This thread highlights how some of the best mid-season transfers, like Vidic, Van Dijk, Suarez, Fernandes, Marcelo, and Barzagli, changed their teams quickly and dramatically. Though tough at first, these signings often give teams a boost or set up future success. January can be risky but also a smart chance to get ahead before others do.
Greatest January Window Transfers!
This season it feels more imperative than ever for sides to take that gamble to introduce a second wind especially amongst the bigger clubs across Europe.
We look at the most transformative mid season signings of all time…
A THREAD 🧵
The first impressions of Vidic and Evra were not positive in the slightest.
Team mates felt they were out of their depth, both players felt out of their depth and they were being looked at as poster boys for not making mid season transfers but in hindsight this allowed them a period of adaptation and by the start of the following season they were flying… helping form the foundations for Sir Alex Ferguson’s third great side.
Someone who didn’t need a period of adaptation was Virgil Van Dijk. Already catching the eye of all the elite premier league sides it was a case of who was the big defensive signing that most warranted the big fee… Harry Maguire or Van Dijk.
Seems ridiculous in hindsight that these two were being put into a similar category but Van Dijk came in and instantly helped propel Liverpool to a UCL final.
He was included in the UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season, despite playing just half of the season in the Champions League, with the UEFA Technical Observers saying: "Van Dijk arrived at Anfield and provided composure and stability in the competition's knockout stage”.
Luis Suarez…
What is crazy is that Suarez and Andy Carroll were signed in the same window and they paid £13m more for the Geordie who received more fanfare than the Uruguayan who would go on to become the World’s leading striker.
He was one of Liverpool's best players during his partial season and helped Liverpool go from 12th in the league in mid-January to finish sixth. Despite struggling the season after, Suarez proved to be a huge hit at Anfield, 69 goals in 110 appearances, almost winning them the league in his final season there.
Sometimes you might not feel the immediate impact of a mid season signing but by getting there first, you’re beating the pack and setting yourself up for the following season.
On 2 February 2015, Dele Alli signed for Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur in the last hours of the mid-season transfer window on a five-and-a-half-year deal for an initial fee of £5 million.
Loan to Milton Keynes Dons
Following his transfer to Tottenham Hotspur, Alli was immediately loaned back to MK Dons for the remainder of the 2014–15 season. On 19 April, he was chosen as the Young Player of the Year at the Football League Awards.
The following season having now moved to Spurs, Alli was a sensation winning the PFA young player of the year and scoring 10 goals in his debut season.
Bruno Fernandes became the MVP of Manchester United within half a season of arriving there, talk about an instant impact.
Bruno won multiple club and Premier League awards, including Premier League Player of the Month and Goal of the Month, becoming the first player to win both awards concurrently in Premier League history. He also became the first Manchester United player to win back to back Premier League Player of the Month awards since Cristiano Ronaldo in the 2006–07 season.
In September, Fernandes was named as the winner of Manchester United's Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year award, given to the club's best player from the previous season, despite having come in during January.
Not an instant hit but someone who went on to become his generation’s greatest left back…
Marcelo joined Real Madrid during the January transfer window in 2007. On his arrival, club President Ramón Calderón said, "He is an important signing for us. He is a young player who will inject some freshness into the side and is part of our plan to bring younger players into the squad. We're very happy because he's a pearl that half of Europe wanted”.
Many spectators hailed him as Brazilian and Real Madrid great Roberto Carlos' potential successor in the left-back role. It didn’t quite go to plan initially.
He was being benched, used as a left winger but eventually he became a giant of the game… someone who even Carlos thought was superior to him in possession.
Not a great start to his Juventus career but very rapidly became a mainstay for the Old Lady.
Barzagli came in January and his first six months with the Bianconeri coincided with the second half of a terribly disappointing 2010–11 campaign under Luigi Delneri, which saw the club finish only seventh in Serie A, with Barzagli making 15 appearances in the league that season.
In his first full season Barzagli helped Juventus win the 2011–12 scudetto undefeated, and the 2012Supercoppa Italiana; Juventus also made the final of the Coppa Italia that season. His stellar season earned him a place in the Serie A Team of the Year.
In conclusion too often teams seem unwilling to part with the cash in January. In this increasingly automated world, teams seem reluctant to bring a player in with no preseason or prior knowledge of the teams patterns of play and it is seen as an inefficient means of recruiting a player.
