Philippe Coutinho and Virgil van Dijk are grabbing the lion’s share of the headlines, but they’re not the only high profile players involved in the January transfer madness.
No, the incredibly active Liverpool are also eyeing up a bid for Thomas Lemar while Jurgen Klopp may also be tempted into a last-minute bargain basement deal to further bolster his defence. Will he be successful? Meanwhile Manchester United have once again been linked with a bid for old boy Cristiano Ronaldo while Henrikh Mkhitaryan is also rumoured to be on his way out.
Manchester City appear to have entered the race to sign Liverpool midfielder Emre Can along with Bayern Munich, but Juventus remain the favourites to land the Germany midfielder – whose contract expires at the end of the season. Another free agent in the summer, Alexis Sanchez, looks set to stay at Arsenal despite claims that Arsene Wenger wants to sell him to Paris Saint-Germain in January.
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Wenger promises 'quality' replacements if star duo leave
Arsene Wenger has pledged to bring in top-class replacements if Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil decide to leave Arsenal.
Wenger said they are yet to be contacted by any interested clubs but insisted the Gunners will not suffer if the duo depart.
Sanchez and Ozil are yet to extend their contracts, which expire in the summer, and are now free to speak to foreign clubs in January.
Wenger will be on the lookout for new signings too this month, but admitted he will adjust his plans depending on Sanchez and Ozil's situation.
"We are out there and look of course to do some things," Wenger said.
"We will do but when is very difficult to say because that does not depend only on us. We are open to any position for the exceptional player that can give us a plus. It depends a little bit on the injuries as well.
"On the other hand it depends if we manage to extend the contracts of the players who are at the end of their contracts in June.
"It will depend on that as well. We have to take the consequences of those decisions and respond to it.
"How we cope with that, first of all we have not lost them yet, and secondly we will respond to that by bringing in players of top quality.
"This club has lost many, many big players and has always responded well. Massive players have left this club and the club will always be in a strong position on that front."
Wenger, however, dismissed speculation linking Arsenal with moves for Chelsea defender David Luiz and Monaco forward Thomas Lemar.
He said: "I don't want to think about any special names, but these reports are wrong."
Arsenal host Chelsea in the Premier League on Wednesday as they attempt to regain momentum following Sunday's 1-1 draw at West Brom.
Wenger and his players were left incensed by referee Mike Dean's decision to award a late penalty for a Calum Chambers handball, as Jay Rodriguez converted to rescue West Brom a point.
"It was very disappointing," Wenger said. "What is more frustrating for me is it happened many times this season - at Stoke, Watford, Man City, now West Brom.
"It is a concerning coincidence for me. That is why as well I was not at all happy with the movement the referee made as to why he gave the penalty. It did not correspond at all with what happened.
"On that front it's a bit worrying. He saw what he wanted to see."
Sead Kolasinac limped off against West Brom after taking a knock to his ankle and the defender is now expected to be out for a minimum of two weeks.
Laurent Koscielny is also still struggling with an Achilles injury, with Wenger rating the Frenchman's chances of facing Chelsea at 30 per cent. Ozil, who has a knee problem, has a "small chance" and will be assessed.
Aaron Ramsey and Olivier Giroud are both out with hamstring injuries, along with Nacho Monreal who has an ankle problem.
Jurgen Klopp has admitted that Virgil van Dijk is desperate to make his Liverpool debut in the FA Cup Merseyside derby against Everton on Friday.
A defensive error saw Liverpool fall behind in their 2-1 win over Leicester on Saturday as Van Dijk watched from the stands and despite him being eligible to play against Burnley, Klopp had previously indicated that he will ease the centre back in.
When quizzed on whether Van Dijk could feature against Everton later this week, Klopp kept his cards close to his chest but admitted that the defender is keen to feature.
“I don't know,” the German said. “We made a few tests. No rush. He is on fire, really wants (to play), but we have to make sure he can perform.”
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Jose Mourinho has hinted Manchester United may be in action in the January transfer market after all following a spate of injuries.
The Portuguese was missing a host of players for the New Year's Day win over Everton, including strikers Romelu Lukaku and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, with Ashley Young also beginning a three-game suspension to further limit his options.
Only last week Mourinho had admitted it was unlikely there would be any incomings at Old Trafford this month but a stretched squad appears to have altered his stance.
"We will compete always, we competed and we didn't have I think nine players," he said.
"Nine players were not here. I always say that I like my guys very, very much. We have a fantastic relationship, we give our best, we try to do well always and when we don't we stick together and fight.
