RATED! Every Premier League club's January transfer window

The January transfer window is always a difficult one to judge. At just over the halfway point of the season – well, slightly less for Burnley – there's more of a need to stabilise and keep momentum than there is to improve.

That's why big deals rarely happen: unless, of course, a gift horse presents itself. In Newcastle United's case, that's a new ownership.

So how did everyone do? Who can be happy with their business and who should have done more? Let's scan through every club in the top flight and take a closer look.

Arsenal

In: Lino Sousa (West Brom), Auston Trusty (Colorado Rapids)
Out: Harry Clarke (Hibernian) Loan, Ainsley Maitland-Niles (Roma) Loan, Folarin Balogun (Middlesbrough) Loan, Deyan Iliev (released), Brooke Norton-Cuffy (Lincoln) Loan, Sead Kolasinac (Marseille) Free, Pablo Mari (Udinese) Loan, Karl Hein (Reading) Loan, Tyreece John-Jules (Sheff Wed) Loan, Calum Chambers (Aston Villa), Ryan Alebiosu (Crewe Alexandra) Loan, Nikolaj Moller (FC Den Bosch) Loan, Jordi Osei-Tutu (Rotherham) Loan, Tim Akinola (Dundee Utd) Loan, Auston Trusty (Colorado Rapids) Loan, Amani Richards (Leicester)

What a place to start. The objective was clear: to sign a top striker and possibly a midfielder if the right one was available. In the end, Mikel Arteta and co. decided stability was best – which would be understandable if Arsenal's season hadn't hinged on small margins either way.

Good strikers are difficult to sign but it felt far too much like Arsenal put all eggs in the basket of someone who had no interest in them. Failing to get a midfielder, too, means that midfield responsibility rests on Xhaka and Partey. Is top four still attainable? Of course. But this was a major chance to take a little pressure off the team…

Grade: D

Aston Villa

In: Philippe Coutinho (Barcelona) Loan, Lucas Digne (Everton) Undisclosed, Robin Olsen (Roma) Loan, Calum Chambers (Arsenal)
Out: Keinan Davis (Nott'm Forest) Loan, Wesley (Internacional) Loan, Aaron Ramsey (Cheltenham Town) Loan, Caleb Chukwuemeka (Livingston) Loan, Anwar El Ghazi (Everton) Loan, Jaden Philogene-Bidace (Stoke City) Loan, Cameron Archer (Preston) Loan, Arjan Raikhy (Grimsby) Loan, Louie Barry (Swindon) Loan, Kaine Kesler Hayden (MK Dons) Loan, Jed Steer (Luton) Loan, Matt Targett (Newcastle) Loan, Filip Marschall (Gateshead) Loan

If Aston Villa had an odd window in the summer, Steven Gerrard has wasted no time in getting some quality through the door to tide them over. Philippe Coutinho is possibly the signing of the window, Lucas Digne is a clear upgrade and for quality versatility on a free, Calum Chambers is a great acquisition. 

Keinan Davis has moved to develop for a progressive coach, Matt Targett has gone to a club he can showcase his best and Louie Barry has a lower league loan to prove himself. It's all good business from Villa this window.

Grade: A

Brentford

In: Jonas Lossl (Midtjylland), Christian Eriksen (Unattached), Hans Mpongo (Needham Market), Deji Sotona (Nice) Loan
Out: Lachlan Brook (Adelaide United) Loan, Joe Adams (Dundalk), Patrik Gunnarsson (Viking Fotballklubb), Joel Valencia (Agrupacion Deportiva Alcorcon) Loan, Dominic Thompson (Ipswich) Loan, Mads Bidstrup (FC Nordsjaelland) Loan, Charlie Goode (Sheffield United) Loan, Luka Racic (HB Køge) Loan, Marcus Forss (Hull) Loan

The one thing that Brentford could have done with is a little more spark to relieve some of the playmaking effects from Ivan Toney. If Christian Eriksen can get back to anything near his best, that's a wonderful deal. Either way, to have the great Dane back in football is fantastic. 

Grade: B

Brighton & Hove Albion

In: Kacper Kozlowski (Pogon Szczecin), Billie Clark (Whitehawk), Deniz Undav (Royale Union Saint-Gilloise), Benicio Baker-Boaitey (Porto) Loan
Out: Aaron Connolly (Middlesbrough) Loan, Kacper Kozlowski (Royale Union St-Gilloise), Leo Ostigard (Genoa) Loan, Jurgen Locadia (Bochum), Taylor Richards (Birmingham) Loan, Fynn Talley (Gosport Borough) Loan, Christian Walton (Ipswich Town), Lorent Tolaj (Cambridge Utd) Loan, Deniz Undav (Royale Union Saint-Gilloise) Loan, Ryan Longman (Hull), Dan Burn (Newcastle), Kjell Scherpen (Oostende) Loan

They beat Manchester City to the highly-rated Kacper Kozlowski and managed to get Aaron Connolly a much-needed loan with Chris Wilder – but the loss of Dan Burn is the headline. 

