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#3 Arthur Melo (Juventus to Arsenal)
The last five years have been something of a roller coaster for Arthur Melo. The Brazilian was touted as one of the best potential talents in world football when Barcelona signed him from Gremio in 2018. But the Spanish let him join Juventus in 2020, with Miralem Pjanic going the other way.
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But Massimiliano Allegri is evidently not a fan of the player. He has preferred Manuel Locatelli, Adrien Rabiot and Weston McKennie over him in the last 18 months.
Arsenal, who could use a midfielder, were angling to secure a loan move for him in January. The 25-year-old ace is of a good age profile and is useful in possession and transitional play. Mikel Arteta would have liked a midfielder like him to dictate play in the center of the pitch but the two clubs never came to an agreement. Apparently, there was a disagreement over the duration of the loan deal.
Regardless, Arthur might have to wait until at least the summer before he decides to try and jump ship again from the Turin-based club.
#2 Jesse Lingard (Manchester United to Newcastle United/ West Ham United)
Manchester United have dealt in the most puzzling way with Jesse Lingard over the last 18 months. The Englishman performed well on his loan move to West Ham in the second half of last season. He scored nine goals and made five assists in just 16 appearances. Hence, he was promised game-time at the start of the current campaign. He remained at Old Trafford in the summer despite having only a year left on his contract.
But six months later, he has only managed 273 minutes of action across all competitions. Hence the 28-year-old ace was pushing to secure a cut-price deal away from \United in the final days of the January transfer window. Newcastle United and West Ham United were ready to fight for his signature, with both needing attacking reinforcements.
Interim manager Ralf Rangnick also apparently gave the green light to the move but the board did not want the player to leave. It would have been tough on Lingard, especially after Anthony Martial and Donny van de Beek got their respective moves sorted out in the same window.
Lingard can now leave the club on a free transfer in the summer as he looks to fight for a place in the England squad for the 2022 World Cup.
#1 Ousmane Dembele (Barcelona exit)
Ousmane Dembele had quite possibly one of the biggest transfer sagas of last month's transfer window. The France international was expected to pen a new deal with Barcelona but talks collapsed and the club asked him to leave.
Several clubs were in the race to sign him on a cut-price move due to his contract situation. Paris Saint-Germain tried to negotiate a move but it fell through. The Spanish club offered him a swap deal with Arsenal involving Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang but he had no interest in that deal.
Tottenham Hotspur were mentioned but that move never got close. Chelsea apparently never opened talks with him while Manchester United were not keen on adding another winger to their squad.
Dembele can now leave as a free agent in the summer and is likely going to have a wide array of clubs to choose from when the time comes.
