe’s giants have reminded us so well.