A huge question mark remained over the one
transfer that everybody was talking about, as the winter transfer period ended
Monday, dpa reported.
On the weekend, Russian playmaker Andrei Arshavin flew from St Petersburg to London and underwent a medical examination at Arsenal, and the Premier League club is said
to have agreed on a transfer fee with Zenit St Petersburg.
Contradictory news, however, covered the discussions over personal terms
between the player and Arsenal. Some said that he had accepted an estimated
30-per-cent cut in salary and signed, while others said that he had flown back
to Russia after talks had broken down.
The biggest transfer during the winter break also broke down, some 10 days
before the deadline.
Brazilian international Kaka turned down a record-breaking transfer to Manchester City - said to be well in access of 100 million euros - saying that even though
the money offered would make him the highest-paid player in the world, he had
decided to follow his heart and stay with AC Milan.
Joining him at AC Milan was former England captain David Beckham, who joined
the Serie A club on loan from the Los Angeles Galaxy, though his temporary
employers have already indicated that they are very interested in making the
move permanent.
The only other big-name player to move in Italy was Portuguese international
Ricardo Quaresma, who went on loan from Inter Milan to Chelsea shortly before
the transfer deadline.
The Portugal winger has been out of favour at the San Siro, despite being one
of manager Jose Mourinho's first signings after taking the job last summer.
He becomes the sixth Portuguese player in Chelsea's squad and will be expected
to add the attacking width that Chelsea are widely perceived to have been
lacking this season.
Real Madrid were the only Spanish club to splash out big money in the winter
transfer window this year.
None of the other big clubs have seen the necessity to do so - or have had the
spare cash for it.
Barcelona, Valencia, Sevilla, Villarreal and even Atletico Madrid, despite all
their problems, have resisted the temptation to get the chequebooks out. Not
since 1997, according to the Spanish media, has so little money changed hands
in January.
Real, of course, splashed out almost 40 million euros (51.26 million dollars)
on Klaas Jan Huntelaar and Lassana Diarra - and then found out that they could
not register either for the Champions League, as they have already played this
season in the UEFA Cup for Ajax and Portsmouth, respectively.
On Monday, Real decided to register Diarra, leaving Huntelaar out in the cold.
Real have also taken French winger Julien Faubert on loan from English club
West Ham United.
The only other signing of importance was Brazilian striker Ricardo Oliveira,
whom struggling Betis have brought back to Seville by paying 9 million euros to
second-division Zaragoza.
In England, several big-money transfers took place, with the big surprise being
Robbie Keane's return to Tottenham from Liverpool. The forward joined Liverpool from Spurs for 19 million pounds in August but didn't settle on Merseyside.
Everton eased their striking worries by bringing in the Brazil international Jo on loan from Manchester City, while City bought Craig Bellamy, Irish
international goalkeeper Shay Given and Dutch midfielder Nigel de Jong.
City made De Jong's Bundesliga club SV Hamburg an offer that they could not
refuse and one that left them smiling all the way to the bank to cash their
20-million-euro cheque.
Hamburg used some of the money to lure Marcel Ndjeng, Tomas Ricon, Mickael
Tavares, Michael Gravgaard, Albert Streit and Khalid Sinouh to northern Germany.
But while Hamburg, like most other clubs, signed quite a few players, there
were less than a handful of high-profile transfers.
Germany international goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand ended a very disappointing
spell with Valencia to return to Germany, where he signed for surprise
Bundesliga leaders 1899 Hoffenheim, while US international Landon Donovan
joined Bayern Munich on loan from the LA Galaxy.
Leaving the champions was French international Willi Sagnol, who announced his
retirement from football as he could not recover from injury sufficiently to
resume his career.
The transfer dealings in the Bundesliga - and in most other countries - shows
quite clearly that the global recession has left its mark on football clubs,
and only a handful are still in a position to sign players irrespective of the
cost.
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