Nine January transfers that never were including Chelsea, Man Utd and Arsenal deals

Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham all had the chance to improve their squads in the January transfer window with the top four up for grabs. However, very little was done in terms of business despite hefty interest in doing so.

This January has provided the Premier League with some major transfers that are already being tipped to be difference-makers.

Newcastle signed the likes of Kieran Trippier, Dan Burn, Bruno Guimaraes and Chris Wood in their attempt to beat the drop.

Aston Villa brought in Lucas Digne and Philippe Coutinho in an amazing swoop for Steven Gerrard’s men while Frank Lampard joined Everton along with Dele Alli and Donny van de Beek.

But further up the table, business was far from booming despite the likes of United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham all wanting to bolster their squads.

So, where did they go wrong?

Manchester United – a midfielder, Julian Alvarez

Despite heavy interest in Alvarez, United passed up the chance to sign the Argentine who had a release clause wroth around £17 at River Plate.

Instead, the 19-year-old has moved to rivals Manchester City in a move that could end up haunting them for years.

Ralf Rangnick was also desperate to sign a midfielder with the likes of Amadou Haidara and Denis Zakaria on his wish list.

But, again, the Red Devils decided against a move but in the summer there are raids expected for the likes of Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham.

Chelsea – back-up left-back

After Ben Chilwell’s season-ending injury in November, all their attention turned to January to pick up a player that could fill his position after a patchy run of results.

Marcos Alonso has proved a less-than suitable replacement as Chelsea’s form dipped and Digne was initially eyed only for Everton to demand a permanent transfer.

Thomas Tuchel wanted to bring Emerson Palmieri back from Lyon, where he is on loan, and the Blues even offered them up to £4m in compensation.

The French club rejected the bid and Chelsea failed to look elsewhere, meaning Alonso is the only recognised left-back at the club as they look to defend their European crown.

Arsenal – striker, midfielder

It has been a bizarre transfer window for Arsenal, who earlier complained about a lack of players before shipping several players out on loan and on permanent moves.

The highest-profile departure was that of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who had his contract torn up with hours left in the window to allow him to join Barcelona.

That was despite the fact that Mikel Arteta still had signed the striker he coveted with failed moves for Dusan Vlahovic, Raul de Tomas and Alexander Isak.

And there was further irritation for Arsenal fans who were sure a midfielder was on the way only for a transfer for Juventus star Arthur blocked.

Tottenham – a mess

Of all the clubs in the Premier League, nobody had a January quite like Tottenham who had a rollercoaster of a transfer window with several missed targets only to snap up two at the death.

Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur signed from Juventus but Spurs saw the likes of Adama Traore and Luis Diaz pick Barcelona and Liverpool over them in humiliating circumstances.

To make matters worse, even non-league ace Ollie Tanner turned his nose up to stay at Lewes, while Franck Kessie’s agent stopped answering the phone to club chief Fabio Paratici.

Antonio Conte was likely sizzling with rage before the arrival of the Juve duo but missing out on a wing-back might be Spurs’ biggest regret.