Complete A to Z of the 2015 January Transfer Window
It's over. Big Ben has chimed and the January transfer window has slammed shut. But what did we learn from it?
It wasn't perhaps the most spectacular window we've ever seen, but enough deals happened to keep us talking and keep interest high as players swapped clubs, countries and sometimes even continents.
Here's a complete A to Z of the month.
A Is for Altidore
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In 40 Premier League appearances for Sunderland, Jozy Altidore scored just one goal.
Previously, in 28 top-flight matches during a loan spell at Hull City, he scored just one goal.
Sixty-eight Premier League appearances yielding just two strikes indicate that the USMNT forward wasn't quite cut out for life in England, and his move to Toronto FC is surely best for all parties.
B Is for Bony
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The biggest deal of the window in the Premier League saw Wilfried Bony swap one City for another, as the forward moved from Swansea to Manchester City.
The Ivory Coast's involvement at the African Cup of Nations has denied us the chance to see him in a light blue shirt just yet, but the forward promises to be a key player in the closing months of the campaign.
C Is for Cuadrado
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Another of the mega-money movers this January, Colombia winger Juan Cuadrado has swapped Serie A's Fiorentina for life in the Premier League with Chelsea, and the Blues have clearly snapped up quite a player.
Cuadrado's joint-high record of four assists at the summer's World Cup indicated that quality, although just where the wide man will fit into Jose Mourinho's plans promises to be a fascinating watch.
D Is for Destro
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One of the more intriguing moves in Serie A in January saw forward Mattia Destro leave Roma and join AC Milan on loan, with a view to a permanent deal.
Five goals in eight starts for the club from the capital is a pretty good record this season, and the 23-year-old forward will be determined to prove to Roma coach Rudi Garcia that he should have got more of a chance from the start.
E Is for Experienced Goalkeeper
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Leicester City boss Nigel Pearson decided that he needed an experienced goalkeeper to help with his club's relegation battle, and he could hardly have got one more experienced than the 42-year-old Mark Schwarzer.
The Australian has signed an 18-month contract, and became the Foxes' oldest-ever debutant when he played in his club's 2-1 win at Tottenham in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
F Is for Five-and-a-Half Million
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Any form of good news is to be welcomed at Newcastle United at the moment, and the Magpies received some when they managed to get £5.5 million out of Roma for the French defender Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, who had been on loan in the Italian capital since September.
That is still £3 million less than the Premier League club paid Montpellier for Yanga-Mbiwa two years ago, but given that he was largely awful during his year-and-a-half on Tyneside, Geordie smiles should be as wide as their famous river.
G Is for Gerrard
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He hasn't actually moved anywhere just yet, but this January was the transfer window in which news which many never saw coming was announced.
Steven Gerrard will leave Liverpool at the end of the season and head off to the U.S. to play for LA Galaxy, a move which has left many Reds fans stunned and seemingly unable to picture a future without their talisman. The next task is for his teammates to make it a golden goodbye.
H Is for Having Your Dream Come True
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Surely the most unlikely transfer of the window saw Manchester United snap up the 20-year-old right-back Sadiq El Fitouri from tiny Salford City in the Evo-Stik Premier League.
El Fitouri, who had formerly been at Manchester City, was recommended to the club by Salford part-owners and ex-United stars Phil Neville and Paul Scholes, and has signed an 18-month deal.
"This is honestly a dream come true for me," he predictably told the BBC.
I Is for Immediate Impact
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Every player who moves in January wants to quickly get the supporters of his new club onside, and Aston Villa's Carles Gil wasted no time in doing just that on his first start for the Villans against Bournemouth in the FA Cup.
Having been brought into a Villa side which has drastically struggled to score goals this season, Gil brilliantly cut inside onto his left foot and bent a superb shot into the top corner to get the Holte End on their feet.
Start as you mean to go on.
J Is for Jermain Defoe
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A year in Major League Soccer was enough for Jermain Defoe, and the 14th-highest goalscorer in Premier League history is now back in the latter competition having signed a three-and-a-half year deal with Sunderland, as Jozy Altidore went the other way to Toronto.
Time will tell whether or not the 32-year-old Defoe still has it in him to pull the Black Cats away from trouble, but the former England man is certainly a proven goalscorer and there are plenty who are glad to see him back in his native land.
K Is for Kramaric
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Sometimes you need to act drastically to get yourself out of trouble, and so Leicester City have smashed their transfer record to bring in the Croatian forward Andrej Kramaric in a bid to steer them clear of relegation.
The 23-year-old former Rijeka man had a prolific record in his homeland this season, and whether or not the Foxes can stay up now probably rests on him reproducing that in the Premier League.
L Is for Lucas Silva
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The 21-year-old Brazilian Lucas Silva was an eye-catching arrival for Real Madrid this January, with the midfielder signing a five-and-a-half year contract as he completed his switch from Cruzeiro.
Just where and perhaps more importantly when he will fit into Carlo Ancelotti's plans remains to be seen, but the two-time Brazilian Serie A winner has already shown plenty of pedigree, and as more of a defensive-minded player he will hope to challenge the likes of Luka Modric and Toni Kroos for a first-team place.
M Is for Martin 'Next Messi' Odegaard
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Lucas Silva wasn't the only arrival at Real this January, although Madrid supporters are going to have to wait a little longer to see the 16-year-old Norwegian prodigy Martin Odegaard in action.
