Bold Predictions for Biggest Deals of the January Transfer Window

This article will make bold predictions of potential deals made by English Premier League clubs Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal in the upcoming 2014 January transfer window.

The key word being bold so don't expect any of these predictions to come to fruition. 

Feel free to comment below with your own out-there predictions. 

Liverpool Sign Malaga's Vitorino Antunes

Denis Doyle/Getty Images

Why This Bold Prediction Can Be A Successful Hail Mary Pass: Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has La Liga scouting connections, having signed Luis Alberto from Sevilla, Iago Aspas from Celta Vigo and Aly Cissokho on a loan from Valencia. 

With Jose Enrique starting the rehabilitation process after knee surgery and Cissokho not playing at an elite standard, Rodgers needs to sign a left-back in January. 

Malaga's Vitorino Antunes to the rescue.

He is a smart and combative left-back who has the same tackle success percentage (81.0) as Cissokho (38.0) and Lucas (43.0) combined.

An acceptable cross completion percentage is 25.0; well, Antunes completes 31.6 percent of his crosses, 16.7 percent higher than Everton's Leighton Baines.

LEAGUE ONLY	Antunes	Baines	Cissokho	Enrique
Tackles Per Game	3.4	2.9	1.6	1.4
Tackle Success %	81.0	64.0	38.0	53.0
Interceptions Per Game	3.0	1.1	1.2	1.1
Fouls Per Game	1.1	0.7	0.6	0.5
Cross Success %	31.6	14.9	14.3	14.3

Why This Prediction Is Bold: Antunes had a frustrating experience with Roma and Malaga are a club that have treated him kindly.

Why would he leave when he signed on the dotted line this year?

While Rodgers does have a left-back issue, stand-in left-back Jon Flanagan led Liverpool in tackles (nine) and interceptions (four) made during the 3-3 draw against Everton.

So, Flanagan could be the cost-effective solution. 

Manchester City Sign Levante's Keylor Navas

Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images

Why This Bold Prediction Can Be A Successful Hail Mary Pass: The position of Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart, who has gone from hero to zero in the last two years, is so shaky that manager Manuel Pellegrini has to tell reporters Hart won't be loaned out. 

Hart is playing the worst football of his life while Levante's Keylor Navas is performing at an elite standard.

To give you an idea of how superb Navas has been, he has the same amount of clean sheets for Levante as Atletico Madrid's on-loan Chelsea keeper Thibaut Courtois (six). 

LEAGUE ONLY	Hart	Begovic	Navas
Saves Per Game	2.0	3.1	4.4
Save Success %	62.1	72.5	78.5

Why This Prediction Is Bold: How durable are Navas' shoulders?

"I feel a lot of pain and it hurts a lot when I make certain moves," Navas said, via Inside Spanish Football. "The doctor told me that I have to be careful, because if I'm not, it could result in a more serious injury."

City may opt to make a safe transfer and throw money at Stoke City for their goalkeeper Asmir Begovic, per The Sentinel.

Chelsea Sign Nuremberg's Niklas Stark

Lior Mizrahi/Getty Images

Why This Bold Prediction Can Be A Successful Hail Mary Pass: In recent years, Chelsea have used the January transfer window to sign the best available youth prospects on the open market. 

Player	Signed From	Year
Wallace	Fluminense	2013
Kevin de Bruyne	Genk	2012
Patrick Bamford	Nottingham Forest	2012
Franco Di Santo	Audax Italiano	2008
Slobodan Rajkovic	OFK Beograd	2005

Nuremberg's Niklas Stark, an 18-year-old defensive midfielder, competes with seasoned professionals and can grow into a dominant ball-winning footballer. 

In an ideal scenario, the Blues will sign Stark and his teammate, left-back Marvin Plattenhardt, in a £10-15 million packaged deal, then loan them back to Nuremberg to finish the season. 

Why This Prediction Is Bold: Why aim for a defensive midfielder in Stark when Stuttgart's 17-year-old left attacking midfielder Timo Werner and Schalke's 18-year-old central attacking midfielder Max Meyer are future box-office draws? 

Manchester United Sign Udinese's Allan

Dino Panato/Getty Images

Why This Bold Prediction Can Be A Successful Hail Mary Pass: Manchester United targeting then-PSV player Kevin Strootman, now one of the best midfielders in Europe with Roma, and Athletic Bilbao's Ander Herrera in the summer transfer window indicates management want a commanding midfielder. 

Udinese's Allan has taken the ball away from his opponents 74 times in 11 league games, 39 times more than Herrera.

If you haven't seen Allan play before, think a more technically skilled Ramires.

Why This Prediction Is Bold: Alexis Sanchez, Gokhan Inler, Cristian Zapata, Kwadwo Asamoah, Mauricio Isla, Mehdi Benatia, Samir Handanovic, et al. were all let go in the summer. This is why it is unlikely Udinese will sell Allan in the January transfer window. 

Arsenal Sign Hannover 96's Mame Diouf

Ronny Hartmann/Getty Images

Why This Bold Prediction Can Be A Successful Hail Mary Pass: Arsenal need to have a contingency plan in the event of their leading No. 9 Olivier Giroud going down with an injury. 

Mame Diouf's contract at Hannover 96 expires in the summer and, according to a tweet from Bundesliga Fanatic senior editor Niklas Wildhagen: "Both Didier Ya Konan's and Mame Diouf's contracts are expiring at the end of the season. Hannover are now looking at HSV's Artjoms Rudnevs."

Diouf can be a cheap January signing since Nicklas Bendtner is up to his usual shenanigans, you can't bet on Yaya Sanogo playing successive games and Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has ruled out a loan return of the great Thierry Henry. 

Why This Prediction Is Bold: Should Diouf arrive at Arsenal, he will be a squad player as he was at Manchester United. Is he fine with this?

Going by what he said in September, he will probably stay at Hannover.

"I am under contract with Hannover and I like being at the club," Diouf said, from kicker magazine via Thomas Zocher at Sky Sports. "I feel signing for Hannover was the best thing I ever did in my life."

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