It's a shame to let the giant defender leave but it sums up the window for the Seagulls: not going to make or break the season. Expect bigger things in the summer.

Grade: C

Burnley

In: Wout Weghorst (Wolfsburg)
Out: Jacob Bedeau (Morecambe) Loan, Anthony Glennon (Barrow) Loan, Chris Wood (Newcastle), Ethen Vaughan (Farsley Celtic) Loan

Losing Chris Wood mid-relegation battle was a blow but Wout Weghorst is a very solid replacement for Burnley. It's a real shame that Mislav Orsic didn't come off – and it would be nice if the Clarets stick around in the big time if just to see them make more of those moves. 

But you do fear for this squad and the backlog of games to come. Does this team have enough to stay up? The jury is out. 

Grade: D

Chelsea

Out: Lewis Baker (Stoke City), Juan Castillo (Charlton Athletic), Tariq Uwakwe (Crewe Alexandra), Tino Anjorin (Huddersfield Town)

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They really wanted a left-back but couldn't get one. You feel that bigger moves would have been made if the gap between Chelsea and Manchester City were a little closer, though.

There's another big summer ahead for the Blues with Andreas Christensen, Antonio Rudiger and Cesar Azpilicueta out of contract among others, while the misfiring Kai Havertz and Timo Werner have stays of execution in west London. Perhaps a statement buy from the European champions would have been good – but it's not wholly necessary to still end the season well. 

Grade: C

Crystal Palace

In: Killian Phillips (Drogheda United), Jean-Philippe Mateta (Mainz), Luke Plange (Derby)
Out: Jake O’Brien (Swindon Town) Loan, Jacob Montes (RWD Molenbeek) Loan,
James Taylor (Tonbridge Angels) Loan, Jay Rich-Baghuelou (Accrington Stanley), Ollie Webber (Portsmouth), Rob Street (Newport County) Loan, Luke Plange (Derby) Loan

We weren't expecting much from Crystal Palace after a busy summer. A botched move for Donny van de Beek is a big disappointment but with Patrick Vieira's side having a fine season, it's more important to keep this ship on the right course. Keeping Jean-Philippe Mateta is a good sign.

Grade: C

Everton

In: Vitalii Mykolenko (Dynamo Kiev), Nathan Patterson (Rangers), Anwar El Ghazi (Aston Villa) Loan, Donny van de Beek (Man Utd) Loan, Dele Alli (Spurs), Billy Crellin (Fleetwood Town)
Out: Lucas Digne (Aston Villa), Ellis Simms (Hearts) Loan, Lewis Warrington (Tranmere) Loan

A lot to unpack here. Everton's window started with Lucas Digne being turfed out after losing the war with Rafa Benitez – and ended with Frank Lampard as manager desperately drafting in midfielders. How did we end up here?

Dele Alli is the big one – and looks like a well-structured deal. Van de Beek was rather unnecessary once Alli had been confirmed – though he's still a top player – while Nathan Patterson should look solid in time. 

But really, this is more of the same from Everton. It's all hard to judge right now and while it might look good on paper, the bigger issue seems to be how to correct this era of malaise. If the window looks underwhelming, that's more a reflection of Everton's recent history than the players themselves. 

Grade: D

Leeds United

In: Mateo Joseph Fernandez (Espanyol)
Out: Ryan Edmondson (Port Vale) Loan, Cody Drameh (Cardiff) Loan, Josh Galloway (FC United of Manchester) Loan, Bobby Kamwa (Dunfermline Athletic) Loan

It's been a tough season for Leeds. The squad has been decimated by injury and Marcelo Bielsa was expected to bring in a midfielder and another forward. 

Well, he's managed the latter – but it's important to realise that the worst of the congestion is over for Leeds. They've managed to bring one youngster in – and actually, doing much more than that could well disrupt the team, given how strict Bielsa can be about his squad size. It might not look like much but sometimes patience is a good thing.

Grade: C

Leicester City

Out: Jacob Wakeling (Barrow) Loan, Filip Benkovic (Released), Kasey McAteer (Forest Green Rovers) Loan, Josh Eppiah (Northampton) Loan, Jakub Stolarczyk (Dunfermline) Loan, Ali Reghba (Chabab Riadhi Belouizdad),  Sam Hughes (Burton), Vontae Daley-Campbell (Dundee) Loan

No one in for Leicester, either – and judging by how disappointing this season has been, there's a sense that perhaps they could have done with someone new.