However it is also a time where you can grab players before other teams are prepared and it can give your team an instant second wind… or worse case scenario you’re bedding them in and getting that awkward adaptation process out of the way before the next season starts.
Greatest January Window Transfers!
This season it feels more imperative than ever for sides to take that gamble to introduce a second wind especially amongst the bigger clubs across Europe.
We look at the most transformative mid season signings of all time…
A THREAD 🧵The first impressions of Vidic and Evra were not positive in the slightest.
Team mates felt they were out of their depth, both players felt out of their depth and they were being looked at as poster boys for not making mid season transfers but in hindsight this allowed them a period of adaptation and by the start of the following season they were flying… helping form the foundations for Sir Alex Ferguson’s third great side.Someone who didn’t need a period of adaptation was Virgil Van Dijk. Already catching the eye of all the elite premier league sides it was a case of who was the big defensive signing that most warranted the big fee… Harry Maguire or Van Dijk.
Seems ridiculous in hindsight that these two were being put into a similar category but Van Dijk came in and instantly helped propel Liverpool to a UCL final.
He was included in the UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season, despite playing just half of the season in the Champions League, with the UEFA Technical Observers saying: "Van Dijk arrived at Anfield and provided composure and stability in the competition's knockout stage”.Luis Suarez…
What is crazy is that Suarez and Andy Carroll were signed in the same window and they paid £13m more for the Geordie who received more fanfare than the Uruguayan who would go on to become the World’s leading striker.
He was one of Liverpool's best players during his partial season and helped Liverpool go from 12th in the league in mid-January to finish sixth. Despite struggling the season after, Suarez proved to be a huge hit at Anfield, 69 goals in 110 appearances, almost winning them the league in his final season there.Sometimes you might not feel the immediate impact of a mid season signing but by getting there first, you’re beating the pack and setting yourself up for the following season.
On 2 February 2015, Dele Alli signed for Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur in the last hours of the mid-season transfer window on a five-and-a-half-year deal for an initial fee of £5 million.
Loan to Milton Keynes Dons
Following his transfer to Tottenham Hotspur, Alli was immediately loaned back to MK Dons for the remainder of the 2014–15 season. On 19 April, he was chosen as the Young Player of the Year at the Football League Awards.
The following season having now moved to Spurs, Alli was a sensation winning the PFA young player of the year and scoring 10 goals in his debut season.Bruno Fernandes became the MVP of Manchester United within half a season of arriving there, talk about an instant impact.
Bruno won multiple club and Premier League awards, including Premier League Player of the Month and Goal of the Month, becoming the first player to win both awards concurrently in Premier League history. He also became the first Manchester United player to win back to back Premier League Player of the Month awards since Cristiano Ronaldo in the 2006–07 season.
In September, Fernandes was named as the winner of Manchester United's Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year award, given to the club's best player from the previous season, despite having come in during January.Not an instant hit but someone who went on to become his generation’s greatest left back…
Marcelo joined Real Madrid during the January transfer window in 2007. On his arrival, club President Ramón Calderón said, "He is an important signing for us. He is a young player who will inject some freshness into the side and is part of our plan to bring younger players into the squad. We're very happy because he's a pearl that half of Europe wanted”.
Many spectators hailed him as Brazilian and Real Madrid great Roberto Carlos' potential successor in the left-back role. It didn’t quite go to plan initially.
He was being benched, used as a left winger but eventually he became a giant of the game… someone who even Carlos thought was superior to him in possession.Not a great start to his Juventus career but very rapidly became a mainstay for the Old Lady.
Barzagli came in January and his first six months with the Bianconeri coincided with the second half of a terribly disappointing 2010–11 campaign under Luigi Delneri, which saw the club finish only seventh in Serie A, with Barzagli making 15 appearances in the league that season.
In his first full season Barzagli helped Juventus win the 2011–12 scudetto undefeated, and the 2012Supercoppa Italiana; Juventus also made the final of the Coppa Italia that season. His stellar season earned him a place in the Serie A Team of the Year.In conclusion too often teams seem unwilling to part with the cash in January. In this increasingly automated world, teams seem reluctant to bring a player in with no preseason or prior knowledge of the teams patterns of play and it is seen as an inefficient means of recruiting a player.
However it is also a time where you can grab players before other teams are prepared and it can give your team an instant second wind… or worse case scenario you’re bedding them in and getting that awkward adaptation process out of the way before the next season starts.
