Ange Postecoglou insisted Tottenham can still salvage their dismal season despite completing a miserable week by crashing out of the FA Cup at Aston Villa on Sunday (Monday AEDT).
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Postecoglou is under intense pressure as he fights to avoid the sack following Tottenham’s latest low moment in a wretched campaign.
Just three days after losing 4-0 at Liverpool in the League Cup semi-final second leg, Tottenham conceded inside the first minute against Villa and eventually slipped to a 2-1 defeat in the fourth-round clash.
Languishing in 14th place in the Premier League and with only the Europa League left as a potential chance to end the club’s 17-year trophy drought, Tottenham are in turmoil once again.
Tottenham fans at Villa Park called for chairman Daniel Levy to quit and expressed frustration at Postecoglou and his underachieving team.
The Australian remains defiant, claiming his injury-hit team could finish the season strongly if his walking wounded return in time.
“Nothing really changes. We have a couple of weeks now where we don’t have midweek games,” he said.
“We had 11 first-team players out today. Take that out of any team for one game and they would struggle. We’ve been doing that for two and a half months.
“The players are going out there and giving everything they can. It would be a lot better if they had some help.”
Ange Postecoglou appears dejected at full-time.Source: Getty Images
Tottenham have lost five of their last eight games in all competitions, dealing a huge blow to Postecoglou’s boast earlier this season that he always wins a trophy in his second campaign.
They are through to the Europa League last 16, but whether Postecoglou will still be in charge when they return to European action remains to be seen.
Denied the services of Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, James Maddison and Brennan Johnson among others due to injury, the former Celtic boss is adamant his players still back him.
“This group has done an unbelievable job for two and a half months. I can’t praise them enough, playing twice a week since November,” said Postecoglou, who saw Mathys Tel score his first goal for Tottenham following his deadline day loan move from Bayern Munich.
“They’ll get the chance to reset now and finish the season strong.
“Europe is still very important to us, we’re still in a great spot there, and we’ll hope to get some players back over the next two weeks.”
Mathys Tel (L) scores his first goal for Spurs.Source: AFP
Tel’s stoppage-time goal was too late to rescue Postecoglou, who has come under fire for refusing to ditch an attacking game-plan that often leaves Tottenham exposed at the back.
Bemoaning Tottenham’s sloppy start, which featured a weak attempted save by Antonin Kinsky for Jacob Ramsey’s opener and a woeful missed chance to equalise by Son Heung-min, Postecoglou added: “It wasn’t a great start, that’s the last thing you want.
“We really struggled to get some control. Then we had an enormous chance at 1-0 we didn’t take to equalise.
“We got a better grip of the game but unfortunately fell short. When you go a goal down it gives the opposition momentum and confidence. You want to wrestle control early and we didn’t do that.
“The second goal sort of made it a bit more difficult but I always felt we were a threat. Unfortunately just not enough.”.
The Premier League winter transfer window closes at 10am (AEDT) and a host of clubs are still scrambling to bolster their squads to close out this season.
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Catch all the latest transfer news below!
ANGE’S SPURS BACK IN TEL EQUATION
After initially rejecting a move to Tottenham, Ange Postecoglou’s club have reportedly made strides in their attempts to sign French young gun Mathys Tel.
According to ESPN, the 19-year-old travelled to London on deadline day after a breakthrough in negotiations.
Tel will reportedly join Spurs on loan from Bayern Munich, however it remains to be seen how his contract will be structured.
It looms unlikely there will be an option or an obligation for the North London club to buy the rising star once the load period ends.
Chelsea and Manchester United were also reportedly interested in Tel’s services after he was seeking a move away from the German giants due to a lack of game time.
Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy had previously flown to Munich, but was unable to convince the winger to make a permanent move to London after a $100m AUD transfer fee was agreed between clubs.
However, he reportedly had a change of heart and remained open to a loan move after speaking with coach Postecoglou.
Spurs are also keen to add more defensive recruits before the window closes.
The BBC reported Crystal Palace rejected a $140m AUD million bid from Tottenham for captain Marc Guehi, who has just 18 months left to run of his contract at Selhurst Park.
Tottenham reportedly won’t make any further bids to sign the English centre back.
Ange Postecoglou, Manager of Tottenham Hotspur, applauds the fans after defeating Brentford during the Premier League match between Brentford FC and Tottenham Hotspur FC at Brentford Community Stadium on February 02, 2025 in Brentford, England. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
Palace previously turned down a host of bids in the summer, with the final offer tabled by Newcastle at the time sitting at $130m AUD.
Their resistance to let their captain go comes after injuries in their defensive ranks, with only three fit centre backs currently in their squad.
Chelsea’s Axel Disasi has been linked with a move across London, while Spurs also completed the signing of centre-back Kevin Danso from Lens on Sunday.
CITY MAKE MOVE FOR FOURTH SIGNING
Manchester City are closing in on the signing of Nico Gonzalez from Porto before Monday’s transfer deadline.
City’s midfield frailties without Ballon d’Or winner Rodri, who is out for the season due to a serious knee injury, were exposed in a 5-1 thrashing at Arsenal on Sunday.
Pep Guardiola’s men find themselves in a battle just to qualify for next season’s Champions League, with the defending champions sitting fourth in the Premier League, 15 points behind leaders Liverpool.
City could also use reinforcements for a blockbuster Champions League playoff round tie against holders Real Madrid later this month.
Former Barcelona midfielder Gonzalez, 23, will reportedly arrive for a fee of $100m AUD.
City have already splashed out more than $240m AUD million in January on Egypt forward Omar Marmoush and young defenders Vitor Reis and Abdukodir Khusanov.
Premier League: Spurs win, City smashed | 02:45
WEST HAM SECURE NEW MARKSMAN
West Ham on Monday signed Brighton striker Evan Ferguson on loan until the end of the season.
The 20-year-old Ireland international will be reunited with Graham Potter, who replaced Julen Lopetegui as manager at the London Stadium last month.
Ferguson has made 13 Premier League appearances for the Seagulls this season, but most of those have been off the bench.
Brighton boss Fabian Huerzeler said the loan would give the highly rated Ferguson much-needed game time.
“Evan has had a frustrating 12 months with injuries and for him to get back to the level he’s capable of and to continue his development, he really needs to be playing regularly,” he said.
“This loan gives him that opportunity, and under a manager he knows well. We are looking forward to watching Evan’s progress over the next few months, and we wish him well.” Ferguson has made 80 appearances in all competitions for Brighton since his debut as a 16-year-old in the League Cup under Potter, scoring 17 goals.
He will boost West Ham’s attacking options in the absence of Michail Antonio and Niclas Fuellkrug, both of whom are injured.
“It feels good to be here. Seeing the stadium and being here today, I’ve got a very good feeling,” Ferguson told West Ham TV.
“I can see and know how big West Ham United is. It was a big opportunity for me to come here. I know the gaffer well and look forward to working under him again.” Potter said Ferguson had “plenty of quality attributes” that would help the team, currently 15th in the Premier League.
The 34-year-old Walker will join Milan for the remainder of the season in a deal that could become permanent in the summer.
Walker endured a difficult campaign as City captain and had not started a game since their derby loss to Manchester United on December 15.
He ends his long association with City, whom he joined from Tottenham in 2017, after winning six Premier League titles and the 2023 Champions League under Pep Guardiola.
“Manchester City… where do I start? Signing for this incredible club in 2017 was a dream come true,” Walker wrote on social media.
“Seven years later, winning 17 trophies, including the Champions League and the famous treble is something I could only have dreamt as a child.”
Milan are a distant eighth in Serie A but are on course for automatic qualification for the Champions League last 16 after five straight wins in Europe.
In a separate social media post, Walker — who will be reunited with other England internationals Fikayo Tomori, Tammy Abraham and Ruben Loftus-Cheek at the San Siro — spoke of his excitement in joining the Italian giants.
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“I’m delighted and proud to sign for AC Milan!” he said.
“A club with such rich history, one I’ve followed since I was a kid. It’s an honour to join and I can’t wait to pull on the Rossoneri shirt and get started.
He added: “A huge thank you to everyone who has supported me along the way, both on and off the pitch. See you soon! Forza Milan.”
His signing helps compensate for the loss of Emerson Royal, who picked up an injury midweek that could rule out the Brazilian right-back for up to two months.
Walker’s exit from the Etihad Stadium comes as part of a City rebuild, with Guardiola’s side currently 12 points adrift of Premier League leaders Liverpool following an unprecedented run of four successive English titles.
Egypt forward Omar Marmoush joined City from Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday on a four-and-a-half-year contract for an initial fee of £59 million ($72.6 million) with add-ons worth a potential £4 million.
He is City’s third signing of the January transfer window following the arrivals of defenders Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis.
From the minutiae, to next-gen stars not pulling their weight, Socceroos coach Tony Popovic and his team of assistants are poring over every detail of his tenure so far.
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Whether they have held too many meetings, or too few, and the length of the meetings. The content of training sessions and how messages are delivered during those sessions … they all form part of the discussions at Football Australia’s new headquarters in Sydney.
Popovic, who took charge of the side for the first time during the October window last year, has six points from four games in charge; which sees the Socceroos sitting in second place in Group C during the third round of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup in North America. Everyone involved knows staying there for four more games will deliver automatic qualification for football’s showpiece event. Yet failure to do so will force the side into the fourth and possibly fifth rounds of qualifying, where the path to the first ever 48-team World Cup gets slimmer and slimmer.
In two months, the wild ride to the biggest-ever edition of the tournament resumes. Indonesia, with newly installed coach Patrick Kluivert (yes, the Dutch legend) at the helm, travel to Sydney; where anything less than three points for the hosts will set alarm bells ringing.
It’s no wonder Popovic is looking into every crevasse to ensure nothing gets missed.
While discussing intricate details this week, Popovic also chose to address something a little larger.
Asked about one-time wonderkid Daniel Arzani and where he was at in his journey, the Socceroos boss lined up the Melbourne Victory winger like he did to opponents during his glittering playing career.
“I know Daniel well and he’s got potential,” Popovic started, while shifting in his seat.
“We talk about him with potential and I think we’ve been talking about that since he was 18.”
Tony Popovic on the sideline for Australian in Bahrain.Source: Getty Images
Arzani has carried the tag of “the next big thing” in Australian football since bursting onto the scene in 2018 with a flurry of dribbles, assists, goals and awards for Melbourne City in the A-League.
His dazzling feet, smart decision-making and ability to glide past defenders earned him a shock spot in Bert van Marwijk’s Socceroos squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, where he came on as a second-half substitute in group stage games against France, Demark and Peru in a side that exited the tournament with two defeats and a draw.
A transfer from Melbourne City to Manchester City followed straight after the tournament and he was loaned to Scottish giants Celtic after barely having time to unpack his bags. After a few false dawns since the era of the golden generation, it appeared Australian football had finally (no, really) found its next big thing; only for an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury on his Celtic debut to send the trajectory of Arzani’s career on another path.
Loan spells in the Netherlands, Denmark and Belgium followed, before he landed back in the A-League with Macarthur after a four-year spell that felt more like a cyclone than sport.
A move to Melbourne Victory a year later, with Popovic then at the helm, saw Arzani rediscover some of his best form.
Now 26, the winger might feel singled out by what his former club boss, now in charge of the national side, shared next; though it’s nothing Popovic hasn’t told Arzani to his face, and really about something bigger than one player.
It is about the clamour for a player with Arzani’s skillset – and there have been several over the years – to be given every opportunity to shine even if they might not be ready. It’s about the desperation from fans to see the national side play a brand of football that you might find on a street in any city in Brazil. Adjacent to that noise is a coach who sees every minute of every game, training session and moment in between, with and without the ball. Instead of flashy social media clips, they form a fuller picture. Perspective is everything.
Daniel Arzani (2nd L) isn’t at the top of Tony Popovic’s selection list currently.Source: Getty Images
Arzani has seven Socceroos appearances to his name. Six of those came prior to his ACL tear in 2018. If not for that misfortune, he’d probably have many more caps on his resume, but good form with Victory saw him picked for the final window of the second round of qualifying in June last year. He’d miss selection for the first window of the third round in September – which turned out to be Graham Arnold’s last in charge before stepping away – but Popovic re-ignited the relationship in October.
What he saw left him underwhelmed and Arzani didn’t get on the field.
“When he doesn’t play everyone questions why he doesn’t play, but he needs to raise his level,” Popovic said bluntly.
“Doing one good dribble or doing one good trick or setting up one goal should not be enough to play for the Socceroos.”
From the outside, and with goals hard to come by during a difficult qualifying campaign, a player like Arzani would appear to be the perfect answer with dribbles, tricks and assists.
But Popovic chose to lay bare the other side of what you could call the ‘next big thing’ conundrum.
“It wasn’t good enough in October,” Popovic said referring to Arzani’s efforts away from the spotlight.
