The winter window has slammed shut, and GOAL has passed judgement on all the biggest deals throughout the month
The 2025 January transfer window has been and gone, with clubs around the world having weighed up how they could improve their squads while others look to raised funds by selling fringe players or loaning out youngsters to gain experience.
January is a notoriously difficult time to do business, and it seems that teams are being more careful with their finances than ever before given the threat of punishment for over-spending. Despite that, there were still some headline-grabbing moves over the course of the past month.
GOAL has been here every step of the way to pass judgement on all the biggest deals as they happened, awarding grades to both the clubs involved for the business they did, as well as whether it was the right move for each player.
Check out our grades for the biggest deals and let us know your thoughts in the comments below…
Getty/GOALFebruary 3: Nico Gonzalez (Porto to Manchester City, £50m)
For Porto: An offer too good to turn down. Porto would have preferred to hold onto such an important figure until the end of the season, but City have effectively met Gonzalez's buy-out clause, with the only difference being that the money will arrive in instalments rather than one lump sum. The Portuguese club will also be pleased that they've still managed to make a tidy profit on a player they only signed 18 months ago for €8.5m despite the midfielder's former club, Barcelona (arguably the big winners here), being entitled to 40 percent of the fee because of a sell-on clause in his contract. Once City made their move, Gonzalez was always going to end up at the Etihad. Grade: C
For City: A new defensive midfielder – at last! Pep Guardiola thought that City could cope without Rodri, but he was wrong. Neither Mateo Kovacic nor Matheus Nunes (who has ended up at right-back!) have proven themselves up to the task of filling in for the best No.6 in world football – and the soon-to-be-dethroned English champions have suffered horribly as a result. That City have signed Gonzalez is something of a surprise, though. They were linked with better defensive midfielders than the Barcelona reject (such as Ederson and Martin Zubimendi), but the mere fact that he was school at La Masia clearly played a part in Guardiola's decision to bring him to Manchester. Grade: B
For Gonzalez: A dream deal. Gonzalez was let go by Barca in the summer of 2023; now he's just signed for Guardiola's City. As turnarounds go, that's pretty impressive, and it's all down to his impressive performances at Porto. Gonzalez is versatile enough to play as a No.8 and has added goals to his game this season, but the expectation is that he'll be immediately asked to belatedly fill the massive Rodri-shaped hole in front of City's defence. Gonzalez is very confident on the ball, he moves well, has good vision and rarely looks rushed, but this is a massive test of his talent. Gonzalez is not an elite-level midfielder – not yet, at least. He's never even been capped at international level by Spain. So, it will be fascinating to see how he copes with the pressure and demands that come with playing for Pep. Grade: A
AdvertisementGetty Images SportFebruary 3: Mathys Tel (Bayern Munich to Tottenham, loan)
For Bayern: An unsurprising decision. Bayern would have been happy to sell Tel now at the right price, given he's barely got a look-in since Vincent Kompany took over last summer, but a loan with an option to buy is not a bad outcome for the Bavarians. There was certainly no point in him spending the second half of the season sitting on the bench. Of course if Tel now tears it up at Tottenham, the Bavarians will lose him for £45m – a fee that could look like a bargain for a 19-year-old forward. At the end of the day, though, it's a risk that Bayern are willing to take as they're not short on quality wide players and there's no guarantee that Tel will realise his potential. Grade: B-
For Tottenham: A badly needed reinforcement. Spurs have been decimated by injuries in recent weeks, and although a versatile left winger was hardly high on their list of priorities, Tel represents a very welcome addition. Indeed, the word is that beleaguered manager Ange Postecoglou played a pivotal role in convincing the teenager to move to north London, so he clearly believes that Tel can play a big part in turning Tottenham's season around. Managing to negotiate the option to make the move permanent could also prove a masterstroke by Daniel Levy, who simply had to strengthen Spurs' attack and, in theory, that's what he's done by snapping up a player that several other teams were interested in acquiring. Grade: B+