Jamie Vardy won't be back until March apparently, Jonny Evans later and Wesley Fofana still isn't on the horizon. A new defender could have been wise, as difficult a market it can be to manoeuvre for quality centre-backs. Even Calum Chambers might have been worth hijacking.

Grade: D

Liverpool

In: Luis Diaz (Porto)
Out: Tony Gallacher (St Johnstone), Morgan Boyes (Livingston), Vitezslav Jaros (Notts County) Loan, Nat Phillips (AFC Bournemouth) Loan, Neco Williams (Fulham) Loan

Liverpool fans have Tottenham to thank, in a way. Luis Diaz was going to hold off until the summer, before Spurs made a bid and the deal was accelerated. For around £45m, that's fantastic business for a potentially world-class talent.

Speaking of, the deal for Fabio Carvalho might not be inked but it looks good to return to in the summer. Factor in that two young defenders have got moves to top Championship teams and it's hard to have asked for more.

Grade: A

Manchester City

In: Julian Alvarez (River Plate)
Out: Ferran Torres (Barcelona), Taylor Harwood-Bellis (Stoke City) Loan, James Trafford (Bolton Wanderers) Loan, Tommy Doyle (Cardiff City) Loan, Patrick Roberts (Sunderland), Finley Burns (Swansea) Loan, Camron Gbadebo (Colchester), Sammy Robinson (Port Vale), Matt Smith (MK Dons), Luke Bolton (Salford)

How do you improve the best team in the league? A wonderkid for £14m should do nicely. Julian Alvarez looks top-notch – even if Manchester City have lost a potential star in Ferran Torres.

No one really expected much from City this window but they've not done anything too drastic either way. Is it too much to ask for a centre-forward? Probably. That'll probably happen in the summer – but the business conducted (minus James McAtee not getting a loan) has been solid.

Grade: B

Manchester United

Out: Teden Mengi (Birmingham City) Loan, Ethan Laird (AFC Bournemouth) Loan, Axel Tuanzebe (Napoli) Loan, Anthony Martial (Sevilla) Loan, Amad Diallo (Rangers) Loan, Donny van de Beek (Everton) Loan, Matej Kovar (Burton) Loan, Dillon Hoogewerf (Borussia Monchengladbach)

Manchester United entered January with talk of Ralf Rangnick having £50m to spend. All that's seemed to happen is a little dithering over Jesse Lingard's squad status and Phil Jones weirdly almost ending up in Bordeaux.

United should have bought a new midfielder and a new right-back. You can understand the caution not to lumber the next manager with a player he won't use but this was a good opportunity for Rangnick to prove he's worth the consultancy fee in the summer. 

Grade: D

Newcastle United

In: Kieran Trippier (Atletico Madrid), Chris Wood (Burnley), Bruno Guimaraes (Lyon), Matt Targett (Aston Villa), Dan Burn (Brighton)
Out: Joe White (Hartlepool) Loan, Freddie Woodman (AFC Bournemouth) Loan, Matt Bondswell (Shrewsbury) Loan, Elliot Anderson (Bristol Rovers) Loan, Matty Longstaff (Mansfield) Loan, Jeff Hendrick (QPR) Loan

Some will say it stinks of panic. Some will say that this is the problem with giving small with managers inexperienced at the top level lots of money. But for us, Newcastle United's business has been nothing short of excellent this window.

Kieran Trippier adds defensive solidity, leadership and creativity for £15m; Chris Wood adds presence for just a little more. Dan Burn and Matt Targett are properly experienced, hard workers, with Burn having non-league on his CV. These are the players you want in a scrap – they're the ones you want if you go down.

Weirdly, the most exciting one of the lot, Bruno Guimaraes, is the only one who could go either way: a Toon Pirlo or a new-age Jean Michel Seri. But the Magpies have given themselves a great shot at survival. If they don't beat the drop, it won't be down to the recruitment. 

Grade: A

Norwich City

Out: Tom Dickson-Peters (Gillingham) Loan, Tyrese Omotoye (Carlisle) Loan, Bali Mumba (Peterborough United) Loan, Rocky Bushiri (Hibernian) Loan, Gassan Ahadme (Burton Albion), Onel Hernandez (Birmingham City) Loan, Josh Martin (Doncaster Rovers) Loan, Sebastian Soto (Livingston) Loan, Jordan Hugill (Cardiff) Loan, Todd Cantwell (AFC Bournemouth) Loan

One could argue that Norwich City could do with another difference-maker or two but given that their summer signings are only just starting to gel, this window was about stability at Carrow Road. 