“His level was really poor in training. Now maybe for him it’s OK, but it’s not enough, so every player needs to raise their level.”
A similar weight of expectation fell on the young shoulders of striker Garang Kuol, now struggling to break through at Premier League side Newcastle United after transferring from the Central Coast Mariners, and another winger in Nestory Irankunda.
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Without the monumental injury setback, Irankunda’s footballing story and that of Arzani’s isn’t too different.
A kid who bursts onto the scene with breathtaking skill in the A-League, followed by a call-up to the national team while still a teenager and then a move to a mega-club that seemed before its time.
German giants Bayern Munich came calling for 18-year-old Irankunda. The former Adelaide United star has been on the right and wrong ends of selection calls when it comes to the Socceroos as well, with first Arnold and then Popovic having to defend themselves in the court of public opinion for not picking a player on the books of one of the biggest clubs in the world.
In search of senior minutes, after being part of the youth team set-up at Bayern, Irankunda recently secured a loan move to Swiss Super League club Grasshoppers — but Popovic insists that might not be enough to earn a recall in March.
“Just playing a game because someone has got some minutes at Grasshoppers, for example, that can’t be enough,” Popovic said.
“They need to be at elite level at Grasshoppers, then they are elite for the Socceroos and then they can help us get in the top two.
“In our last two World Cups we went through the play-off system, but we keep expecting to make top two.
“That’s good, but if we expect to come in the top two then we must raise the level, we must raise the bar.
“Your expectation and my expectation should be higher because history shows we don’t do that often. We don’t go automatically to World Cups, but that is something we should aspire to. We shouldn’t shy away from that.”
Nestory Irankunda needs to be playing at a high level with his new loan club, Tony Popovic says.Source: Getty Images
Not picking very good players is an odd way, on the surface, to solve that problem, but Popovic clearly thinks betting the farm on human highlight reels isn’t the answer. The “expectation,” in his words, needs to be higher and only “elite” commitment to everything the coach sees as sacred is likely to be rewarded with regular minutes.
Popovic has spoken multiple times about his admiration for Japanese football, but also his desire for Australia to match and then overtake their regional rivals.
The gap to Japan, who lead Group C, is nine points. The Samurai Blue have won five of their six games in this phase to be on 16 points, which is the joint-highest total across the three groups with Iran. One more win from four remaining fixtures will ensure they seal automatic qualification. That is certainly something to be envious of.
Japan, from Popovic’s perspective, are the current standard bearers and he believes its possible for Australia to “raise the bar.”
In the coach’s eyes, Australian football should hold every player, even the absurdly talented ones, to the highest standard. If Popovic can find a way to marry that talent to his standards, then something special is truly possible.
Twenty years ago it was Jose Mourinho. Now it is Ruben Amorim who appears set to move from Portugal to the Premier League with a reputation as Europe’s next coaching superstar.
Amorim has emerged as the favourite to take over at Manchester United following Erik ten Hag’s sacking. His club Sporting Lisbon have confirmed the English club’s interest, and that they have entered negotiations.
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Sporting have confirmed that United will pay the €10 million release clause in Amorium’s contract to allow him to leave. It is expected that a United delegation will travel to Lisbon to close the deal after Sporting’s Portuguese cup quarter-final at home to Nacional on Tuesday evening.
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Amorim is 39, two years younger than Mourinho when he left Porto and took over a Chelsea side poised to dominate English football.
Other coaches have come from Portugal with huge reputations, but not all have succeeded. Andre Villas-Boas, for example, failed to live up to expectations after following Mourinho’s path from Porto to Chelsea in 2011.
But everything about Amorim — who was also linked to the manager’s job at Liverpool this year — suggests he could be something special, just as Mourinho famously claimed he himself was in 2004.
As long ago as 2017 when Amorim confirmed his intention to become a coach, he told Tribuna Expresso: “I don’t know if I am going to be good or bad, but that is what I am going to be.”
He had just quit playing aged 32 after injuries blighted a fine career. Amorim has made his name as a coach at Sporting, but he starred as a player for their Lisbon rivals Benfica, the club he has supported from birth.
“I can see myself coaching Benfica, or one of the world’s biggest clubs. Obviously only time will tell and you need so much luck,” he said.
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Amorim began playing at Belenenses from the Lisbon suburb Belem best known for its custard tarts.
He worked under Jorge Jesus there, reaching the Portuguese Cup final in 2007. In 2008 he joined Benfica, and a year later he was reunited with Jesus. Amorim mainly played at right-back as a team featuring David Luiz and Angel Di Maria romped to the title.
The following season, Benfica were overtaken by Villas-Boas’s Porto and Amorim struggled with a knee injury.
He needed a loan move at Braga to relaunch his career, and went back to Benfica, and Jesus, in 2013/14.
Playing regularly in midfield, Amorim starred as they won a domestic treble and lost the Europa League final on penalties to Sevilla.
His career never reached such highs again, and he ended his playing days in Qatar.
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– ‘Fanatical about winning’ –
Amorim has described Mourinho, who managed United from 2016 to 2018, as his reference, but he admits Jesus — now guiding Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia — marked him more than any other coach after he spent seven years under his stewardship.
“It is funny, because as a player I had lots of problems with Jesus, albeit other players did too, because Jesus is a coach who wears you out,” Amorim recalled.
“He is a real perfectionist. I worked with him for a long time and it is obvious that what I demand of players is quite similar to him.”
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Amorim, who appeared for Portugal at two World Cups, began coaching in 2018 when just 33, at Lisbon club Casa Pia, and his rise since has been vertiginous.
He won the third-tier title there, but didn’t yet have the necessary coaching qualifications and left in early 2019.
Amorim really began his steep ascent upon joining Braga, managing their B team before being handed the first-team reins in December 2019.
He did so well that Sporting swooped, paying his 10-million-euro release clause. Sporting had not won the Portuguese title since 2002 and their supporters had some concerns about his Benfica past.
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“I am a professional and I am fanatical about winning. I know how big this club is. I played against them. I am not hiding my past,” he said at his unveiling.
In his first full season Sporting won the title, losing just one game. Amorim, who favours an intense pressing game, then took Sporting to the Champions League last 16.
He won a second Portuguese title last season and players such as English forward Marcus Edwards and Swede Viktor Gyokeres have flourished under him.
The 2023-24 summer transfer window has drawn to a close, with some clubs nailing their business while others have fallen well short of the mark as financial regulations heavily influence the Premier League’s spending habits.
Unlike windows of the past, where the Premier League attracted some of the biggest names in Europe, this year has felt a little different, with clubs focused more on ensuring safer financial practice as opposed to nailing their big money signings.
We saw less deals akin to the ones that brought Erling Haaland to Manchester City and Romelu Lukaku to Chelsea in recent seasons, and more like Elliot Anderson’s to Nottingham Forest and Conor Gallagher’s to Atletico Madrid: transfers done to appease accountants more than managers.
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The strict Premier League crackdown on its Profit and Sustainability rules in recent seasons, exemplified by Everton and Forest’s respective points deductions, appear to have frightened clubs.
This was highlighted in the 10 days preceding the June 30 accounting deadline when six clubs – Forest, Newcastle, Chelsea, Everton, Aston Villa and Leicester – sold 15 players for a grand total of £323 million ($631.8 million AUD) in a late attempt to meet PSR requirements.
According to a report from The Athletic, those 15 deals accounted for 16% of the Premier League’s spending this window, with some of those clubs enacting creative accounting to ensure their books comply and a costly points deduction is avoided.
Though this did not slow Premier League spending, with 14 clubs parting with over $150 million on players during the window, but did create a strange spending environment that will surely become a mainstay in the coming seasons.
Changed spending conditions have coincided with changing spending habits, which have been on show throughout the window and go in part to explaining the business of some sides.
The average age of the league’s 10 most expensive signings this season is 23.3 years old, highlighting how clubs are targeting younger players with high potential and resale value, as opposed to proven products in the prime of their careers.
Foxsports.com.au rates every Premier League team’s summer dealings in our Transfer Report Card!
Arsenal
Biggest signing: Riccardo Calafiori ($81.3m from Bologna)
Total spend: $186.5 million (AUD)
Biggest exit: Emile Smith Rowe ($65.8m to Fulham)
Total income: $161.4 million (AUD)
Having finished second last season, Mikel Arteta’s side needed a strong transfer window to strengthen their side and solidify their title push. They did just that.
Riccardo Calafiori arrives after a strong season with Bologna and a good Euros campaign with Italy to strengthen one of Arsenal’s problem areas last season – left back, with the Italian’s ability to seamlessly invert into midfield key to Arteta’s tactical shape. Mikel Merino provides midfield strength, and allows Arsenal to push Declan Rice into a deeper role whenever required, while the move to permanently sign David Raya, and sell Aaron Ramsdale, cleared up one of the biggest clouds over the club’s 2023-24 season.
Raheem Sterling’s deadline day arrival from Chelsea is a great move, providing cover on both wings as well as title-winning experience. If Arteta can get the Englishman to perform at his best, like he did when the pair were at Manchester City, it’ll provide Arsenal with an additional goal scoring threat this season and afford Bukayo Saka a chance to rest his legs after an intense year.
Fighting off interest in Leandro Trossard from the Saudi Pro League is shrewd too given the Belgian’s impact off the bench and versatility, which will come in handy given Gabriel Jesus’ recent injury record.
Crucially in modern football the sales of Emlie Smith-Rowe and Eddie Nketiah, which will appear as pure profit on the club’s books, ensure they remain compliant with the Premier League’s strict PSR rules.
Where some feel Arsenal’s window missed the mark is their failure to bring a world class No.9 in, with Victor Osimhen and Ivan Toney but avoided for various reasons. Arteta has faith in Kai Havertz, who scored eight goals in 13 games as striker last season, with Trossard, Jesus and Sterling as cover.
Grade: B+
Arsenal’s Italian defender Riccardo Calafiori challenges for the ball with Brighton’s Paraguayan attacker Julio Enciso during a English Premier League match between the Emirates Stadium.Source: AFP
Aston Villa
Biggest signing: Amadou Onana ($96.8m from Everton)
Total spend: $295.8 million (AUD)
Biggest exit: Moussa Diaby ($97.7m to Al-Itthad)
Total income: $271.2 million (AUD)
Villa were dealt a massive blow this window in losing Moussa Diaby and Douglas Luiz, two of their strongest performers last season.
The club signed Belgian holding midfielder Amadou Onana from Everton, with the 23-year-old already hitting the ground running by scoring twice in his first three games. Onana adds size, power and strong ball-winning skills to Villa’s midfield, though lacks the passing range and set-piece threat of Luiz.
Not to worry Villa fans, given the club already possesses Youri Tielemans, one of the Premier League’s strongest passers and a set piece specialist to rival the best of them.
Ian Maatsen, who was key in Dortmund’s run to last season’s Champions League final, gives good depth at left back, though there are concerns about the drop off between right back Matty Cash and his understudy, particularly with injuries in central defence not allowing Ezri Konsa to shuffle across.
Diaby’s loss is massive, even if the Frenchman’s performances tailed off at the end of last season, but Unai Emery already has the pieces to compensate for his departure.
Samuel Iling-Junior and Enzo Barenechea, both signed from Juventus as part of the deal to send Luiz the other way, are young and unproven but could become integral cogs in the Villa machine once they return from their respective loans.
Villa haven’t just signed Ross Barkley is an underrated piece of business. The former Chelsea man provides Emery with experience and brilliant midfield cover following an impressive Premier League season with Luton Town.
Omari Kellyman, Tim Iroegbunam and Cameron Archer’s sales will go towards balancing the club’s books, even if the latter was re-signed from Sheffield United before being sold to Southampton, while Philippe Coutinho’s loan move to Vasco da Gama lightens the club’s wage bill.
Grade: B
LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 17: New signing Ian Maatsen acknowledges Aston Villa fans after the team’s victory against West Ham United FC (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
Bournemouth
Biggest signing: Evanilson ($61.3m from Porto)
Total spend: $172.3 million (AUD)
Biggest exit: Dominic Solanke ($106m to Tottenham Hotspur)
Total income: $110.3 million (AUD)
There was no more important player to Andoni Iraola’s Bournemouth side last season than striker Dominic Solanke, who finished the campaign with 19 goals and three assists.
Brazilian striker Evanilson joins for a club-record fee having scored 13 Portuguese league goals last season for 3rd placed Porto.
An unknown quantity in England, Evanilson has all the makings of a well-rounded striker and joins a side that had more shot creating actions last season than Aston Villa and Crystal Palace, though it will be hard for the striker to have link up play as exceptional as Solanke.
First-choice goalkeeper Neto joins Arsenal on loan, with Kepa arriving from Chelsea to replace the Brazilian, marking a significant downgrade in the club’s goalkeeping ranks. The Spaniard is a gamble for Iraola’s side given his failure to set the Premier League alight, weak shot stopping and shortcomings when competing for crosses.
