The English transfer window closed at 7pm on Monday, but what other countries are still open for business?
The January transfer window closed on Monday at 7pm, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the end of all the moving and shaking.
Ahead of the deadline, Sunderland were looking to part ways with summer signing Simon Adingra in a shock deadline day loan to Monaco, with the French club holding the option to buy the Ivorian permanently. The aim being to replace him with Ecuadorian winger Nilson Angulo, landing the 12-time international from Belgian giants Anderlecht. But with the window now closed, what happens next elsewhere?
When did the transfer window close?
The English transfer window closed at 7pm on Monday, calling time on business this winter for Premier League clubs and teams throughout the EFL. However, that wasn’t quite a hard deadline, with clubs able to submit a deal sheet to get a short extension to complete any deals that were close to the finish line. The transfer windows in Germany, Italy and France closed at the same time as the English one, while clubs in Spain had until 10:59pm to conclude their business.
Did all transfer windows close on Monday?
No, there are plenty of transfer windows around Europe and beyond still open for business. In Turkey, for example, clubs have until Friday, 6th February, to complete further transfers, and the Super Lig’s ‘big four’ of Galatasaray, Fenerbahce, Besiktas and Trabzonspor often take advantage of this extra time, able to compete with clubs around Europe in terms of transfer fees and wages.
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Among the biggest names plying their trade in Turkey right now are Victor Osimhen, Matteo Guendouzi, Leroy Sane, Ederson, Marco Asensio and Andre Onana. Clubs in Greece also have until Friday to get their business done, as do those in the Austrian Bundesliga. The Eredivisie and Primeira Liga have a little more flexibility than English sides, with their window closing on Tuesday, 3rd of February.
But aside from Turkey, the biggest remaining moves could come from Liga MX and Major League Soccer. The former’s window doesn’t close until 10th February, while this is the latter’s primary window, meaning it’ll stay open all the way to 26th March.
Though the league has switched focus recently to a youth development model and signing talent from South America, MLS still continues its history of signing big-name veterans from European clubs, including the likes of Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez at Inter Miami, Thomas Müller at the Vancouver Whitecaps, and Son Heung-min at LAFC. Other notable European leagues with plenty of time left in the window are the Czech Chance Liga (12th February), Swiss Super League (16th February) and Croatian 1. HNL (17th February).
The likes of Romaine Mundle and Luke O’Nien have struggled for minutes this season, while Ian Poveda and Milan Aleksic are among those currently surplus to requirements. Sunderland could look to these countries whose windows continue for solutions to get further wages off the books and trim down Regis Le Bris’ squad.
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