Let’s be honest, Monday was one of the least interesting transfer deadline days that we can remember. No last minute deals, no dramatic races to beat the deadline that just missed, no drama. It was a disappointing day for fans of the soccer transfer deadlines as no big deals happened in the last day of business for teams around Europe. However, there are some reasons that can explain why it was such a boring day for agents, clubs and players.
If the transfer of Ademola Lookman from Atalanta to Atletico Madrid was probably the biggest one of the day, many others just didn’t happen. The transfer market has changed significantly in recent years, as the financial situations of many of Europe’s biggest clubs no longer allow them to do the kind of business they would like. This is especially true in January, when clubs are increasingly reluctant to sign players on permanent deals, opting instead for short-term loans for the remainder of the season. But there are more reasons behind what has, or hasn’t, happened on Monday.
Early moves affected the business
The Premier League’s top teams are deeply affecting the transfer window around Europe. With their financial power, they can provide the kind of cash flowing into the other clubs that can start a transfer domino effect, but this wasn’t the case in January 2026. Looking at the data provided by Transfermarkt, Premier League clubs have spent around $440 million during the current winter transfer window (the data will be updated after Monday’s business) while during the 2025 winter transfer window they have spent around $600 million in just one month of transfer business. There is a difference but not that big to justify what happened on deadline day. This is why it was more about timing.
Manchester City were among the most active big clubs in Europe during the winter transfer window. Pep Guardiola’s side secured Antoine Semenyo from Crystal Palace for $88 million and Marc Guehi for $27 million but many others weren’t as active as the Citizens, working mostly on loans and deals for the summer 2026, as Liverpool for example already secured Jeremy Jacquet from Rennes for the 2026-27 season. Elsewhere, things weren’t busy at all. Big clubs in Germany, Spain and France barely made business while in the Italian Serie A only AS Roma and Atalanta were among the busiest teams of the window. While the Giallorossi signed Robinio Vaz from Olympique Marseille and Donyell Malen from Aston Villa, the team coached by Raffaele Palladino were able to sign Giacomo Raspadori from Atletico Madrid for around $35 million before selling Ademola Lookman to the Spanish team on deadline day.
Juventus signed Jeremie Boga while Joao Mario was swapped with Emil Holm at Bologna. The Bianconeri failed to sign a striker after talks with multiple players such as Jean-Philippe Mateta and Youssef En-Nesyri, same as AC Milan that were looking for an additional striker after signing Niclas Füllkrug earlier in the window. Inter, the Serie A leaders, wanted a new right winger and after talks to sign Ivan Perisic and Moussa Diaby, none of them joined the team coached by Cristian Chivu. Antonio Conte’s Napoli underwent a major overhaul earlier in January, with several key signings from the summer window leaving the club. Lorenzo Lucca joined Nottingham Forest, while Noa Lang moved to Galatasaray on loan, as Napoli brought in Giovane from Hellas Verona and Alisson from Sporting CP.
The biggest deadline day transfers
Ademola Lookman to Atletico Madrid
It was probably the most exciting transfer of the day across Europe as Atletico Madrid agreed to terms with Atalanta for the transfer of the Nigerian striker who will replace Giacomo Raspadori, who joined Atalanta few weeks ago. Lookman had been a key player under Gian Piero Gasperini at Atalanta, while also scoring an iconic hat trick in the 3-0 win against Bayer Leverkusen in the 2024 Europa League final. Lookman had disagreements with the Italian club last year when he was expected to leave Atalanta and join Inter. After several weeks of tension, during which he also refused to train with the team, the parties involved have now finally reached an agreement to bring their working relationship to an end.
Karim Benzema to Al Hilal
This transfer move was probably the biggest surprise of the week as Karim Benzema left Al-Ittihad and joined Al-Hilal on Monday in the Saudi Pro League, and will now play for the team coached by Simone Inzaghi that is currently leading the standings by one point on Al-Nassr. Benzema also had issues with his former club, which led to his departure during the winter transfer window. He is now set to make his first move since joining the Saudi Pro League in 2023 after leaving Real Madrid, where he became a soccer legend and played from 2009 to 2023.
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Transfers that didn’t happen
Sandro Tonali to Arsenal
While only a few transfers happened, many others didn’t take place. Some of them due to the medical tests, such as Mateta who was set to join AC Milan during the last day of transfers, but then he didn’t get the final green light from the doctors that the Rossoneri sent to London. There was some noise also around Italian midfielder Sandro Tonali, as Arsenal, according to Sky Germany, was interested to sign him on Deadline Day. However, both Arsenal and Newcastle had denied the rumours off the records while the agent of the Italian player Giuseppe Riso said to Sky Italy: “We never had any conversation with Arsenal. Newcastle were never gonna let Tonali leave in January and we didn’t even talk about it.”
Ricardo Pepi to Fulham
And lastly, one of the potentially key players of the United States men’s national team. Ricardo Pepi was close to leaving PSV in the last 24 hours of the winter transfer window, but his move to Fulham was called off on Monday morning after the Dutch team couldn’t find a replacement before the end of the window. Pepi will now remain at PSV until the end of the season, focusing on preparing for the 2026 World Cup. Sometimes the best moves are the ones that don’t happen, and hopefully this will be the case for him and many others.
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