19-year-old Spanish-Dutch defender Dean Huijsen has all the makings of a serious transfer coup, with multi-Premier League winning manager Jose Mourinho once describing the centre back as “one of the highest-quality prospects in European football at this age level.”
Grade: C-
BOURNEMOUTH, ENGLAND – AUGUST 25: AFC Bournemouth’s Evanilson during the club’s Premier League match against Newcastle United. (Photo by Eddie Keogh/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
Brentford
Biggest signing: Igor Thiago ($58m from Club Brugge)
Total spend: $169.5 million (AUD)
Biggest exit: Ivan Toney ($77.4m to Al-Ahli)
Total income: $129.7 million (AUD)
Sometimes a transfer window is less about what you gain and more about what you lose.
In letting Ivan Toney walk, Brentford offloaded a player who evidently did not want to be at the club for some time, at a significant fee that allowed them to invest in the future of their club by bringing several talented youngsters in, such as Fabio Carvalho, Sepp van den Berg and Gustavo Nunes.
Not only does Toney’s transfer have significant financial benefits for the Bees, but it should also create a harmonised Brentford squad this season.
Igor Thiago was signed as Toney’s replacement after 29 goals in the Belgian league last season but is currently sidelined with a knee injury. Bryan Mbeumo and Yoanne Wissa have led Frank’s line brilliantly to begin the season, with the club’s ability to hold on the latter arguably their most important piece of business.
Keep an eye on teenage left back Jayden Meghoma, viewed by many good judges as one of England’s brightest young prospects. Injuries could pave the way for the flyer to break into Thomas Frank’s side at left back at some point this season.
Grade: B
Brighton
Biggest signing: Georginio Rutter ($77.4m from Leeds United)
Total spend: $381.2 million (AUD)
Biggest exit: Deniz Undav ($49.7m to VFB Stuttgart)
Total income: $90.4 million (AUD)
Only Chelsea spent more money than Brighton, which comes as a surprise given the South Coast club’s highly successful ‘moneyball’ style tactics in recent years.
Those tactics are still at play, with the club not splashing huge cash on a big name signing this summer. Instead, they’ve picked up several highly promising footballers who add to 31-year-old coach Fabian Hurzeler’s squad.
Georginio Rutter, Matt O’Riley, Mats Wieffer, Ferdi Kadioglu and Brajan Gruda all have the makings of quintessential Brighton signings and will no doubt be sold for triple their purchase price in 18 months.
Over the opening three games of the season, fresh faced winger Yankuba Minteh has been incredibly impressive, playing with little fear and plenty of creativity and drive, frightening opposition left backs with his relentless attack.
Billy Gilmour’s deadline day move to Napoli weakens the club’s holding midfield stocks, which took a hit earlier in the window with Pascal Gross’ departure to Dortmund. Hurzeler has said as much in recent days, noting the club “don’t have enough players at (No.) six.”
Grade: B
Right winger Yankuba Minteh during Brighton’s Premier League win against Everton. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
Chelsea
Biggest signing: Pedro Neto ($104.6m from Wolves)
Total spend: $400.6 million (AUD)
Biggest exit: Conor Gallagher ($65.9m to Atletico Madrid)
Total income: $303 million (AUD)
Deep breath in. And another. 11 players arrived at Stamford Bridge over the summer, bloating Enzo Maresca’s first team squad out to a whopping 30, with a further 12 out on loan.
“You want to ask about where Joao Felix is going to play, I’ve got another question – where’s he going to get changed at the training ground?” Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher questioned.
“How are all these players in one dressing room? How are you putting on a training session?”
The Conor Gallagher and Raheem Sterling sagas were sour, and typified the current Chelsea regimes cold, and seemingly senseless, approach to business, but the deals to offload Ian Maatsen, Romelu Lukaku, Lewis Hall and Omari Hutchinson were savvy moves that will go towards balancing the club’s books.
In amongst the madness of moving on Sterling and Gallagher, uncertainty around Trevoh Chalobah’s future, the lack of resolution around Ben Chilwell’s situation, and signing three left wingers, there is some small semblance of method.
Chelsea have made their intentions clear with their business; they are backing Maresca in the market and signing players whose profile fits his needs.
There is little risk to the Jadon Sancho deal, while Joao Felix’s signing could be viewed differently if the Portuguese star hits the heights expected of him when he burst onto the scene six years ago.
And yet, despite these faint glimmers of hope there is still the overwhelming sense of restlessness at the Bridge, not only given the way the club has conducted business this summer, and the enormous squad size, but also given the club spent more money than any other Premier League side while failing to address their widely perceived problem area: striker.
Toney and Osimhen were both on the table, though moves for either failed to materialise, with finances key to this. A lack of depth in holding midfield remains a concern for Maresca with Romeo Lavia’s injury history meaning the club are a Moises Caicedo injury away from a near unpluggable hole in their midfield.
Grade: B-
New signing Jadon Sancho is presented to the Chelsea fans before his side’s 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
Crystal Palace
Biggest signing: Eddie Nketiah ($48.3m from Arsenal)
Total spend: $130.7 million (AUD)
Biggest exit: Michael Olise ($87m to Bayern Munich)
Total income: $174 million (AUD)
Oliver Glasner’s Crystal Palace shocked the Premier League at the back end of last season, winning six of their last seven from 14th to 10th.
The pre-season expectation was for them to build on this, even with Michael Olise’s big money move to Bayern Munich removing one of the stars of last season from the fold.
Joachim Andersen left for Fulham not long after, and things could’ve gone from bad to worse if Newcastle’s aggressive pursuit of captain Marc Guehi paid off.
It didn’t, and Palace’s defence was stronger for it. Trevoh Chalobah arrived on loan from Chelsea, while the promising French Maxence Lacroix joined from Wolfsburg, further strengthening Glasner’s backline.
Japanese international Daicha Kamada and Senegalese winger Ismaila Sarr strengthen his frontline, so too does the signing of Eddie Nketiah – who just feels like a Crystal Palace player.
While they’re yet to reap the rewards on the field, Palace have had one of the better windows in the Premier League, defined not so much by who they brought in as much as who they didn’t lose – Guehi, Eberechi Eze and Adam Wharton.
Grade: B+
Everton
Biggest signing: Jake O’Brien ($33m from Lyon)
Total spend: $83 million (AUD)
Biggest exit: Amadou Onana ($96.8m to Aston Villa)
Total income: $133.6 million (AUD)
Much like Palace, Everton’s best bit of business in the summer window was not allowing their most important defensive cog to leave the club.
That Jarrad Branthwaite remained at Everton is a massive win for Sean Dyche, even if the defender has missed the opening games of the season through injury.
The 22-year-old was ranked sixth for clearances and seventh for interceptions last season and was a key reason behind Everton keeping 13 clean sheets, second only to Arsenal.
However, the Toffees lost Amadou Onana to Everton, denting their midfield stocks for perhaps the most important Premier League campaign in the club’s recent memory.
Iliman Ndiaye, Jack Harrison and Jesper Lindstrom headline a suite of creative signings that have their work cut out for them in trying to inspire a side that scored just 40 goals last season.
There’s no doubting Everton have made some smart additions. Whether they’ll be what’s needed to keep them away from the relegation fight is a question only time has the answer for.
Grade: D+
Amadou Onana traded Everton for Aston Villa this transfer window. (Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
Fulham
Biggest signing: Emile Smith Rowe ($65.8m from Arsenal)
Total spend: $173.7 million (AUD)
Biggest exit: Joao Palhinha ($81.9m to Bayern Munich)
Total income: $112.9 million (AUD)
One of the smaller Premier League clubs who executed a smart summer window that leaves their squad stronger this year than when it ended last season.
Of course Joao Palhinha’s departure to Bayern Munich leaves a massive hole in Marco Silva’s midfield – no player made more than his 152 tackles last season. Not signing a replacement may come back to bite them, though Harrison Reed, Sasa Lukic and new signing Sander Berge are more than capable in that role.
At the back Joachim Andersen rejoins from Palace, softening Tosin Adarabioyo’s departure, while Jorge Cuenca offers Silva an additional left footed centre back following Tim Ream’s departure.
In attack, Fulham’s have invested plenty in Emile Smith Rowe, a brilliant attacking talent who’s been stifled by injuries and falling out of Mikel Arteta’s favour in recent years. The winger/attacking midfielder has hit the ground running, scoring in Fulham’s 2-1 win over Leicester City, and could be viewed as a bargain in coming seasons if he can match, or exceed, the 10 goals he scored for the Gunners in 2021-22.
Reiss Nelson provides depth out wide following Willian’s departure for Olympiakos and could potentially push Alex Iwobi into a central midfield role he excelled at for Everton a few seasons ago.
While their business hasn’t set the world alight, it’s quietly done what it’s needed to do: make up for their outgoings and strengthen where possible.
Grade: B-
Fulham attacking midfielder Emile Smith Rowe joined the club this summer for $65.8 million from Arsenal. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
Ipswich Town
Biggest signing: Omari Hutchinson ($42.6m from Chelsea)
Total spend: $205 million (AUD)
Biggest exit: George Edmundon (loan to Middlesbrough)
Total income: N/A
Only two players contributed more than Omari Hutchinson’s 16 goals in Ipswich’s promotion campaign last season. A deal to bring the England youth international back to the club is massive towards their bid to stay up, with the attacking midfielder showing lots of promise in the season’s opening games.
Jack Clarke, Jacob Greaves and Liam Delap all have the potential to be great signings, especially for the price tag they were collected at, and could all benefit from Kieran McKenna’s brilliant management, while signing last season’s Championship top scorer Sammie Szmodics for just over $17 million is smart business.
This quartet are good enough to cut it in the Premier League, but also have the added benefit that, in the event of relegation, Ipswich can extract a high resale value or utilise their talents to earn promotion back to the top flight.
The deal to bring Kalvin Phillips on loan from Manchester City has rocks or diamonds potential. At his best Phillips is a brilliant defensive midfielder with an exceptional passing range and wonderful ability to bait and beat opposition presses. At his worst he is injury riddled, just ask Manchester City, and error-laden, just ask West Ham.
Ipswich will be praying he’s more of the former, especially considering the 28-year-old’s experience keeping freshly promoted sides in the Premier League.
Grade: C
Omari Hutchinson during Ipswich’s Premier League match against Liverpool FC. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
Leicester City
Biggest signing: Bilal El Khannouss ($38.7m from Genk)
Total spend: $153.2 million (AUD)
Biggest exit: Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall ($58.1m to Chelsea)
Total income: $58.1 million (AUD)
A few seasons ago the Foxes had a reputation as one of the savviest market operators in Europe. Deals for N’Golo Kante, Riyad Mahrez, Youri Tielemans, Wilfred Ndidi, Wesley Fofana and Ricardo Pereira were struck with little interjection from other clubs and to great benefit for Leicester.
Relegation zapped that reputation. And while it will be hard to replicate their previous market success there are at least several positives to take from Leicester’s transfer window.
Bilal El Khannouss arrives from Genk as the Belgian league’s Young Player of the Season and an Olympic Bronze medallist who was involved in nine goals last season. The Moroccan’s stats may fail to flatter, but he’s a highly technical and intelligent footballer who glides across the park and could provide some necessary creative spark.
That creative spark takes on greater importance without Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, the attacking lynchpin around which the club won promotion last season. Dewsbury-Hall’s move to join Enzo Maresca is the club’s only major outgoing – a big plus in their bid to keep their top-flight status intact.
Dewsbury-Hall’s is also major for Leicester given the fee he collected will register as pure profit on the clubs’ books, an important factor given they had significant financial restraints throughout the window.
Elsewhere, Oliver Skipp is a reliable Premier League footballer signed at a good price, while making Abdul Fatawu’s loan permanent is savvy too. Both will be crucial for Steve Cooper this season.
Where their window fell short is really strengthening at striker, especially considering Jamie Vardy’s age and recent injury history and the departure of Kelechi Iheanacho to Sevilla.
Odsonne Edouard has Premier League experience, and was once a prolific goalscorer at Celtic, yet found the net just 21 times in his 103 Palace games. Given the importance of reliable goalscoring in staving off relegation.
Grade: C
Liverpool
Biggest signing: Federico Chiesa ($19.4m from Juventus)
Total spend: $19.4 million (AUD)
Biggest exit: Fabio Carvalho ($43.7m to Brentford)
Total income: $102.6 million (AUD)
This summer always loomed as the end of an era at Liverpool. Jurgen Klopp’s time at the club had drawn to a close, with Dutchman Arne Slot taking the reins of Anfield.
Immense change was expected, with new personnel viewed as a guarantee in order to assist Slot’s transition in the Liverpool managerial role.
Yet, for much of the window Liverpool were the only club in Europe’s top five leagues to have not signed a single player. That was until Giori Mamardashvili was signed from Valencia before being immediately loaned back to Spain, while a bargain move for Federico Chiesa is as risky as it is promising given the Italian’s recent injury history.