Signed from Stromsgodset, Odegaard is one of the brightest young talents in the game and will hope to break into Real's team soon, although a spell in the club's B team is more likely in the short term.
N Is for Nastasic
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A key player in Manchester City's 2012/13 season, Serbian defender Matija Nastasic somewhat lost his way at the Etihad Stadium due to a combination of injuries, the departure of Roberto Mancini and the signing of other players.
He's still only 21, though, and so it could be that it is just how he fares during his loan spell in the Bundesliga with Schalke which determines whether or not he still has a future at his parent club.
O Is for Oussama Assaidi
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It was a quiet transfer window for Liverpool, but one of the best bits of business they did was finally getting rid of the Moroccan winger Oussama Assaidi.
Perhaps one of the strangest signings in recent Reds history, Assaidi arrived from Heerenveen in the Netherlands in 2012 but would play just four league games for Liverpool before two loan switches to Stoke City, the second of which was cut short so the Reds could sell him to Al-Ahli Dubai.
And so a bizarre Liverpool career was ended.
P Is for Podolski
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Frustrated at a lack of opportunities behind the likes of Alexis Sanchez, Olivier Giroud and Danny Welbeck at Arsenal, German World Cup winner Lukas Podolski jumped ship and landed himself a decent loan move to Inter Milan.
Just how the former Bayern man's somewhat explosive style will play in Serie A remains to be seen, but it was one of the more interesting moves of the window and one by a club which had a pretty decent January.
Q Is for Quick Exit
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Blink and you'd have missed Samuel Eto'o's Everton career, with the Cameroon veteran cutting short his stay on Merseyside to switch to Sampdoria in Serie A.
Eto'o played 20 times in all competitions for the Blues, scoring four goals, but ultimately they've become just another stop-off point in the varied career of a man who was considered one of the world's deadliest forwards in his heyday.
R Is for Ravel Morrison
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Seemingly unloved in his native England, ex-Manchester United tearaway Ravel Morrison created one of the stories of the January window when he swapped West Ham for Rome, and a surprise move to Lazio in Serie A.
It remains to be seen whether a switch to one of the biggest clubs in Italy is just what the talented but often troubled midfielder needs, but it is certainly an interesting move and one which will have plenty of people taking notice of just how he gets on.
S Is for Sanogo
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There seems to be a good player lurking within Yaya Sanogo, but the suspicion has long been that the young French forward had to leave Arsenal temporarily in order to let that player out.
Now away from the Emirates Stadium goldfish bowl on loan at Crystal Palace, the early signs have been good for Sanogo given his goal in the FA Cup win at Southampton, and it is to be hoped that that was just the first of many strikes for a likeable character.
T Is for Torres
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Following years of struggle at Chelsea and a ill-fated few months at Milan, Fernando Torres is now very much back home at Atletico Madrid and seemingly enjoying his football again.
We've seen flashes of the Torres of his Liverpool days or in his first spell at Atletico, as goals in the Copa Del Rey against none other than Real Madrid and Barcelona have reawakened many to just how good the forward can be.
U Is for U-Turn
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January was supposed to mark Frank Lampard's swansong in English football as the three-time Premier League winner set sail for New York City FC following his brief loan at Manchester City, except it hasn't quite worked out like that.
Lampard's good form at the Etihad Stadium has meant that he's stayed a little longer in the Premier League, angering many in America and prompting many to wonder if the plan all along was for him to stay in Manchester.
It's been a mess, and one which hasn't reflected well on anyone.
V Is for Victor Valdes
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From winning three Champions League titles and six La Liga crowns at Barcelona, Victor Valdes now has to settle for getting a front-row seat to watch David de Gea keep goal for Manchester United.
Valdes' move to Old Trafford might be seen as a surprising one by some, but you can never have too many good players, and Louis van Gaal might see the signing as necessary cover should De Gea's excellent form lead to bids for his services from elsewhere.
W Is for Work Permit
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Arsenal have a new defender after Villarreal centre-back Gabriel was granted his work permit and allowed to switch from La Liga to the Emirates Stadium.
The Brazilian will provide cover for Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny for Arsene Wenger, whilst the Gunners boss has also sent Joel Campbell the other way on loan to the Yellow Submarines, the Costa Rica forward's fourth temporary switch away from the club.
X Is for Xherdan Shaqiri
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A real help for anyone compiling lists such as this one, Swiss star Xherdan Shaqiri's move to Inter Milan should hopefully allow us to see more of the talents of a player who was often left on the sidelines at Bayern Munich.
Shaqiri scored a hat-trick at the World Cup last summer, and it is that sort of quality which has got Inter fans excited about the arrival of a player who needs to show his class on a consistent basis if he is to please his new fans.
Y Is for Young Gunner
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Arsene Wenger didn't stop at signing Gabriel this January, with the move for 17-year-old Polish midfielder Krystian Bielik seeing the Gunners once again swoop for a talented youngster.
It might be a while before Bielik makes his mark on the Arsenal team, but with defensive midfield one of the areas that Gunners fans have been pleading with Wenger to reinforce, his arrival will certainly increase competition for places.
Z Is for Zarate
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He showed brief flashes of quality during seven games and two goals for West Ham, one of which coming on his competitive debut for the club at Crystal Palace, but Mauro Zarate never really got much of a chance at Upton Park and has jumped ship to QPR.
Will he make the sort of short-term impact that plenty of Harry Redknapp's signings have done in the past? That remains to be seen, but if he can become a consistent partner for Charlie Austin, then the Rs will have every chance of survival.