"If somebody comes, welcome, if nobody is coming we are going to fight with the players we have.
"I had not one more player to select, even Chris Smalling was on the bench but he could only play in an emergency situation."
Anthony Martial, playing up front due to the absence of Lukaku and Ibrahimovic, and Jesse Lingard were both on target in the second half at Goodison Park - the latter scoring for the 10th time this season, seven of which have come in his last nine games.
It is a significant total for a player who managed only half of that across all of last term and further evidence that, shortly after turning 25, Lingard is coming of age as a United player.
Yet the England international has revealed his goals target for the campaign was greater than just simply getting to double figures.
"I have still got a target in mind and I'm working towards that," he told MUTV. "I just want to assist and score goals to help the team - it's good for me and that's my aim.
"(The target) is secret! But I'm working towards it and I'll keep working hard to help the team. It's always good for us to score as attacking players and to help the team get the three points."
A clean sheet for United meant Everton have now scored just once in their previous four games.
Toffees boss Sam Allardyce is desperate to recruit a new striker this month and is still hopeful a deal for Besiktas' Turkish international Cenk Tosun will materialise.
"Our deal is in, our deal is there, it's up to them whether they accept our deal or not," Allardyce said.
"We've done all we can. I would presume we will know in the next 24 hours whether we've been successful or not.
"Obviously we need a bigger goalscoring threat than we've got at the moment. That may help us in many ways to achieve more results and certainly will if whoever we get scores goals.
"I can't guarantee whoever we get in is going to score goals straight away, I just hope he does when we do."
Brazilian striker Hulk will start his third season with Shanghai SIPG next month determined to deliver a trophy to the big-spending Chinese Super League club in the new campaign.
The burly forward signed for a then-record 55 million euros ($66.13 million) from Zenit St Petersburg in the summer of 2016 but has yet to claim any silverware during his time in China.
But the 31-year-old is focused on delivering the club's first trophy in the 2018 season with new coach Vitor Pereira at the helm.
"I've been with SIPG a year and a half now and I'm desperate to win a championship," he told Chinese media. "I hope we can do it in the new season. I'll try 100 percent to help my team and my team mates."
SIPG finished second behind perennial Chinese Super League champions Guangzhou Evergrande last season while they were also runners-up in the Chinese FA Cup and semi-finalists in the Asian Champions League.
Coach Andre Villas-Boas left after just one season and has been replaced by his Portuguese compatriot Pereira, a man Hulk knows from his time working under the 49-year-old at Porto.
"I know Pereira well," Hulk said. "He's a very good coach who is ambitious. He has been keeping us on the right track on a daily basis and I hope his leadership can improve our results.
"Now there's a great atmosphere in the team. It's nice to have this kind of atmosphere at the start of the season and it will put us in a good frame of mind going into the New Year.
"Hopefully God will bless us with a great year and better achievements."
Hulk's position as the most expensive player in Asia was taken by his compatriot Oscar, who signed for Shanghai from Chelsea last January, providing SIPG with one of the most potent attacking forces on the continent.
The pair are joined by fellow Brazilian Elkeson as well as veteran defender Ricardo Carvalho and Uzbekistan's Odil Ahmedov as the club's foreign players.
New rules in the Chinese Super League, however, will allow teams to field no more than three foreigners in each game while forcing coaches to select the same number of Chinese players under the age of 23 as the non-Chinese players in their starting line-up.
The amendment to the regulations is certain to have a major impact on the upcoming campaign, but Hulk believes the added competition for places among the overseas players will beneficial to the team.
"As far as the international competition between the foreign players in the team is concerned, it will be a difficult choice for the coach but it will be a good thing for the team because we have a good pool of players to choose from," he said.
"What we need to do is perform well in training."
Virgil van Dijk has insisted he is ready to make an instant impact at Liverpool – despite missing Southampton’s last three games – and has revealed he was driven to make the move after dreaming of European nights at Anfield.
The Dutchman officially became the most expensive defender ever on New Year’s Day as the transfer window opened and his move to the Reds was confirmed.
“I feel ready,” he told Liverpoolfc.com “Obviously I didn’t play the last two games for Southampton, but I feel ready. I am looking forward to getting stuck in, make sure I get my chance and just play.”
" don't know about transfers. In this moment we are in trouble, in two to three weeks time maybe we recover and we breathe in a different way. Can we improve now or do we wait util the summer? I cannot say.
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