Their lack of market activity has not significantly impacted Liverpool, who have begun the season brilliantly.
Even more impressive is the club’s failure to panic once Martin Zubimendi informed them he would remain at Real Sociedad. The Spaniard, who impressed in the Euro final, was billed as the No.6 the Reds desperately needed, with many doubting who would be shoehorned into the role in his place.
Enter Ryan Gravenberch, who has done so seamlessly, bringing a unique profile into the defensive midfield role and justifying Liverpool’s lack of panic in the market.
Fabio Carvalho, Sepp van den Berg and Bobby Clark all left for good deals given their experience, while Stefan Bajcetic’s loan to RB Salzburg will be beneficial to the club in the coming seasons.
Thiago retired and Joel Matip was released, with the club opting not to dip into the market to replace the experienced Cameroonian centre half. A move for Frenchman Castello Lukeba never materialised, meaning the club only have four recognised central defenders, which could prove their Achilles heel down the line.
Liverpool great Jamie Carragher believes the club “are still short – not in terms of numbers but maybe in terms of quality – at centre-back and in holding midfield,” though credited them for not panic buying, which rarely ever works.
Grade: C+
(FILES) Liverpool new signing Federico Chiesa celebrates scoring a goal for Juventus. (Photo by Marco BERTORELLO / AFP)Source: AFP
Manchester City
Biggest signing: Ilkay Gundogan (Free from FC Barcelona)
Total spend: $40.7 million (AUD)
Biggest exit: Julian Alvarez ($125m to Atletico Madrid)
Total income: $264.6 million (AUD)
When Julian Alvarez traded Manchester for the warmth of Madrid and the intensity of Diego Simeone, there was a sense that this may be the season City finally trips up.
At times filling in for both Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne, the Argentine World Cup winner played the fifth most minutes for Pep in the Premier League last season, scoring 11 and creating eight.
Where exactly would City find a player capable of filling in for both their striker and chief creator? The answer, it seems, had been hiding in plain sight.
Released from the final two years of his Barcelona contract, former City captain Ilkay Gundogan has been deployed as a false nine many times for Guardiola but is naturally a brilliant creative midfielder. There is arguably no better Alvarez replacement in world football.
The German headlines a quiet summer of incomings for City, which includes tricky Brazilian winger Savinho – who joined from Girona and has already shown what a delight he is with the ball at his feet. Both are smart additions that boost an already exceptional squad.
Even still, City enter the campaign without a recognised back up striker on their books.
For any other side this would be deeply concerning. For City, it’s a problem, given Haaland’s relatively good injury record, without yet being a major issue, yet.
Pep noted as much, stating the club’s choice not to replace Alvarez could be a “problem” that may turn into a “mistake” but believes the club have enough players in house who can fill in for Haaland, including Gundogan, Phil Foden and youngsters James McAtee and Oscar Bobb.
Where City were smart this window is their ability to offload unwanted, but talented, academy products for strong fees that allow them to clean their books.
Liam Delap, Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Tommy Doyle all permanently moved away from the Etihad. Offloading Joao Cancelo’s contract from the club’s books can also not be understated.
Grade: B-
lkay Gundogan re-joined Manchester City from FC Barcelona on a free transfer this summer. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
Manchester United
Biggest signing: Lenny Yoro ($101.4m from LOSC Lille)
Total spend: $354.4 million (AUD)
Biggest exit: Scott McTominay ($49.9m to Napoli)
Total income: $164.5 million (AUD)
As has been the case for the last decade, it’s incredibly hard to get a read on whether or not United’s transfer window has been good.
On paper they’ve brought in good players. Lenny Yoro has massive wraps on him and may just be the best centre back at his age group, Joshua Zirkzee is a unicorn of a striker as capable of dropping deep and creative as many attacking midfielders, and Manuel Ugarte appears the kind of no-nonsense midfield anchor they’ve been crying out for.
Matthijs De Ligt was once Europe’s finest young centre half but has failed to impress at two of the continent’s biggest clubs. He arrives with a major question mark. While at just over $25 million, Noussair Mazraoui has all the makings of a bargain.
And yet there is an element of groundhog day about this window. United have had good windows in the past. Remember 2021, When the club signed Jadon Sancho, Raphael Varane and Cristiano Ronaldo? Or 2022, when Casemiro, Antony and Lisandro Martinez arrived at Old Trafford? Or last year, when Mason Mount, Andre Onana and Rasmus Hojlund joined?
All of these windows were rightly perceived as great windows on face value of the signings. And the same can be said for this window. All of United’s deals look good on paper, but that matters for very little if the club’s form doesn’t turn around.
Where United, and their restructured footballing ownership, deserve credit is offloading Mason Greenwood to Marseille, clearing the club of the winger’s baggage. Allowing Aaron Wan-Bissaka to move to West Ham is also smart given he doesn’t fit the profile of an Erik Ten Hag fullback.
At nearly $50 million, the club would have been foolish to reject Napoli’s offer for Scott McTominay, though his passion and versatility could well be missed dearly.
Grade: B-
Manchester United’s new signings (L to R) Matthijs De Ligt, Leny Yoro (using crutches due to a metatarsal injury), Joshua Zirkzee and Noussair Mazraoui acknowledge the fans prior to United’s clash with Fulham. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
Newcastle United
Biggest signing: Lewis Hall ($54.6 million from Chelsea – loan move made permanent)
Total spend: $74.2 million (AUD)
Biggest exit: Elliot Anderson ($68.3 million to Nottingham Forest)
Total income: $132.8 million (AUD)
Arguably no Premier League club had their hands tied behind their back by financial constraints more than Newcastle United.
Manager Eddie Howe described it as “challenging,” before sharing his hopes the club’s minimal business helps them strengthen in future windows.
Out went Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh, both of whom would have pushed for a place in Howe’s squad, and potentially starting XI, with Anderson’s move to Forest facilitated purely for financial reasons.
The club’s financial constraints meant they were limited in their ability to dip into the transfer market, with Lewis Hall’s loan move being made permanent and William Osula’s signing the only two the club splashed cash on.
Lloyd Kelly adds much-needed defensive depth, and will be a valuable squad player once everyone is fit, but is hardly a signing to set the world alight.
It would be harsh to judge Newcastle’s incomings too severely due to the club’s financial constraints, though questions need to be asked about their failed pursuit of Palace centre back Marc Guehi, as well as their inability to offload Kieran Trippier – who begins the season as Howe’s right back deputy.
Clearly the money was there, just not used in ways that strengthen the players at Howe’s disposal. What did strengthen Howe’s side was keeping Anthony Gordon and Alexander Isak, which is about the only commendable business Newcastle conducted.
At best, Newcastle will reflect on this window as one that boosted their squad and brought in two fine young talents. At worst, it will be seen as a failure that failed to achieve anything other than balance the club’s books.
Grade: D+
Nottingham Forest
Biggest signing: Elliot Anderson ($68.3 million from Newcastle United)
Total spend: $175 million (AUD)
Biggest exit: Moussa Niakhate ($52.8 million to Lyon)
Total income: $88.9 million (AUD)
Dare we say it… did Forest have a strong transfer window?
Considering the club have had an even more scattergun approach to transfers in recent years than even Chelsea, their activity was measured, geared towards strengthening Nuno’s squad as opposed to signing as many players as possible.
Elliot Anderson is a wonderful footballer, Nikola Milenkovic has been impressive in recent seasons for Fiorentina, Jota Silva has massive wraps as an elusive winger with goal scoring nous, while James Ward-Prowse’s loan adds depth, experience and set piece threat to Nuno’s midfield.
Murillo, Morgan Gibbs-White and Anthony Elanga remain at the City ground, highlighting how their astute incomings came without expensive outgoings.
Given the club targeted seven goalkeepers throughout last season, and current No.1 Matz Sels had the lowest save percentage (57.4%) of all 25 goalkeepers in the Premier League last season, not bringing in a new goalkeeper is the one glaring negative against Forest’s window.
The club lagged in their attempt to sign Aaron Ramsdale, who joined Southampton instead, saw their advances for Neto knocked back, missed out on Sam Johnstone to Wolves, failed in their attempt to bring French international Brice Samba back to the club and were unwilling to meet Liverpool’s valuation for Ireland international Caoimhim Kelleher.
Another clear area the club were attempting to strengthen but failed to do is up front, with their pursuits of Eddie Nketiah, Yoane Wissa, Omar Marmoush, Evanilson and Santiago Gimenez all ending in nothing.
While this is disappointing for Forest fans, their manager reportedly has no qualms with Sels as first choice keeper, while New Zealand international Chris Wood has begun the season in red-hot scoring form.
What isn’t disappointing for Forest fans is the fact their club didn’t panic buy when missing out on their targets and instead stuck the course with what they had and trusted Nuno to get the best out of them.
Grade: B-
Elliot Anderson joined Nottingham Forest from Newcastle just before the June 30 PSR deadline. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
Southampton
Biggest signing: Aaron Ramsdale ($35.2 million from Arsenal)
Total spend: $205.4 million (AUD)
Biggest exit: Carlos Alcaraz ($29.7 million to Flamengo)
Total income: $82.5 million (AUD)
For much of the window, Southampton seemed to sign players with one eye on remaining in the Premier League and another on gaining promotion in the event they’re relegated this season.
Given last season’s promoted contingent – Burnley, Luton Town and Sheffield United – all went straight back down at the end of 2023-24, this business approach is as smart as it is sad.
Aaron Ramsdale’s signing late in the window shows the hunger is there for Russell Martin’s side. He headlines a savvy window for the Saints, who also made Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Flynn Downes’ loan moves permanent, while Ben Brereton-Diaz should add goals.
Goals will be a problem for Southampton this season given Adam Armstrong’s never scored more than two Premier League goals in a single season, and Brereton-Diaz has the potential to provide a threat upfront after scoring six times in 14 Premier League games on loan at Sheffield United last season.
There is hope Cameron Archer can blossom into a reliable Premier League striker, which is why the Saints paid Villa $29 million for his services, even if he’s scored more than 10 goals in a season once in his career.
At the very least, should Southampton fail to find the goals they’ll need to survive, their signings this window have a high enough ceiling to serve them well in the coming years.
Grade: C-
Ange bullish wins will come soon | 00:25
Tottenham Hotspur
Biggest signing: Dominic Solanke ($107m from Bournemouth)
Total spend: $234.8 million (AUD)
Biggest exit: Oliver Skipp ($39 million to Leicester City)
Total income: $114.6 million (AUD)
12 months after Harry Kane moved to Bayern Munich, Spurs have finally landed on their replacement for the England captain.
In Dominic Solanke, Ange Postecoglou has a striker moulded similarly to Kane as you can get on the market. A career-high 19 goal haul last season is the headline figure for the former Bournemouth man, but his link up play and ability to drag opponents out of position and bring teammates into play is among the best in Europe.
An early injury setback following a disappointing debut has soured the early weeks of Solanke’s time at Spurs but Postecoglou has made it no secret that he feels the 26-year-old will succeed at the club.
“He is a presence and scores different types of goals. I think the way we play suits him,” the Spurs coach said.
Elsewhere, the club brought in Archie Gray, Wilson Odobert and Lucas Bergvall in, all three of whom are fine young footballers with the potential to grow into exceptional players around which Spurs’ side can be constructed.
18-year-old Gray in particular marks a significant transfer coup, with the 2023-24 Championship Young Player of the Season already a fine holding midfielder, and capable right back, who was highly-rated by former Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa.
Last season, Gray led Leeds in tackles, was ranked third in tackles and won possession back more often than just about anyone at the club.
Away from new signings, Spurs were able to offload several high-wage, low performance players, namely Tanguy Nbombele, and find new homes for footballers who don’t suit Postecoglou’s style, such as Eric Dier, Emerson Royal and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
For his part, the Australian described the club’s activity as a “real positive” but noted there were shortcomings with their activity.
“We know there’s still some areas where I look at squad management and we can improve. Again, it’s got to be the right person, the right player and right person,” Postecoglou said, before hinting at potential reinforcements joining the club in January.
One area the club are undoubtedly assessing depth options for is defence. Last season, Spurs’ campaign was derailed by injuries and suspensions to Micky van de Ven, Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie.
At present, Spurs have just four centre backs on their books, with one of those being Ben Davies – who began his career at left back. Depth in this area is a must if Spurs are to blossom in the coming seasons, with a potential January defensive signing on the cards, one in a similar mould to Radu Dragusin.
Grade: B
Spurs record signing Dominic Solanke joined Spurs from Bournemouth during the summer window for $107 million. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
West Ham
Biggest signing: Max Kilman ($78.2 million from Wolves)
Total spend: $247.5 million (AUD)
Biggest exit: Flynn Downes ($35.2 million to Southampton)
Total income: $81 million (AUD)
It’s almost impossible to ignore West Ham’s business and suggest the club aren’t the winners of this year’s summer transfer window.