It was a bold call to bring no one in – but it was the right one. And getting the likes of Bali Mumba game-time and removing the distraction of Todd Cantwell are unequivocally good decisions. 

Grade: B

Southampton

In: Willy Caballero (Free)
Out: Sam McQueen (Retirement), Jack Bycroft (Dorchester) Loan, Dan Nlundulu (Cheltenham Town) Loan, Jeremi Rodriguez (Burgos CF) Loan, Caleb Watts (Crawley Town) Loan, Kayne Ramsay (Ross County) Loan, Dynel Simeu (Carlisle) Loan

Despite new Serbian owner Dragan Solak taking over, it's been a lean, lean winter in the Dragan household. Just Willy Caballero brought in – but at least Southampton kept the likes of James Ward-Prowse and Oriel Romeu during the rumour mill going into overdrive. A new signing to kick them on would have been nice but probably isn't necessary.

Grade: C

Tottenham Hotspur

In: Rodrigo Bentancur (Juventus), Dejan Kulusevski (Juventus) Loan
Out: Kion Etete (Cheltenham Town) Loan, Dilan Markanday (Blackburn), Jack Clarke (Sunderland) Loan, Nile John (Charlton) Loan, Tanguy Ndombele (Lyon) Loan, Bryan Gil (Valencia) Loan, Giovani Lo Celso (Villarreal) Loan, Dele Alli (Everton)

Things were looking worrying when Adama Traore and Luis Diaz both failed to materialise. Prospect Dilan Markanday's exit caused a slight stir, too. Really, Tottenham have pulled it out of the bag at the last minute, though.

Juventus pair Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur are both sensible signings and both fill the need for a midfielder and attacker. There's still much to do but at least getting rid of Ndombele, Alli and Lo Celso is perhaps best for all parties. They left it late but they did OK.

Grade: C

Watford

In: Maduka Okoye (Sparta Rotterdam), Hassane Kamara (Nice), Samir (Udinese), Edo Kayembe (Eupen), Samuel Kalu (Bordeaux)
Out: Maduka Okoye (Sparta Rotterdam) Loan, Pontus Dahlberg (Gillingham) Loan, Ryan Cassidy (Bohemian) Loan, Domingos Quina (Barnsley) Loan

When was the last time that Watford signed someone that you knew would be a hit?

It's so difficult to judge the Hornets and their idiosyncratic transfer strategy. Samuel Kalu stands out as a particularly good signing, if things work out, but yes, they could have maybe done with more to stay up.

Grade: D

West Ham United

Out: Conor Coventry (MK Dons) Loan, Joseph Anang (St Patrick's) Loan, Frederik Alves (Brondby)

It's disappointing for West Ham in some ways. They went into the market for Jesse Lingard (again) and potentially Darwin Nunez, ending up with neither. 

No one is expecting West Ham to qualify for the Champions League but with Manchester United, Arsenal and Tottenham all waiting to strengthen in the summer, now was a good chance to steal a march and capitalise on the momentum they had ahead of heavy fixture congestion. Still, every window you manage to keep Declan Rice and Jarrod Bowen is a another tick in the positive column.

Grade: D

Wolverhampton Wanderers

In: Hayao Kawabe (Grasshoppers), Chiquinho (Estoril), Jeong Sang-bin (Suwon Samsung Bluewings)
Out: Theo Corbeanu (MK Dons) Loan, Lewis Richards (Harrogate Town) Loan, Luke Matheson (Scunthorpe) Loan, Leonardo Campana (Inter Miami) Loan, Hayao Kawabe (Grasshoppers) Loan, Dion Sanderson (QPR) Loan, Jeong Sang-bin (Grasshoppers) Loan, Austin Samuels (Inverness Caledonian Thistle), Adama Traore (Barcelona) Loan, Bruno Jordao (Grasshopper Club Zurich) Loan, Oscar Burr (Released), Louie Moulden (Ebbsfleet) Loan, Andreas Sondergaard (Hereford) Loan, Ryan Giles (Blackburn) Loan

Very little to major business for Wolves, too. The major headline is that Hwang Hee-Chan is staying, while Adama Traore has probably played his last game for the club. 

That's expected. And once more, Wolves are in a position where stability is key – and maximising the likes of Fabio Silva and Daniel Podence is preferable to flashy new buys. Good work on the club for not bringing in Fabio Carvalho to disrupt the balance, just because he has Portuguese ancestry. 

Grade: B

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