The adventure with Felix, the "steal" of Gakpo and the motivation of Suarez: the main transfers of the first half of January in world football

Migration of Atlético forwards

In early January, Joao Felix became one of the most talked about football players in Europe.

Despite a mediocre performance at the World Cup, several top clubs at once expressed a desire to strengthen the Portuguese striker, who still remains the most expensive acquisition in the history of Atlético.

Madrid themselves did not want to part with him completely and discussed only the option with a six-month lease, and even on not the most favorable terms.

So, his new team had to not only pay €11 million for the transfer, but also cover the player's salary for this period in full - €6 million.

As a result, this scared away the majority of potential tenants.

Manchester United and Arsenal refused to pay more than €5 million for a temporary reinforcement, as a result of which Chelsea remained the only contender for Felix, for whom it was vital to strengthen the attacking line, which had noticeably thinned due to injuries.

As a result, after a conversation with head coach Graham Potter, the club's management nevertheless decided to agree to the demands of Atlético, which had previously extended the agreement with Joao for another year - until the summer of 2027.

While it is easy to explain Chelsea's actions in the current state, some have spoken negatively about the invitation of Felix.

So, the ex-striker of the Scottish "Rangers" Ally McCoist called "madness" the payment of such a colossal amount for a six-month lease and expressed doubts about the ability of the Portuguese to solve the problems of "aristocrats".

And we can partly agree with him.

In three and a half years in Spain, João never broke the eight-goal mark in a season, which is why he was included by the Goal portal in the list of the most failed acquisitions in history.

Only the transfers of Antoine Griezmann and Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona are higher in the ranking.

Nevertheless, Felix still benefited Atletico and was even one of the team's top scorers.

What can not be said about Matheus Cunje.

In this competitive year, he looked extremely inexpressive, not having distinguished himself even once in 17 meetings.

Perhaps that is why Wolverhampton did not have to pay a single pound for his loan.

Moreover, under certain conditions, the contract of the once promising Brazilian will be automatically redeemed.

And the management of the "mattress" is unlikely to regret his departure.

Transit of young stars to England

As for Chelsea, the six-time champion of England did not stop at the invitation of Felix.

In winter, another promising football player joined the squad - Benoit Badiashile.

True, here we are already talking about a full-fledged ransom.

Londoners paid €38 million for the 21-year-old defender, signing him to a contract until 2030.

At the same time, Barcelona was also interested in the services of the Monaco pupil, but unsuccessfully asked him to postpone the move until the summer.

And although the purchase of the Frenchman is more of an investment in the future, Badiashile may soon have the opportunity to make his debut at the base of the Blues.

Multimillion-dollar Wesley Fofana is still in the infirmary, and Kalidou Koulibaly's company in the center of defense can be made up of either the super-age Thiago Silva or the not-so-reliable Trevo Chalobah.

And although Benois himself is very young, it is difficult to blame him for a lack of experience.

In September, he was even called up to the national team and played two full matches.

But if the tricolors defeated Austria, then Denmark lost.

And even though the defender is not to blame for the first, in the episode with the second it was he who did not manage to block Andres Skov Olsen's shot from outside the penalty area.

In many ways, injuries were dictated by the intention of Liverpool to complete the attacking line.

Back in October, Jurgen Klopp lost two wingers - first Luis Diaz “broke down”, and a week later, Diogo Jota, as a result of which the central midfielders Fabio Carvalho and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain had to be released in the top three of the attack.

And although the Merseysiders continued to achieve results even in this form, they nevertheless decided to fork out and sign one of the main newsmakers of the World Cup in Qatar - Cody Gakpo.

Thus, the Merseysiders caught two birds with one stone.

Firstly, we got a promising performer who can become one of the team leaders for many years to come.

Secondly, they “clicked on the nose” of their eternal enemy - Manchester United.

It's no secret that the latter were considered the main contenders for Gakpo, and head coach Eric ten Hag personally wanted to see a compatriot in the squad.

Yes, and Cody himself until the last thought that he would go to Old Trafford.

In addition, it was possible to get one of the main stars of the 2022 World Cup at a relatively similar price.

As Klopp rightly noted, in the summer the price tag for Gakpo could rise significantly and Liverpool would no longer be able to pull it.

It’s hard to disagree with this, because in addition to success at the World Cup, Cody was almost unstoppable at PSV, where he scored 15 goals and gave 18 assists in 29 meetings in all tournaments.

New challenges for Malinovsky and Orsic

In addition to young stars, in winter, older players, who for many years were one of the leaders of their teams, changed their residence permit.

And although it is extremely difficult to imagine the recent successes of Atalanta without Ruslan Malinovsky, now the midfielder is not included in the plans of Gian Piero Gasperini.

This could be concluded back in August, when the coach spoke rather harshly about his ward.

According to him, the club did the right thing, starting to look for a player who can score more than six goals in a season.

But exactly how much the Ukrainian “shipped” to his rivals in the 2021/22 championship.

Gradually, Malinovsky lost his place in the start of the Bergamasks, and closer to the autumn there were rumors about his departure.

At various times, Tottenham, West Ham and Nottingham Forest were interested in him, but in the end, only Marseille remained on the horizon, which took the Ukrainian on loan with an option to buy.

And this is curious, because initially it was said about a full-fledged transfer for a total amount of €13 million.

And although it is too early to evaluate the deal, the debut match for the new team turned out to be not the most successful for Ruslan.

In the confrontation with Troyes, he spent 23 minutes on the field and became one of the lowest rated players in the team according to WhoScored (6.2).

True, he appeared on the field when the game was already done.

In turn, Mislav Orsic also got a chance to try himself in one of the top 5 leagues in Europe.

Over the past three seasons, the striker did not fall below the second line in the list of Dinamo Zagreb's top scorers and finally went up.

At the same time, it is possible that the management of Southampton was attracted not by this, but by his phenomenal goal in the bronze match at the 2022 World Cup.

It is all the more curious that one of his main competitors for a place at the start will be a native of Morocco, Mohamed Elyounoussi, albeit defending the colors of Norway.

Veterans Adventure

Also in the center of attention in the winter were those whose football age is gradually coming to an end.

Perhaps the most unexpected turn in the career of Daly Blind turned out.

Many expected that the veteran who terminated the contract with Ajax would go to work in conditional Saudi Arabia or the United States, but he suddenly joined Bayern.

And although he is unlikely to make it to the start, he can occasionally replace Alphonso Davis and along the way replenish his collection of trophies.

A new challenge awaits Luis Suarez.

In the summer, he moved to his native Nacional and helped him become the champion of Uruguay for the 49th time, but decided not to stop there and went to the Brazilian Gremio in the winter.

Moreover, the club bosses were so impressed with his latest results that they offered the striker a two-year contract and the highest salary in the team.

It remains to be seen whether El Pistolero will be able to live up to his hopes and help the Musketeers become the strongest in the country for the first time since 1996.

Surprised and Guillermo Ochoa, in the 38th year, made another attempt to succeed in the Old World.

In Qatar, the unchanging first number of the Mexican national team proved that he was still in good shape and signed a contract with Salernitana.

And if the veteran helps his new team to maintain a residence in Serie A, he can guarantee himself an extension of the contract.

But if Ochoa and Suarez are still looking for new motivation for themselves, then in the case of Javier Pastore, everything is different.

In 2011, he became the first major acquisition of Paris Saint-Germain after the arrival of the sheikhs, but did not open up in the French capital.

From that moment on, he managed to unsuccessfully go to Roma, fail at Elche, and at the age of 33 he went to finish playing in the East.

At Qatar, he will join the company of former Bayern midfielder Javi Martinez.