And the fact they’re the winners is not because they’ve signed a lot of players (nine). If that were the case Chelsea would’ve won by many country miles.
No, it’s the type of players the Hammers have brought in. Good players, with a clear place in the squad, that add value to Julen Lopetegui’s side while coming at largely affordable prices.
Picking up Max Kilman from Wolves is such astute business; only three players made more clearances last season and only four won a higher percentage of their tackles.
He is one of several defence reinforcements joining the Hammers, alongside Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who’s defensive excellence compensates for his offensive limitations, and Jean-Clair Todibo, who joins on a loan with an obligation to buy.
Given the two-time French international was on the radar of many clubs, including Manchester United, West Ham’s ability to sign him represents a significant transfer coup.
Last season’s Championship Player of the Season Crysencio Summerville bolsters an already stacked attack line. The Dutchman’s importance could grow depending on the outcome of an FA investigation into Lucas Paqueta’s potential betting breaches.
Spanish international Carlos Soler and Argentinian midfielder Guido Rodriguez provide depth to Lopetegui’s midfield too, especially with James Ward-Prowse’s loan to Forest.
West Ham’s smart signings have been counteracted with necessary outgoings, including Said Benrahma, Thilo Kehrer, Maxwel Cornet and Nayef Aguerd, all of whom had rather forgettable spells with the Hammers.
Grade: A+
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Biggest signing: Andre ($41 million from Fluminese)
Total spend: $120.3 million (AUD)
Biggest exit: Pedro Neto ($104.6m to Chelsea)
Total income: $192 million (AUD)
Club captain, gone.
Best player, gone.
Fair to say, it hasn’t been the best window for Gary O’Neil’s Wolves. Max Kilman left for West Ham and Pedro Neto for Chelsea, significantly weakening the manager’s defensive and creative options.
“Those guys, we need to replace them,” O’Neil told Sky Sports. That they didn’t could prove damning for the club, even if they have faith in the in-house options they have to make up for their two big losses.
Andre, signed from Fluminese, shapes as smart business, with the ball-winning midfielder a wild success in his homeland. He adds to a strong midfield contingent at the club.
Tommy Doyle’s return is positive after he impressed on loan last season, with Jorgen Strand Larsen has already shown his immense presence up top.
Sam Johnstone is a fine goalkeeper, but is he better than Jose Sa? While question marks remain about the rest of the clubs’ signings, many of whom have high ceilings while lacking Premier League experience.
Speaking to Sky Sports, O’Neil indicated earlier in the window that the club needed to look at bringing in players capable of helping them win now.
“Recruitment has been asset-driven and we are hopeful that we can balance that slightly, to get some that are Premier League ready,” he said.
For the large part the club didn’t, and if their start to the season is anything to go by that strategy will do more short term harm than long-term good.
The Premier League campaign is over for another year – and while Ange Postecoglou and Mile Jedinak were flying the Australian flag as coaches for Tottenham Hotspur, there were no Aussie men on the field.
It’s a different story, of course, in the women’s top flight in England – the Women’s Super League – with 14 Australians playing there this campaign.
But back to the men. In Europe’s top five leagues (England, Germany, Italy, Spain, and France), just one Socceroo, Denis Genreau, appeared this season for France’s top-flight Toulouse.
Cristian Volpato, the Sydney-born starlet who has not yet decided whether to represent Australia or Italy at the senior international level, also featured in Italy’s top tier with Sassuolo.
It’s a sad decline from the days of Aussies like Aaron Mooy and Maty Ryan regularly featuring in the Premier League. But the good news is that next season things could be different.
A flurry of Socceroos have earned promotion to the big five leagues, leading Socceroos coach Graham Arnold to say yesterday: “For the national team in the future, it should be great for us.”
And there’s a host of up-and-coming youngsters at top-flight teams who will be hoping to crack the senior sides.
Remarkably, when the new season begins we could see as many as 20 Aussies on the books at clubs in the five biggest leagues in world football.
Genreau in action against Roma in a friendly last year.Source: AFP
PREMIER LEAGUE
Three Australians secured promotion from the Championship this season: Cameron Burgess and Massimo Luongo with Ipswich Town, and Harry Souttar with Leicester City – the latter team winning the second tier.
Burgess, 28, was an ever-present for the Tractor Boys this season, playing 40 games and becoming a brick wall in defence for a team that lost just six of 46 league matches. He burst into the Socceroos squad only in September 2023, but has already become arguably the nation’s first-choice centre-back. His three-year contract at Ipswich is now up, but the club has an option to extend that for one more year. At a minimum, that looks like a certainty at this point – but a new long-term deal is also well and truly on the cards after a stellar season.
Cameron Burgess (C) celebrates a goal in what has been a spectacular promotion season.Source: Getty Images
Luongo, now 31, played 43 of the team’s 46 league games, starting the vast majority of those in the midfield. After earning a recall to the Socceroos last October and November after a four-year-exile, he retired from international football in December last year ahead of January’s Asian Cup. After 45 caps and six goals for the green and gold over a long career, Luongo wanted to focus on ensuring Ipswich earned promotion to the Premier League – and fair enough too.
It’s been a remarkable career renaissance for the Aussie, who looked to be sliding away from the top echelons of global football just 18 months ago. He joined Ipswich in January 2023 on a six-month deal, then helped them get promoted to the Championship. That earned him another one-year deal, and by this January, he signed yet another contract with Ipswich. That runs for next season with the option to extend another year.
Signing three contracts with the club in just over 12 months shows how impressive his form revival has been, and he’s earned the ultimate prize of finally playing in the top flight – 12 years after he came so close to debuting in the Premier League when he was twice an unused substitute for Tottenham.
The big question now is whether Luongo will reverse his international retirement and rejoin the Socceroos on the road to the 2026 World Cup. It’s unlikely. But based on form he would undoubtedly be welcomed back into the green and gold fold by coach Graham Arnold.
Luongo has been stellar this season.Source: Getty Images
The situation with Harry Souttar is far less rosy. The towering centre-back has been in virtual exile at Leicester this season as they topped the Championship, playing just three league games all season (one start).
Not that it has had an impact on his Socceroos’ minutes – he’s played every minute of the eight games since September and has been picked for Australia’s matches against Bangladesh and Palestine next week.
It’s the perfect opportunity for Souttar to put himself in the shop window.
Socceroos coach Graham Arnold said: “Harry is obviously one that I will sit down with when he gets here and see what’s happening because it’s important.
“Not just for us, but also for Harry Souttar that he sorts out his club career and gets back playing because it’s gone on a bit too long now.”
Souttar’s contract at the Foxes doesn’t expire until mid-2028, but he’ll be desperate to seal a transfer that can offer him regular minutes, barring the unlikely scenario that Leicester sell either of their starting centre-backs Jannik Vestegaard or Wout Faes.
Will he move to a Premier League rival?
He’s just 25 years old and still has his best years ahead of him, but after a year on the sidelines it’s unlikely that a top-flight club will immediately make him a starting centre-half, meaning he could well end up on the bench. It’s a high-risk, high-reward transfer window ahead.
A move to Scotland to join brother John at Rangers was mooted in January but didn’t eventuate – but in order to get immediate playing time, heading to Scotland or back to the Championship seems a safer bet.
Despite his lack of club minutes, Souttar continues to impress for the Socceroos.Source: Getty Images
While those three Socceroos stars headline the list of Australians likely to play in the Premier League next season, there’s a host of up-and-comers on the books of big clubs.
The most likely to earn his chance this season is Joe Gauci at Aston Villa. 23-year-old Gauci signed for the Premier League’s fourth-place finishers in February from Adelaide United on a deal initially worth nearly $2.5m.
He’s behind the 2022 World Cup winning goalkeeper, Argentina’s Emiliano Martinez, who also won the Golden Glove at that tournament as well as the being named The Best FIFA Goalkeeper in 2022 and winning the Yashin Trophy in 2023.
But finishing fourth in the Premier League means Villa will now play in the Champions League as well as two domestic cups (the FA Cup and League Cup).
Their hectic schedule means Gauci will fight 34-year-old Robin Olsen for back-up duties – and with injuries always a possibility, the rising Australian talent could even get a chance in the Premier League. Olsen, for example, played five league games this season.
And Gauci has the chance to put his name up in lights in a fortnight when Socceroos captain Maty Ryan is rested for the matches against Bangladesh and Palestine – meaning Gauci is all-but-certain to start both fixtures.
Joe Gauci will be hoping for minutes at Aston Villa this season.Source: Getty Images
21-year-old Cameron Peupion is another player on the fringes of a Premier League side. He’s at Brighton and Hove Albion, and he’s already played once in the league – back in May 2023.
This season, he went on loan to League One side Cheltenham Town but struggled for minutes and was recalled in January, where he started for Brighton in both the League Cup and FA Cup. He was also on the bench (but unused) for six Premier League matches. Another loan move is possible, but with a new coach incoming, he’ll have the chance to impress in pre-season and push his case to stay with the first team.
Cameron Peupion (R) of Brighton & Hove Albion in the FA Cup against Wolves.Source: Getty Images
Brighton also have a talented 19-year-old Australian goalkeeper in Steven Hall on their books, who joined from Adelaide United in January and has so far played two games in the Premier League 2 (underage/reserves competition). He’s on a deal until 2027 – so there’s plenty of time for him to rise up the ranks.
Another youngster to watch out for is Fulham’s Tyrese Francois. The 23-year-old has represented them twice in the league before, coming off the bench in the last game of the 2020-21 season and again in the second game of the 22/23 season.
This year, he made their PL bench five times in the first half of the season and picked up substitute appearances in the FA and League Cups before being sent on loan in January to Vejle BK in Denmark’s top tier.
He’s made 15 appearances there including starting their last 12 games. Now he’ll head back to Fulham, who finished 13th in the league this season. The young Aussie will be hoping to carry his strong form back from Denmark and into next season’s Premier League … and maybe even make that long-awaited first start.
It was all going so well for young box-to-box midfielder Alex Robertson this season. Sent on loan to Portsmouth from Premier League champions Manchester City, he became one of the first names on the team sheet at and drew huge praise as he guided them to the top of the table by the New Year. There were rumours that clubs like Everton were interested in a permanent transfer.
Then he tore a thigh muscle and his season was over – though his loan club went on to win League One and be promoted to the Championship for next season.
The 21-year-old already has two caps for the Socceroos and is viewed as an immense talent, but breaking into City’s stacked squad is a tall order. His serious injury was a major setback, but a transfer isn’t out of the question, nor is another loan move.
Robertson impressed for the Socceroos in 2023 before an injury setback.Source: AFP
Speaking of loan moves, that’s the expectation when it comes to Garang Kuol for the upcoming season. The teen talent has had a torrid time of things since signing for Newcastle from the Central Coast Mariners.
This season, he was sent on loan to Dutch side Volendam – renowned for playing youngsters. But then they sacked their chief and their coach in December, and Kuol has played just 32 minutes in 2024. Ouch.
He debuted for Newcastle last Wednesday in a friendly against Tottenham at the MCG, coming on to rousing reception from the Aussie fans before scoring a penalty in the shootout. He then earned his first start against the A-League All Stars, but failed to impress.
Manager Eddie Howe said after the first game that the young forward will be sent on loan again next year.
“It’s always very difficult to say for certain what’s gonna happen with a player at this stage because there’s a long way to go before the season starts,” Howe said.
“But possibly another loan spell for him I think will be important.
“He’s had a couple of loan spells now but I think he needs the next one to be a successful one.
“I think he needs the next one to be successful and we need him to play more game time and hopefully that’ll happen.”
Simply put, he needs minutes – and plenty of them – to continue his development and get him in the frame for Premier League action. That’s a fair way away at this point, but a strong pre-season could deliver a surprise.
Garang Kuol of Newcastle United FC in action during the exhibition match against the A-League All Stars.Source: Getty Images
GERMANY
The German Bundesliga is also certain to see Australians in action next season. Socceroos midfield veteran Jackson Irvine captained FC St Pauli to the top of the second tier and promotion to the top flight in recent weeks. He plays alongside Connor Metcalfe, who has become one of the first names on the team sheets for the Socceroos in the last 18 months. 31-year-old Irvine had six goals and nine assists in 27 league games this season – an impressive output from a midfielder, while 24-year-old Metcalfe had three goals and five assists in 30 appearances, mostly on the wings. The pair have been crucial to both their team and Australia’s hopes, so expect plenty of minutes for the dynamic duo next season.