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Greatest January Window Transfers!
This season it feels more imperative than ever for sides to take that gamble to introduce a second wind especially amongst the bigger clubs across Europe.
We look at the most transformative mid season signings of all time…
A THREAD 🧵 ... The first impressions of Vidic and Evra were not positive in the slightest.
Team mates felt they were out of their depth, both players felt out of their depth and they were being looked at as poster boys for not making mid season transfers but in hindsight this allowed them a period of adaptation and by the start of the following season they were flying… helping form the foundations for Sir Alex Ferguson’s third great side. ... Someone who didn’t need a period of adaptation was Virgil Van Dijk. Already catching the eye of all the elite premier league sides it was a case of who was the big defensive signing that most warranted the big fee… Harry Maguire or Van Dijk.
Seems ridiculous in hindsight that these two were being put into a similar category but Van Dijk came in and instantly helped propel Liverpool to a UCL final.
He was included in the UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season, despite playing just half of the season in the Champions League, with the UEFA Technical Observers saying: "Van Dijk arrived at Anfield and provided composure and stability in the competition's knockout stage”. ... Luis Suarez…
What is crazy is that Suarez and Andy Carroll were signed in the same window and they paid £13m more for the Geordie who received more fanfare than the Uruguayan who would go on to become the World’s leading striker.
He was one of Liverpool's best players during his partial season and helped Liverpool go from 12th in the league in mid-January to finish sixth. Despite struggling the season after, Suarez proved to be a huge hit at Anfield, 69 goals in 110 appearances, almost winning them the league in his final season there. ... Sometimes you might not feel the immediate impact of a mid season signing but by getting there first, you’re beating the pack and setting yourself up for the following season.
On 2 February 2015, Dele Alli signed for Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur in the last hours of the mid-season transfer window on a five-and-a-half-year deal for an initial fee of £5 million.
Loan to Milton Keynes Dons
Following his transfer to Tottenham Hotspur, Alli was immediately loaned back to MK Dons for the remainder of the 2014–15 season. On 19 April, he was chosen as the Young Player of the Year at the Football League Awards.
The following season having now moved to Spurs, Alli was a sensation winning the PFA young player of the year and scoring 10 goals in his debut season. ... Bruno Fernandes became the MVP of Manchester United within half a season of arriving there, talk about an instant impact.
Bruno won multiple club and Premier League awards, including Premier League Player of the Month and Goal of the Month, becoming the first player to win both awards concurrently in Premier League history. He also became the first Manchester United player to win back to back Premier League Player of the Month awards since Cristiano Ronaldo in the 2006–07 season.
In September, Fernandes was named as the winner of Manchester United's Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year award, given to the club's best player from the previous season, despite having come in during January. ... Not an instant hit but someone who went on to become his generation’s greatest left back…
Marcelo joined Real Madrid during the January transfer window in 2007. On his arrival, club President Ramón Calderón said, "He is an important signing for us. He is a young player who will inject some freshness into the side and is part of our plan to bring younger players into the squad. We're very happy because he's a pearl that half of Europe wanted”.
Many spectators hailed him as Brazilian and Real Madrid great Roberto Carlos' potential successor in the left-back role. It didn’t quite go to plan initially.
He was being benched, used as a left winger but eventually he became a giant of the game… someone who even Carlos thought was superior to him in possession. ... Not a great start to his Juventus career but very rapidly became a mainstay for the Old Lady.
Barzagli came in January and his first six months with the Bianconeri coincided with the second half of a terribly disappointing 2010–11 campaign under Luigi Delneri, which saw the club finish only seventh in Serie A, with Barzagli making 15 appearances in the league that season.
In his first full season Barzagli helped Juventus win the 2011–12 scudetto undefeated, and the 2012Supercoppa Italiana; Juventus also made the final of the Coppa Italia that season. His stellar season earned him a place in the Serie A Team of the Year. ... In conclusion too often teams seem unwilling to part with the cash in January. In this increasingly automated world, teams seem reluctant to bring a player in with no preseason or prior knowledge of the teams patterns of play and it is seen as an inefficient means of recruiting a player.
However it is also a time where you can grab players before other teams are prepared and it can give your team an instant second wind… or worse case scenario you’re bedding them in and getting that awkward adaptation process out of the way before the next season starts.
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