For Tel: A chance to show what he can do. At 17, Tel was breaking all sorts of records at Bayern, but he's been surplus to requirements this season and it's well worth noting that he's not scored a single goal in 14 appearances in all competitions. He'd undoubtedly argue, though, that he wasn't given his fair share of opportunities by Kompany, having started just four times under the Belgian boss. However, the onus is now very much on Tel to prove his worth in the Premier League. With Dominic Solanke presently sidelined through injury and Ricarlison still terrible, Tel should certainly be afforded more minutes at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium than he was getting at the Allianz Arena. He'll need to make the most of them if he's to convince people he's really as good as he believes himself to be. Grade: B+
Getty Images SportFebruary 3: Axel Disasi (Chelsea to Aston Villa, loan)
For Chelsea: Further evidence of their ridiculous recruitment. Chelsea only signed Disasi from Monaco for £38.5m ($48m) 18 months ago – but he's been a reserve since the start of the season, with his only meaningful minutes coming in the Conference League. The Blues board will, thus, be relieved to have removed an unwanted player from the wage bill until the end of the season, with Villa having agreed to not only pay a small loan fee but also cover his salary in full. It will now be fascinating to see if this temporary switch materialises into a permanent move – and for how much money. Grade: D+
For Villa: A vital addition in the centre of defence. Unai Emery's backline has been stretched to breaking point by injuries in recent weeks, so Disasi's deadline-day arrival could not have come at a better time. Villa also had to fight hard to get this deal done, as Tottenham were also in the running, and his signing makes this a very successful window for the club, who have hit pretty much all of their targets. Grade: B+
For Disasi: The move he desperately wanted – and needed. It's worth remembering that he had just broken into the France squad before his ill-fated move to Stamford Bridge, but it's now well over a year since he last represented his country. Disasi's goal will be to turn his career around ahead of the 2026 World Cup – and he could well do that at Villa Park. It's certainly encouraging that he was so keen to join, refusing to even consider signing for Spurs instead. Disasi clearly feels that Villa will provide him with a better platform to prove his worth between now and the end of the season – and he'll likely be proven right. Disasi is still only 26 and should get plenty of game time under Emery. Grade: A
Getty ImagesFebruary 3: Joao Felix (Chelsea to AC Milan, loan)
For Chelsea: Further evidence of their ludicrous approach to player recruitment. Felix's arrival from Atletico Madrid, which coincided with Conor Gallagher moving in the opposite direction, was clearly motivated by financial factors rather than any sporting considerations. The Portuguese had done very little during his first loan spell at Stamford Bridge to suggest he was worth signing for £42m, so it's not in the least bit surprising that he's now being shipped out on loan just six months after his 'permanent' move to west London. Chelsea have done well to get Milan to cover his wages and pay a small loan fee for his services for the next six months, but it still seems unlikely that anyone will pay big money for a player that has barely done anything but disappoint since leaving Benfica as one of the most highly-rated teenagers in world football. Grade: D
For Milan: The kind of transfer with which the Rossoneri are becoming synonymous. The Serie A side are not the big spenders they once were under Silvio Berlusconi. It's all about Moneyball at Milanello these days, which essentially means taking a punt on unfulfilled talents. Signing Christian Pulisic has certainly worked out well for them and Felix could too, as there is a top player in there somewhere trying to get out. The big question is, though, where are they going to play him? Santiago Gimenez has been brought in from Feyenoord to start up front following Alvaro Morata's move to Galatasaray, while Rafael Leao and Pulisic are considered certain starters when fully fit. At the end of the day, Milan didn't really need Marcus Rashford, so Felix is arguably even less useful. Still, it's been claimed that coach Sergio Conceicao is a fan of his compatriot, so maybe he'll be the man to finally get a tune out of one of the game's most frustrating flops. Grade: C-
For Felix: Yet another move to a big club that he did very little to earn. There were brief spells at Barcelona last season when Felix looked like he might actually realise his potential at long last, but his loan stay in Catalunya didn't materialise into a permanent move – and the Blaugrana don't have any regrets about that fact. Atletico certainly don't regret getting rid of their record signing either. So, what chance does he have of finally finding a proper home for himself in Milan? Very little on the face of it, as he's joining a terribly inconsistent team that turns up one week before then disappearing for a month. Then again, given Felix is just as flakey, maybe he'll fit right into his new surroundings at San Siro! Grade: B-