Irvine and his teammates were mobbed by pitch invaders after winning Bundesliga 2.Source: Getty Images
Nestory Irankunda, viewed as one of the most gifted Australian youngsters in decades, sealed a record-breaking transfer to European giants Bayern Munich in November last season – where he’ll head after he impressed for the A-League All Stars last week against Newcastle. The 18-year-old attacker finished his time at Adelaide United with eight goals and six assists in 25 appearances this season, taking his overall tally in the A-League to 16 goals and eight assists in 60 games. Still a raw talent who has struggled at times with his emotions and the immense weight of expectation on his shoulders, Irankunda has just been called up to the Socceroos and is expected to debut against Bangladesh or Palestine.
He is likely to start out in Bayern’s reserve team or go out on loan. But Bayern will have a new coach next season – relegated Premier League side Burnley’s Vincent Kompany – and there’s precedent for an A-League star to break into the first team surprisingly quickly.
New Socceroo accidentally revealed | 00:57
That was the case with New Zealand’s Sarpreet Singh, who signed from Wellington Phoenix in July 2019. He played a couple of matches with the senior team in pre-season friendlies, then was sent to the reserve team (which plays in Germany’s third tier). After impressing there, he debuted in the Bundesliga in December 2019 – less than six months after signing for the club. So the opportunity for a rapid rise to the first team is there for Irankunda … if he can take it.
Irankunda was excellent against Newcastle, with an assist and a key role in another goal in the 8-0 win.Source: Getty Images
But Irankunda won’t be the only Aussie at Bayern Munich next season. Goalkeeper Anthony Pavlesic is only 18 and has a long way to go to reach the elite, but a two-and-a-half week trial earned him a transfer to Bayern last June. He’s been playing for their under-19 team – coincidentally 19 times this season. And he also made an appearance for the reserve team in October. The teen gloveman is an immense talent, but barring a host of injuries he’s unlikely to break into the senior side for another season or more.
One Aussie most fans may not have heard of yet is Rawley St John, a Sydney FC academy product who earned a massive move to VfB Stuttgart last July. Stuttgart this season finished a stunning second in the Bundesliga, ahead of Bayern Munich but behind a rampaging Bayer Leverkusen. St John has been playing for the under-19 team, but the gifted midfielder just turned 19 this week and will be hoping to rise up the ranks this season, the final one on his contract at the German club.
Versatile wide man Jacob Italiano is also at a top flight club, playing with Borussia Mönchengladbach. The 22-year-old joined there from Perth in 2019 and has since gone on to play 104 games for their reserves team, but is out of contract. A move could be on the cards.
Jacob Italiano playing for the Olyroos at the U23 Asian Cup in April.Source: Getty Images
FRANCE
As previously mentioned, Denis Genreau was the only Socceroo to feature in a top-five league this season. He played plenty of minutes last year to help Toulouse get promoted to France’s Ligue 1, and started this season strongly before injuries effectively ruined his season – seeing him not play in the league from November until the final game of the season last week. Having turned 25 this week, the five-cap Socceroo still has a year to go on his contract and will be hoping that a full pre-season gets him back into regular first-team action.
This year, Australian fans will be hoping for more Socceroos to join him in playing in Ligue 1.
Mohamed Toure, who plays for Reims, spent the season on loan at second tier Paris FC in an attempt to get match minutes. He scored in just his second game for his loan club, but like Genreau was then cut down by injury. He finished the season with just 175 minutes across 11 matches, and that solitary goal. He played three Ligue 1 games for Reims in his first year at France, but another loan move for the young striker who just turned 20 seems probable.
He has made just one appearance for the Socceroos so far, last October, but hopes are high that he can rediscover his scoring form and be a long-term number nine in the green and gold.
His older brother Al Hassan also plays in Ligue 2, while younger brother Musa has been linked to a transfer to Ligue 1 by FTBL in recent weeks – though at 18 is also likely to spend time in the reserves or on loan before breaking into the first team.
Toure showed flashes of his potential with the Olyroos at the U-23 Asian Cup.Source: Getty Images
ITALY
Rising Socceroos centre-back Alessandro Circati, just 20, played a key role in earning Parma promotion to Serie A this season.
The Italian-born star, who has one Socceroos cap but is included in the upcoming squad, joined Parma in 2021 on a long-term contract until 2027. But he quickly earned a spot in the senior side and has already played 55 games for the team, including 32 this season as they returned to the top tier for the first time since being from Serie A in 2020/21. He’s expected to remain a key figure in the first team when the new season commences – though there were rumours of a Premier League transfer in January.
“We played him against New Zealand and his maturity for a young boy was outstanding. We gave him that debut cap next to Harry Souttar and he’s got quality,” Socceroos coach Graham Arnold said yesterday.
“He’s done very well for us but it’s the club form and the club qualities that are the great things about the future of the Socceroos. With him getting promoted into Serie A, he’s going to play against some of the best strikers in the world and we’re going to benefit from that in the long run.”
He added: “We have Alessandro playing in Serie A next season which is incredible for the nation. And that was one of the most important things. We get rewarded with those types of things as a nation when the players are doing well at their clubs and playing at the highest level.”
Alessandro Circati before making his Socceroos debut last October.Source: Getty Images
Another Italian Australian in Serie A is Cristian Volpato, who debuted for heavyweights Roma back in December 2021 under legendary manager Jose Mourinho. Mentored by all-time great Francesco Totti, the so-called ‘King of Rome’, Sydney-born Volpato has been the subject of a long and dramatic tug of war between Italy and Australia over his international allegiances, which included Volpato turning down representing Australia at the 2022 World Cup. This international window, he is representing Italy’s Under-20s instead of the Socceroos.
“I’ve been in touch with a Christian and his mother, and the kid has chosen to play for Italy in this camp in under 20s in a tournament,” Arnold said on Wednesday.
“I’m always in contact and I’m encouraging him to play for Australia, but at the same time the kid has to want to, and his mum and his dad have to want that as well.”
Socceroos fans are still hoping the 20-year-old attacking midfielder opts for the green and gold.
He left Roma, where he played 14 games for the senior side, to join Serie A rivals Sassuolo in June last year for €7.5 million. He played 25 games in all competitions this season, largely off the bench, with one goal and one assist.
Having come through at Roma under legendary coach Jose Mourinho before moving to Sassuolo, hopes are high that Volpato will play for Australia.Source: Getty Images
Sassuolo finished second-last and will be relegated to Serie B next season – meaning Volpato will need a transfer if he wants to continue playing in the top flight.
It’s likely that Volpato will be allowed to leave, given he fell out favour in the latter stages of the season when the club replaced their coach in a bid to avoid relegation, although he did start their final game of the season.
He has been linked to clubs in Serie A, as well as Spain’s top division, La Liga – which would also make him Australia’s only player in that competition.
Another young gun is 19-year-old Sebastian Esposito, who made a stunning move from Melbourne City to Serie A side Lecce in December despite never playing for City’s senior side. But the physically strong and aerially talented centre-back has plenty of potential – and he’s been on the bench for the senior team five times this season while playing 19 games for the under 19-team – including 18 straight where he played the full match. He was a standout for Australia’s under-20s team in a pair of matches last year, and looks one for the future.
AUSTRALIANS CURRENTLY AT TOP-FLIGHT CLUBS
Premier League: Cameron Burgess, Massimo Luongo, Harry Souttar, Cameron Peupion, Joe Gauci, Steven Hall, Tyrese Francois, Alex Robertson, Garang Kuol
Bundesliga: Jackson Irvine, Connor Metcalfe, Nestory Irankunda, Anthony Pavlesic, Rawley St John, Jacob Italiano
Ligue 1: Denis Genreau, Mohamed Toure
Serie A: Alessandro Circati, Cristian Volpato, Sebastian Esposito.
The Asian Cup has ended and the Socceroos are back at their clubs – although for some of them, the January transfer window saw them secure major transfers.
Now, Socceroos coach Graham Arnold can turn his full focus to World Cup qualification, with the Aussies resuming their road to the 2026 tournament next month.
Here’s the situation for every Socceroo – and a couple of other guns who are knocking down the door for international selection.
This mega Roo Radar begins with Socceroos who featured in the Asian Cup squad sorted by position, before including a number of other notable names.
The Socceroos skipper recovered from a fractured cheekbone in time to play in all five of the Socceroos’ Asian Cup games and was a calming presence throughout.
With Ryan between the sticks the Socceroos conceded just three goals all tournament long, one of which was a penalty and another an unstoppable free-kick from South Korean star Son Heung-Min.
Ryan kept up his trend of clean sheets in his first game back for AZ Alkmaar as they drew 0-0 with Almere City.
Ryan needed to wear a face mask for some Asian Cup games after surgery on a fractured cheekbone.Source: Getty Images
Joe Gauci
Gauci travelled to Qatar as the clear back-up to Ryan but he did earn a start in the final warm-up match against Bahrain which the Socceroos won 2-0.
Despite not playing, Gauci generated plenty of headlines in Australian football after he completed a switch from Adelaide United to Premier League outfit Aston Villa for up to $2.5m
Emi Martinez, the latest recipient of the Yashin Troph for the best goalkeeper in the world, is Villa’s clear number one as Gauci will compete with Swedish veteran Robin Olsen for the back-up role.
Gauci has already been heavily involved at the Birmingham outfit and was a part of the warm-up drills prior to his new side’s fixture against Manchester United at Villa Park.
The 23-year-old has also been registered in Villa’s squad for the remainder of the Europa Conference League.
Could we see Gauci in the Premier League this season?Source: Getty Images
Lawrence Thomas
Although Thomas didn’t see a single minute of action for the Socceroos, he was thrust straight back into action for the Western Sydney Wanderers.
Thomas was included in the Wanderers’ extended squad for the fixture against Macarthur on February 4 but came on at halftime in place of Daniel Margush.
Unfortunately for Thomas, there was little he could do to prevent Valere Germain’s winner in the 93rd minute as Macarthur sealed a highly controversial 4-3 victory that sparked a furious rant from Wanderers boss Marko Rudan in his post-match press conference.
DEFENDERS
Nathaniel Atkinson
The 24-year-old right back made three Asian Cup appearances for the Socceroos, but faces a tough task to regain his place in the starting XI for Scottish side Heart of Midlothian. Hearts signed 20-year-old Jamaican talent Dexter Lembisika on loan from Premier League side Wolves in mid-January, and he’s impressed in six appearances since the move. Atkinson came off the bench to replace Lembisika in a Cup game on the weekend but will be desperate to earn his place back in the starting side.
Aziz Behich
33-year-old Behich sealed a massive loan move to Saudi club Al-Nassr – joining the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo – after playing every minute of the Socceroos’ five Asian Cup matches at left back. He debuted in an Asian Champions League clash, playing the full 90 minutes, in a promising sign he’ll be in the starting XI for the Saudi giants for the remainder of the season.
Behich in the yellow and blue of Al-Nassr.Source: Getty Images
Jordy Bos
The supremely talented 21-year-old locked down the left wing-back role at Belgian club Westerlo this season after joining from Melbourne City last July (for a fee that was at the time the Australian record). Since returning from the Asian Cup, where he made five appearances (three starts) and scored a goal off the bench against India, he’s immediately regained his starting spot at club level.
Socceroos coach Graham Arnold prefers to use him as a left winger, but Bos has typically been used as a fullback by Westerlo who sit 11th in the Belgian Pro League.
Cameron Burgess
The Scottish-born 28-year-old is right back in English Championship team Ipswich Town’s starting XI after returning from the Asian Cup, where he started one game and came off the bench in the quarter-final defeat.
Ipswich sit fourth in the Championship with a game in hand as they chase promotion to the Premier League, and Burgess looks set to add to his 24 league appearances already this season – remarkably, he has never been substituted in those matches.
He plays alongside Aussie midfielder Massimo Luongo, who turned down an Asian Cup call-up and retired from international duty to focus on the club’s promotion push.
Thomas Deng
The 26-year-old didn’t get onto the field in the Asian Cup – and hasn’t played for the Socceroos since March last year – but he’ll be eagerly anticipating the start of the new J-League season next weekend. The versatile centre-back started most matches for Japanese top-flight club Albirex Niigata last season as they finished tenth, and he’ll hope to retain his role this time around.
Gethin Jones
The 28-year-old is back in the starting line-up at League One club Bolton Wanderers after three starts for the ‘Roos in Qatar – and he’s even worn the captain’s armband in both games since his return. And this week, the right-back scored his first league goal of the season with a looping set-piece header in a 2-1 win for the third-placed side. With games in hand, Bolton are well in contention for automatic promotion that would see Jones reach England’s second tier.
Lewis Miller
The 23-year-old right back played less than 50 minutes across two Asian Cup games, but he’s another Aussie to return straight to the starting line-up at club level. Miller made his 16th start of the Scottish Premiership season (plus one bench appearance) in Hibernian’s 2-1 defeat to heavyweights Celtic, then backed up on the weekend with another start in a cup win.
All up, he’s played 41 times for Hibs since joining in July 2022, and shows plenty of promise as a long-term Socceroos prospect despite struggling in the Asian Cup.
