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31 frantic days of the winter transfer window have come and gone but the stories, narratives and talking points will not be forgotten in a hurry.
The first month of the year 2023 has come and gone and with it the opening and closing of the January transfer window in European football.
The last 31 days have been nothing short of dramatic, full of activity and spending, especially for those associated with Chelsea.
Here is a quick recap of the best winter window in recent history, reliving some of the funny, confusing and on a few occasions, tragic moments.
Hijacks
One consistent theme of the January 2023 transfer window was the hijacked transfers, a number of notable players ended up in different destinations than anticipated.
Liverpool completed the signing of Dutch forward, Cody Gakpo for £45 million on January 3 which came as a shock as the player had been strongly linked with a transfer to Manchester United.
10 days later United would sign Wout Weghorst as an alternative on loan from Besiktas. The lanky striker is nowhere as good as Gakpo but at least he’s also Dutch so the logic checks out.
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The Red Devils would also lose out on another top target but at least this time they weren’t the only victims as Chelsea signed Joao Felix on loan from Atletico Madrid despite months of courtship by Arsenal and Manchester United.
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This would become a familiar pattern throughout the window as it appeared Chelsea led by Todd Boehly specifically determined to sign players who had been wanted by other clubs.
Mikhailo Mudryk was the next Boehly bombshell, becoming the fifth of eight Chelsea signings in January, sending Arsenal fans into emotional turmoil as the player had openly flirted with the club for weeks, building anticipation for the signing only to join their rivals.
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But as far as hijacks go, there was none grander than Arnaut Danjuma joining Tottenham out of the blue (quite literally) having been brought to England by Everton.
The Toffees had agreed a loan deal with Villarreal to sign Danjuma and flew the Dutch winger in for his medical which was complete and the deal was even set to be signed with a “Here we go” from Fabrizio Romano himself.
But after yet another defeat at the weekend, the Toffees fired manager Frank Lampard and in the midst of that turmoil at the Goodison, Spurs swooped in and signed the player on loan instead.
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The way Danjuma transformed from an Everton player to a Tottenham player was magical and now for his next trick, he will be changing Everton from a Premier League team to a Championship team, abracadabra! check back in May.
Failed moves
Wednesday morning must have been awkward for Moises Caicedo, returning to Brighton training the day after the transfer window shut having publicly tried to force a move away from the club.
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Caicedo was courted by Chelsea and Arsenal but the Ecuadorian midfielder didn’t even have a particular destination in mind, his desire to leave was simply motivated by economic reasons.
It only took one rejected bid by Brighton for the whole world to learn the dynamics of the Caicedo family, with the 21-year-old revealing his status as “the youngest of 10 siblings from a poor upbringing” in a bid to force a move.
But Brighton held firm, club owner Tony Bloom is not one to be emotionally blackmailed and Caicedo remains a Seagull for now, albeit against his will.
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Another high-profile player who didn’t get his desired transfer is Hakim Ziyech in what was a hilariously cruel twist of fate on transfer deadline day.
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PSG had an interest in loaning the player who had an even greater interest in joining the star-studded team and leaving Chelsea where he has not quite hit the heights.
Ziyech made his way down to Paris on deadline day according to reports and had a medical with everything set to complete the deal including the green light from Chelsea which came later in the day.
Little did Ziyech know that he was being set up for a huge disappointment as Chelsea reportedly sent PSG the wrong documents three times which led to late registration of the player just seconds after the window closed.
PSG worked late into the night to find a solution but the move was ruled invalid and Ziyech now has to return to Chelsea. If the Blues fans thought he was uninterested before, we might be about to witness a new level of nonchalance from Ziyech in the next six months.
Surprise moves
All eight of Chelsea’s signings could fit into this category but the last one, landing Enzo Fernandez for a record fee in the closing moments of the window takes the cake.
In the same vein, the Blues allowed Italian midfielder Jorginho to join rivals Arsenal in a deal that no one saw coming until the initial approach was made on the penultimate day of the window.
Outside England (where all the transfer drama happened in January), Memphis Depay’s €3 million transfer from Barcelona to Atletico Madrid caught a number of people off guard, especially because of the fee.
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Joao Cancelo who was perceived as a key player for Manchester City also upped and left for Bayern Munich on loan a day before the transfer deadline.
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The Bavarians would have a deadline day departure as well when Manchester United snapped up Marcel Sabitzer on loan till the end of the season to replace the injured Christian Eriksen.
Not forgetting the first big move of the winter window which happened when Cristiano Ronaldo joined Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr as a free agent.
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Honourable mention also has to go out to Tottenham who almost lost out on a move for Sporting Lisbon right-back Pedro Porro despite having no competition for his signature.
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The transfer eventually got completed on deadline day after Spurs and Sporting reached an agreement for the second time in a week.
Strange moves
Some transfers happened in the last 31 days that made people go “huh that might as well happen.”
Weston McKennie trading the pedigree of Juventus to join the American revolution at Leeds United was strange but it did happen.
There are no prizes for guessing Danny Ings’ favourite colour as the Englishman joined West Ham for £15 million after previously playing for Burnley and Aston Villa, completing the holy trinity of Claret and Blue. Trabzonspor next? Who knows.
Nottingham Forest followed 23 summer signings with six more in January most random of which was Keylor Navas who joined on loan from PSG on deadline day.
Nigerian striker Terem Moffi opting to leave seventh-placed Lorient to join 10th-placed OGC Nice ahead of Premier League suitors and top French teams that wanted him is a real headscratcher of a decision.
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The 2023 winter transfer window had everything, interesting storylines, twists and turns, big signings, record-breaking fees and surprises galore, making it the most memorable January window in recent history.
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