Clubs across the continent are in the market for January transfer deals as they look to strengthen their squads for the second half of the 2024/25 season with titles, European football and survival all on the line.
Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City are all rumoured to be circling new arrivals as they battle it out in the Premier League while the window could see some big exits confirmed with Trent Alexander-Arnold negotiating a possible free transfer to Real Madrid and Manchester United open to selling Marcus Rashford.
One of the more intriguing sagas is the fate of Dani Olmo who could be left in limbo is Barcelona fail in their attempts to re-register him. The Spanish giants are battling LaLiga over finanical issues which could mean Olmo needs to find a new club and there are plenty of teams, Arsenal and Chelsea included, monitoring the situation.
And across the rest of the English top-flight, clubs are sticking to PSR regulations and tight budgets as they look to find cut-price deals to bolster their squads.
Follow all the latest transfer news, rumours and deals below:
Is Alexander-Arnold ‘distracted’ by Real Madrid links? Slot says no
Liverpool boss Arne Slot was keen to defend Alexander-Arnold after he was exposed defensively against Man Utd. He acknowledges that people will think the England internaitonal has been distracted by links with a move to Real Madrid but disagrees with that notion.
The Dutchman said: “I think nine out of 10 people will tell you that it affected him. I’m (the) one of the 10 that tells you that I don’t think that affected him.
“What affected him is that he had to play against Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot, two starters for Portugal, great, great players. “If these players set themselves to a game – and that is what United once in a while does – then it’s very difficult to play against them.
“I think that is more difficult for Trent to play against than the rumours that were there during the week. But that’s my opinion, and probably everybody’s going to tell you that it had to do with the rumours.”
Luke Baker6 January 2025 08:10
Forget Real Madrid – Trent Alexander-Arnold should be going to Tranmere Rovers
However, Alexander-Arnold has been roundly criticised for his poor performance in Liverpool’s 2-2 draw with Manchester United on Sunday.
Sky Sports pundits Roy Keane and Jamie Carragher laid in to the right-back as he was repeatedly caught out defensively.
“We talk about how brilliant Trent is going forward, but Trent’s defending today, my goodness, it’s like schoolboy stuff,” said Keane. “There’s talk about him going to Real Madrid – the way he’s defending he’s going to Tranmere Rovers after this. He’s got to do better defensively, he has to do better.”
Meanwhile, Carragher said on commentary: “I said I expected a big performance from Trent Alexander-Arnold today after all the talk of going to Real Madrid this week. He better hope Real Madrid aren’t watching this.”
Luke Baker6 January 2025 08:05
Alexander-Arnold offered bumper deal to stay
The 26-year-old continues to be linked with a move to Real Madrid, and he has just six months remaining on his contract now.
The latest rumour surrounding Trent Alexander-Arnold’s future is a positive one for Liverpool fans, with the Daily Mirrorreporting that the club have offered the England international a five-year contract worth £78m (and £300,000 per week) to stay at Anfield.
Luke Baker6 January 2025 08:00
January transfer news LIVE
As ever, the first weekend of the January window has seen plenty of rumours begin to gather pace.
Nevertheless, the biggest news of the weekend was probably Tottenham’s signature of Antonin Kinsky as a stand-in for the injured Guglielmo Vicario.
The 21-year-old, who has already earned admiration around a lot of Europe despite just breaking into the Slavia Prague team this season, is expected to cost £12.5m with add-ons.
Luke Baker6 January 2025 07:50