Kye Rowles
Rowles started every single league game for Hearts (in Scotland) before the Asian Cup, and came right back into the side in a cup win on the weekend. The 25-year-old was a standout in the Asian Cup, playing every minute in four of the five matches, and is contracted with Hearts until 2028 – showing just how much they value the cool, calm, and collected centre-back.
Harry Souttar
Souttar is in a dire position at his Championship club Leicester, with the 200cm centre-back in virtual exile. He’s played just four appearances (two starts) this season for a total of 188 minutes. A strong Asian Cup performance put him in the shop window in the January transfer window, with Scottish giants Rangers and Celtic both interested in a loan move – but a deal to join brother John at Rangers fell through on deadline day. Saudi side Al-Nassr were also interested.
Souttar has vowed to fight for minutes at Leicester, but is unlikely to feature unless a starting centre-back is injured.
“I know obviously to continue to be in the national team, I’ve got to be playing club football – but we’ll cross that bridge when it comes,” Souttar told AAP during the Asian Cup.
“He’s got to sort out his club career, he really does,” coach Graham Arnold told AAP. “This can’t go on forever.”
For now, Souttar will be waiting desperately for the season to end and the next transfer window to offer him a way out of his nightmare.
Souttar kept up his incredible scoring record by pitching in at the Asian Cup.Source: Getty Images
MIDFIELDERS
Keanu Baccus
After playing all five matches at the Asian Cup, Baccus returned to Scottish club St Mirren with a half-hour bench appearance before a 90-minute effort against Celtic in the Cup. He’s started most games this season – and come off the bench in the handful where he’s started from the pine – and looks a crucial player in St Mirren’s run home. 25-year-old Baccus is also off-contract at the end of the season, so the next few months will be crucial for his future.
Jackson Irvine
The midfield maestro is back at German second-tier club FC St Pauli, where he wears the captain’s armband – but missed out on playing on the weekend after being “quite sick” and having a “really bad week”. He’s back at training with the team now, who are three points clear at the top of the table despite suffering their first league loss since April 2023. 19-year-old Aljoscha Kemlein (on loan) has been excellent in filling in for Irvine in recent weeks, but the 30-year-old Aussie is nailed-on to get back into the starting team and push for promotion to Germany’s top flight in the next few months.
Irvine was devastated after Australia’s Asian Cup exit.Source: AFP
Riley McGree
McGree started six of the first ten Championship matches for Middlesbrough (and came off the bench in the other four) before suffering a foot injury that ruled him out for two months.
He returned for just a handful of bench appearances before jetting off to the Asian Cup, where he made two starts and three substitute showings. Those handy minutes put him in good stead upon his return to club football, where he came back with a bench appearance before playing the full 90 minutes yesterday – but at attacking midfield rather than his usual left wing role. That’s because Middlesbrough signed 23-year-old talent Finn Azaz from Championship rivals Plymouth Argyle in early January. He had seven goals and five assists before the move, and has nabbed a goal and an assist in five appearances for his new club since then. McGree has a tough battle on his hands to unseat Azaz, but could be
Connor Metcalfe
The 24-year-old has appeared in every match for the Socceroos since the start of 2023, and continued that run with three starts and two sub appearances at the Asian Cup. Since then, he’s returned to FC St Pauli alongside Irvine, and played 28 minutes off the bench upon his return. Overall, he’s made 21 appearances this season with 12 starts and nine substitution efforts – so will be looking to press his case for a locked-down starting berth in the final months of the season.
Aiden O’Neill
The defensive midfielder has been sensational for Belgian club Standard Liege this season, and took things to another level last weekend with a sensational goal in a 1-0 win over OH Leuven.
On the edge of the area, O’Neill chested the ball down before slamming a half-volley into the net, his first goal for the club after joining last July.
“To be honest, there is a bit of luck in this goal,” the Aussie told DH Les Sports+. “I was in a good position and I said to myself ‘why not take my chance?’.
“I had already dreamed of scoring a goal like that but, to succeed in doing it, especially in such an important match, is something else. It means a lot.
“I had already scored goals from outside the box but, yes, I can say that this one is probably the best of my career. And it brings three super important points for the team.”
O’Neill had started six-straight league matches before the Asian Cup and looks to be back in the first team.
Aussie returns from Asian Cup in style | 00:41
FORWARDS
Martin Boyle
Having missed the 2019 Asian Cup and the 2022 World Cup through injury, Boyle finally got to represent the Socceroos at an international tournament.
The 30-year-old winger even got his first tournament goals, scoring a penalty against Uzbekistan and one of Australia’s four against Indonesia.
Boyle has wasted little time in returning to form for club side Hibernian since returning, scoring once and assisting another in the club’s 3-1 win over Inverness CT in the fifth round of the Scottish FA Cup.
He also played the full match as a right winger in a 2-1 defeat to Celtic on February 7 as Hibernian remain in eighth in the Scottish Premiership.
Sammy Silvera
Since moving to Middlesbrough from the Central Coast Mariners last summer, Silvera has largely been used as an impact substitute, coming off the bench 13 times prior to the Asian Cup.
Silvera enjoyed a similar role for the Socceroos in Qatar whenever Arnold sought out a fresh injection of pace and trickery but struggled to find his groove.
The Aussie youngster has once again reprised his role as an impact sub upon returning to Middlesbrough, coming off the bench in Boro’s last three Championship fixtures against Sunderland, Bristol City — where he scored a 91st-minute consolation goal — and Preston North End.
With 15 game left in Middlesbrough’s season, Silvera will hope to earn some regular starts as he looks to prove he belongs at the Championship level.
Bruno Fornaroli
Fornaroli entered the Asian Cup on the back of some scintillating form for Melbourne Victory, scoring 13 goals in 10 games.
A first start in Qatar for Fornaroli didn’t arrive until the Round of 16 clash against Indonesia as a result of Mitchell Duke’s injury-enforced absence, with the Victory man consigned to cameos off the bench in the Socceroos’ other games.
Fornaroli fired a blank in his first game back for Victory (1-0 defeat to Macarthur), when he suffered a fractured hand – but still played the entire game. He has since undergone surgery but could still play this weekend, and it’d be silly to bet against the 36-year-old enjoying another rich vein of scoring form.
After all, he’s still tied first for the golden boot race alongside Newcastle’s Apostolos Stamatelopoulos despite missing five games.
’El Tuna’ may be 36 years old, but he’s in vintage scoring form.Source: Getty Images
Kusini Yengi
Yengi took major strides in staking his claim to be the Socceroos’ next long-term option up front, starting the group stage clash against Uzbekistan in place of an injured Mitchell Duke, with Arnold describing his performance as “outstanding.”
He may not provide the same relentless pressing as Duke does up top, but Yengi’s physicality and ability to hold the ball up certainly caught the eye.
Yengi earned his call-up thanks to a strong debut season for League One promotion hopefuls Portsmouth with seven goals in 17 appearances prior to the Asian Cup.
And the former Western Sydney Wanderers man didn’t need to wait long to make an impact on his return at Fratton Park, scoring the first of Portsmouth’s three in a win over Cambridge United.
Marco Tilio
Having secured a dream move from Melbourne City to Celtic last summer, Tilio’s endured a Glaswegian nightmare.
The 22-year-old had clocked 28 minutes all season long under Hoops boss Brendan Rodgers but was still included in Arnold’s Asian Cup squad due to his ability to “bring that bit of difference as an impact player” and to “get that smile back on his face.”
Tilio appeared just once for the Socceroos in Qatar — five minutes off the bench against Uzbekistan — but has since secured a loan move to Melbourne City for the remainder of the season.
He made his return in the 5-1 humiliation against Brisbane in a 32-minute appearance off the bench and one would imagine it won’t be long before he’s back starting games again.
It is a loan move that must work out for Tilio in a bid to force his way back into Rodgers’ Celtic plans.
Otherwise his time with the Hoops could be over as quickly as it began.
Mitchell Duke
Duke remains Arnold’s first choice at striker, although the two group stage fixtures he played in didn’t exactly play to his main strengths of stretching opposition backlines.
The 33-year-old also had a golden chance to send Australia into the semi-finals against South Korea but flashed his header wide.
Duke is now gearing up for the 2024 J1 League season with Machida Zelvia having helped the team achieve promotion last year.
At his age, it’s likely Duke has just one more World Cup cycle left in him as Arnold must eventually turn to the next generation.
But as long as Duke has plenty of running left in him, he won’t give up his starting spot without a fight.
Craig Goodwin
Goodwin continues to age like a fine wine and richly deserved his spot in the AFC’s Asian Cup 2023 team of the tournament.
However, Goodwin cannot let his performances for club or country dip knowing Jordan Bos is breathing down his neck as his replacement at left wing, even though the latter has made his name predominantly as a left back.
The 32-year-old last featured for Saudi Pro League side Al-Wehda on December 31 before the league took a brief pause, but has started 13 of the 14 league games he’s played in this season.
Goodwin will most certainly have a vital part to play in the Socceroos’ road to qualifying for the 2026 World Cup and will hope to feature at the tournament.
Goodwin’s outstanding performances at the Asian Cup saw him named in the team of the tournament.Source: Getty Images
John Iredale
Iredale represented somewhat of a surprise inclusion in Arnold’s Asian Cup squad, although the Aussie boss revealed the forward was a player he’d “admired for a long time.”
The 24-year-old, who plies his trade with 2. Bundesliga side Wehen Wiesbaden, didn’t see a minute of action in Qatar but earning a call-up is no easy feat.
In his return to action for Wehen Wiesbaden, Iredale came off the bench against FC Nuremberg for a brief cameo.
However, should Iredale start to receive more regular starts, expect him to figure in the conversation for Socceroos inclusions for several more international windows to come.
OTHERS — NON ASIAN CUP
Calem Nieuwenhof
The 22-year-old centre midfielder (well, he turns 23 tomorrow!) was one of the standouts in the last A-League season before moving to Scottish club Hearts in July. Since then, he’s come along in leaps and bounds – so much so that his coach is confident he’ll lace up his boots for the Socceroos soon.
After a slow start to the season, Hearts are third in the league with eight wins in a row in all competitions, and their Aussie foursome of Nieuwenhof, Kye Rowles, Nathaniel Atkinson and fellow young midfielder Cameron Devlin have been crucial to their success.
He’s played 25 times in all competitions, scoring two goals in his last five games and picking up an assist. His most recent goal was an absolute stunner.
Crucial to his rise has been an increased physicality and toughness in the midfield scrap – with the Scottish league the perfect place for the youngster to grow in that regard.
“The character he is, he’s a reserved person and is really chilled out,” coach Steven Naismith told The Scotsman. “That probably went against him in his first few months when he was finding his feet, but in training you can see his quality – his calmness in possession, his understanding of the game, his range of passing, and he is a goal threat as well.
“He’s one of the fittest players at the club. What he brings on and off the ball is really important. He’s consistently improving and becoming more dominant in games, which is why we signed him. We knew he was a good player, he’s a really good player.
“He’s got a desire to get into the international team and I don’t think that’ll be too far away if he continues in the same vein of form.”
Nieuwenhof said his manager was ‘not wrong, for sure’ about being chilled out – but added: “You need to go into every game with that mindset that you are going to have to get stuck in and get involved. Cammy’s great to learn from. He’s a real dog and a really aggressive player. For sure that is something I can take from his game. That’s something I have really learned across the last few months and brought it into my game and just trying to get consistency into that side of my game, the physical aspect.”
For now, he looms as a crucial member of Australia’s Under-23 Olyroos squad who will compete in the U-23 Asian Cup in April-May in a bid to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. But he’s building a compelling case to join the Socceroos’ stacked midfield ranks.
Two-cap Socceroo Cameron Devlin, meanwhile, was ruled out for around six weeks after an ankle injury which cost him a place at the Asian Cup. The 25-year-old has been on the bench for the last two games for Hearts but has not yet played.
Alessandro Circati
Circati’s stock continues to rise with every game for Serie B side Parma and it’s only going to strengthen the case for his inclusions in future Socceroos squads.
The 20-year-old was left out of the team that went to the Asian Cup as Arnold felt it was better for his development to keep playing at club level rather than warm the bench in Qatar.
Since Serie B resumed from the winter break, Circati has started three of the five games, with one draw and two wins in that time with Parma losing one of the games he was benched for.
Circati has plenty of years on his side and, crucially, the benefit of regular game time.
Additionally, Parma are six points clear at the top of Serie B and are no doubt the favourites for promotion, meaning Circati could very easily be lining up in Italy’s top flight next season.
If Parma go up and Circati starts Serie A games, the noise will only grow louder for his inclusion in Socceroos line-ups – and the rumours of Premier League interest will only grow stronger.
Ajdin Hrustic
Hrustic has rapidly fallen from his status as one of the Socceroos’ key creative outlets to the international wilderness, but a January switch could provide the spark needed to get his career back on track.
The midfielder’s move from Frankfurt to Serie A side Hellas Verona has been an unmitigated disaster, failing to even make the bench for any of their league games this season.
But Hrustic sealed a loan switch to Dutch side Heracles Almelo and earned a start in just his second match, helping the club to a 3-2 win over Vitesse. It was his first top-flight start in over a year.
It’s a much-needed move for Hrustic if he is to force himself back into Arnold’s thoughts ahead of World Cup qualification.
Hrustic has not appeared for the Socceroos since a 45-minute showing in the 2-0 friendly defeat to Argentina in China last June.
Given the Socceroos’ struggles when it came to unlocking deep-lying defences at the Asian Cup — a problem the Aussies will encounter throughout the road to the 2026 World Cup — Hrustic’s return would be a welcome one.
Hrustic finally ended a year-long nightmare at Verona.Source: Getty Images
Cristian Volpato
Until Volpato makes his international future clear, there’s still a chance he could be capped for the Socceroos in the not-too-distant future.
Speaking to ESPNprior to the Asian Cup, Arnold revealed he had been in constant communication with Volpato but the talented midfielder “wants to just focus on his club career” for now.
Since moving from Roma to Sassuolo last summer, Volpato has largely been consigned to appearing off the bench and only just made his first start of the season against Bologna.
But Volpato made full use of the opportunity, scoring a stunning goal to give Sassuolo a 2-1 lead in the 34th minute as they went on to record a 4-2 victory.
With the 2026 World Cup cycle about to begin, could Volpato’s interest in international football be piqued?
Nestory Irankunda, Garang Kuol and Awer Mabil
And what of the Socceroos’ attacking trio of Nestory Irankunda, Garang Kuol and Awer Mabil?
Mabil has been a mainstay of the Socceroos set-up and loomed as a likely inclusion for the Asian Cup squad, but he picked up an injury in Grasshopper’s 1-0 win over Basel on December 10 and has not been sighted since.
Prior to the injury, Mabil had been in solid form throughout the season and started eight out of 12 games he appeared in, with four goals and three assists to boot.
At 28 years of age, expect Mabil to be in and around Socceroos squads for the next World Cup cycle.
Popular figure Awer Mabil missed the Asian Cup with injury.Source: Getty Images
On the other end of the age spectrum is Kuol and Irankunda.
Kuol burst onto the scene for the Central Coast Mariners and earned a move to Premier League side Newcastle United, but from there his club journey hasn’t gone as he’d have hoped.
He moved to Eredivisie side FC Volendam on a season-long loan but they sit in 17th place, nine points away from safety.
Kuol himself has struggled to hold down a starting spot as well, clocking just 55 minutes of action since December.
It’s important to remember he is just 19 years of age and there’s plenty of time on his side, but as it stands, he’s behind in the pecking order of Socceroos’ wingers.
Garang Kuol scored his maiden Socceroos goal last March.Source: Getty Images
Then there’s Adelaide United winger Irankunda, who recently turned 18 and is headed for Bayern Munich at the end of the season.
The teenage sensation turned heads with blistering power in his shots and silky runs down the right, breezing past defender with ease.
However, since his move was announced, Irankunda has often cut a frustrated figure on the field and Adelaide coach Carl Veart even said he doesn’t “see enough happiness” from the prodigy.
Irankunda was brought into the Socceroos fold as a train-on player for the friendlies against Ecuador in March last year and has also featured for the Joeys.
Should Irankunda continue his remarkable upward trajectory with Bayern, a full Socceroos call-up is not out of the question and he could loom as a major game-changer for the upcoming World Cup cycle.
It feels as if this year’s January transfer window gently closed rather than slammed shut, such was the lack of spending from some of the Premier League’s big hitters.
Of the infamous ‘Big Six’, only Manchester City and Tottenham made signings in January as teams across Europe looked to stay within the parameters of Financial Fair Play (FFP).
However, there was still a number of major moves made across Europe and indeed the world.
Foxsports.com.au takes a look at 10 of the biggest transfers in January in a mix of transfer fee size, significance and surprise value.
If any doubters needed to see the pulling power of Ange Postecoglou, the deal to bring Radu Dragusin to Tottenham for $AUD49 million provided all the evidence needed.
Injuries to Cristian Romero and Mickey Van de Ven, Tottenham’s starting pair at the heart of defence, made reinforcements at centre back a priority for Postecoglou in the January window.
Several names had been thrown around in the rumour mill, but it was Dragusin who emerged out of nowhere as Postecoglou’s ideal choice to boost his defensive stocks.
It looked like it would be a straightforward deal to sign the Romanian international from Genoa, but Bayern Munich threatened to spoil the party and offered Dragusin a more lucrative deal.
However, Dragusin turned down the German giants and opted to sign for Tottenham instead, a decision that left his agent “mind blown” as he wished to test himself in the Premier League.
Joe Gauci – Adelaide United to Aston Villa ($2.5m)
No-one saw Joe Gauci’s move to Aston Villa coming, but few will argue it was undeserved.
The Adelaide United goalkeeper swapped Hindmarsh Stadium for the bright lights of Villa Park in a deal worth approximately $2.5 million.
On paper, it’s a minuscule bill for Villa but for Adelaide, it’s a massive boost to the coffers and another glowing endorsement of the talent on show in the A-League.
Gauci will make the move after the Socceroos’ journey in the Asian Cup is complete and will join a goalkeeping union at Villa which includes Emi Martinez, who was voted the world’s best goalkeeper.
It’s highly unlikely the 23-year-old will usurp Martinez as Villa’s No. 1 goalkeeper any time soon, but there’s not many better to learn from.
Adelaide’s Joe Gauci joins Aston Villa | 00:32
Jadon Sancho – Manchester United to Borussia Dortmund (loan)
It really feels like it’s the last chance saloon for Sancho, and where better to find his form than with the club that made him a $140 million star only a few years ago.
Sancho moved from Dortmund to Manchester United for the exorbitant fee in the summer of 2021 but has failed to justify his lofty price tag since.
The England international has since publicly fallen out with Red Devils boss Erik ten Hag and is in danger of fading into obscurity.
Dortmund bravely decided to bring Sancho back to the Bundesliga for the remainder of the season and paid a $6.5 million loan fee to sign him.
Sancho declared it was “like coming home” when he signed for Dortmund and he’s showing signs of life once more, registering two assists in his first two games back.
If he can continue to perform throughout the remainder of his loan stint back at Dortmund, Sancho might even be an outside shout for Gareth Southgate’s England squad at Euro 2024.
Kalvin Phillips – Manchester City to West Ham United (loan)
Whether it was due to injuries or simply not being good enough, Kalvin Phillips has never quite settled at Manchester City since his $83 million switch from Leeds in July 2022.
He’s found it difficult to nudge ahead of Rodri in the pecking order for City’s defensive midfield position and has failed to take advantage when given rare chances to impress boss Pep Guardiola.
With Euro 2024 waiting at the end of the season and next to no chance of minutes at City, Phillips knew he needed game time elsewhere.
Enter West Ham United, who still had a need for a star defensive midfielder after Declan Rice departed for Arsenal last summer.
Phillips started his Hammers career in disastrous fashion as he underhit a pass that allowed Cherries striker Dominic Solanke a gift of a goal.
However, he’ll get plenty of opportunities to prove himself to the West Ham faithful as the Hammers remain in contention for the Europa League and are in the mix for European spots in the Premier League.
Phillips had a debut to forget for the Hammers. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
Timo Werner – RB Leipzig to Tottenham (loan)
There were high hopes for Timo Werner ahead of his switch to Chelsea but after a return of just 10 goals from 56 appearances, those at Stamford Bridge weren’t exactly in meltdown when he left for RB Leipzig in 2022.
But Werner is back in the English top flight and back in London.
The 27-year-old, who had struggled for minutes with Leipzig this season, was given another chance in the Premier League by Tottenham Hotspur.
Werner was motivated to join after speaking with Postecoglou and has repaid the Aussie boss’ faith instantly, recording two assists in his first two league appearances.
Tottenham have the option to make Werner’s switch permanent at the end of the season for just $30 million.
If the German maintains his form for the remainder of the campaign, you’d imagine Postecoglou will need little hesitation in taking up that offer.
Jesse Lingard – Free agent to FC Seoul
OK, granted, we might be jumping the gun a little bit on this one.
But given Jesse Lingard is heading to South Korea to complete his medical early next week, per BBC Sport, it’s fair to say this is a move that appears to be a good as done.
Lingard has been without a club since leaving Nottingham Forest at the end of last season where he struggled to live up to expectations despite joining on a large wage.
There were inevitable links with Saudi Arabian clubs last summer but those never came to fruition, leaving Lingard out in the cold as a free agent.
The former Manchester United star even sacked his agents earlier in January as he ramped up his efforts to find a new team.
Yet very few, if many, would have tipped K-League outfit FC Seoul to be the 31-year-old’s next destination.
BBC Sport claims Lingard has been offered a two-year contract on a “substantial salary” by the six-time K-League winners.
Will it be the move to revive Lingard’s career?
Lingard has not played a minute of competitive football this season since leaving Nottingham Forest. (Photo by Cameron Smith/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
Marco Tilio – Celtic to Melbourne City (loan)
Less than eight months ago, Marco Tilio left Melbourne City for Celtic in a deal reportedly worth $2.9 million.
Fast forward to now and Tilio has returned to City on loan as he attempts to reignite his career having struggled to make his mark at Celtic.
Tilio has played just 27 minutes of first team action for the Hoops this season, however he arrived with an injury “issue” according to Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers.
Should Tilio recapture the form that made him such an attractive proposition for Celtic in the first place, it could catapult him back into Rodgers’ thoughts.
Or, at the very least, garner him some attention from other clubs in Europe ahead of a potential loan move next season.
Either way, Tilio must deliver for City in the second half of the A-League men’s season.
Eric Dier – Tottenham to Bayern Munich (loan)
Eric Dier’s move to Bayern Munich caught some by surprise.
Why would the Bundesliga heavyweights go for a defender who couldn’t get a game for Tottenham despite the latter suffering a full-blown injury crisis?
Well, Bayern needed someone who could play at either centre back or defensive midfield and Dier fits the bill, even if he isn’t a world beater in either position.
The English international was a low-risk option for Bayern as he joined on a loan deal for the rest of the season, effectively bringing an end to his Tottenham career given he was out of contract in the summer.
Dier also firmed as a prime option for Bayern after they’d lost out to Tottenham in the battle to sign Radu Dragusin.
The switch to Bayern reunited Dier with Harry Kane, who he’d spent nearly a decade with at Tottenham.
Dier joined Bayern Munich on loan for the rest of the season. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
Ajdin Hrustic – Hellas Verona to Heracles Almelo (loan)
It feels like an eternity since we last saw Ajdin Hrustic pull the strings in the Socceroos’ midfield.
The 27-year-old has not played so much as a minute of first team football for Serie A side Hellas Verona this season and was quickly becoming an afterthought in Australian football.
But Hrustic might finally re-enter the frame for Socceroos selection after sealing a move to Eredivisie side Heracles Almelo for the remainder of the 23/24 season.
Hrustic is no stranger to the Dutch top flight having several seasons with FC Groningen, scoring five goals and chalking up five assists from 67 appearances.
Will it be the move that gets the Socceroo’s career back on track?
Australian football fans certainly hope so.
Gift Orban – Gent to Lyon ($19m)
Lyon, seven-time winners of Ligue 1, are in serious danger of being relegated to the second tier of French football for the first time in 70 years.
The club failed to win any of their first 10 games this season and have gone on to win just four from 19 played.
Former Arsenal striker Alexandre Lacazette has been their main goal threat, with nine strikes to his name.
But the club has added some extra firepower to its attack in the form of Nigerian forward Gift Orban.
At 21 years of age, Orban had made a name for himself as a serious goal threat in Belgium for Gent, scoring nine league goals from 10 appearances last season after moving from Norwegian side Stabaek.
He’s also proved himself as a goalscorer in European competition for Gent, bagging nine goals in 10 Europa Conference League games.
Lyon will no doubt hope he brings his scoring boots with him to France, because it just might save the club fro relegation.
The Premier League’s January transfer window is almost complete, with clubs racing to finish their dealings before the window slams shut at 11pm local time (GMT) on February 1.
That’s 10am on Saturday morning AEDT.
Ange Postecoglou’s has landed two big targets at Tottenham this window, signing former Chelsea flop Timo Werner from RB Leipzig on a loan move with an option to buy at the end of the season as well as 21-year-old centre-back Radu Dragusin.
Meanwhile, Manchester City offloaded Kalvin Phillips to West Ham on loan, while Donny van de Beek left Manchester United for Eintracht Frankfurt on loan and teammate Jadon Sancho returned to Borussia Dortmund on loan.
While they are the biggest deals so far, here’s the list of every move from each club this window!
This story will continue to be updated until the window closes 10am Saturday AEDT.
