This year’s January transfer window is already shaping up to surpass last season’s equivalent, with Manchester City-bound Antoine Semenyo emerging as the early favourite to be the most expensive signing as a £65m deal nears.
There have also been murmurs of Arsenal and Manchester United doing business if the right opportunities arise, while Spurs are also likely to be active as they are set to recoup £35m after ‘agreeing’ a deal to sell Brennan Johnson, who also has other options, to Crystal Palace.
This will see Tottenham accept a £15m loss on Johnson, who joined the north London outfit via the Harry Kane money as a £50m signing to fill the huge void left by the Bayern Munich superstar.
Johnson overcame an uninspiring debut season to star in Tottenham’s Europa League triumph by scoring some vital goals, but the Welshman, like Dominic Solanke, has been derailed by the summer appointment of Thomas Frank, who has preferred other attackers.
So, with Johnson retaining most of his value but lacking minutes, he is the most obvious candidate to be sold to fund Tottenham’s moves in January and next summer, while the player can benefit from being a bigger fish at a very reputable Premier League club. Really, everybody wins.
And this got us thinking. Theoretically, if the remaining Big Six sides also had to pick one player bought for £50m+ within the last three years to cut ties with to finance their next lot of signings, who would they choose and why? From Arsenal to Manchester United, here is what they should do in this scenario…
Arsenal: Viktor Gyokeres (bought for £64m including add-ons)
It’s just not working, is it?
Gyokeres was billed as Arsenal’s final piece of the jigsaw when he was supposedly bought to fix Mikel Arteta’s striker problem in the summer, but they are arguably in the same boat as they were without the Swedish international.
The 27-year-old bulldozer scored at a ridiculous rate over two years for Sporting Lisbon, but the Premier League is a completely different level and he has been found out this term.
His tally of five goals in 17 Premier League games is not disastrous on paper, but two of these goals have been penalties and he has only scored once in his last seven outings.
Gyokeres is a different profile from Arsenal’s other strikers, and he is certainly the best finisher inside the box, but he has offered next to nothing in general play and Gabriel Jesus has looked far brighter when replacing him in recent weeks. This will likely also be the case once Kai Havertz is back up to speed.
Arsenal made the biggest statement in the title race so far on Tuesday night by brushing in-form Aston Villa aside to win 4-1, but Gyokeres was the noticeable weak link before he was replaced. He could feasibly end this season as Arteta’s third-choice striker, so the north London outfit would be astute to cut ties before his value declines even further.
READ: Premier League managers of 2025 as Mikel Arteta nudged up one place
Chelsea: Jamie Gittens (bought for £52m including add-ons)
A major hallmark of Todd Boehly’s reign at Stamford Bridge has been Chelsea’s unrelenting insistence on hoarding up-and-coming wingers and ignoring other positions in desperate need of upgrades: a new goalkeeper, centre-back and striker.
This continued in the summer as the Blues brought in Gittens, Estevao and Alejandro Garnacho to fill the squad spots previously occupied by Jadon Sancho and Noni Madueke.
In fairness to Chelsea, it is at least the case that the latest batch of wingers are upgrades on last season’s options, but Estevao and Garnacho have certainly outshone Gittens.
Estevao could become something quite special, though it appears that Garnacho also has a higher ceiling than Gittens, who is much further from being the final product than his two teammates, despite being in a similar age bracket.
Chelsea are proven to adopt a cut-throat approach regarding player sales under this regime, with Gittens standing out as the most obvious casualty of their current group of wingers.
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Liverpool: Alexander Isak (bought for £130m including add-ons)
Isak eventually got what he wanted in the summer, but was his move to Liverpool really worth all of that effort?
Isak remains a world-class striker capable of starring for any club in the world, but this unfortunate run of events have contributed to a chastening few months for Liverpool’s new British record signing, with his situation made more problematic by Hugo Ekitike’s performances.
While Isak’s start to life at Liverpool has been ponderous at best, Ekitike immediately hit the ground running and has surely surpassed the expectations of even the most optimistic figures at the club.
Especially considering Liverpool’s dire decline, 13 goal involvements in Ekitike’s first 25 competitive appearances is a fantastic effort. This is made even better by him also being a sublime technical footballer, resembling Thierry Henry in his pomp.
So, as good as Isak clearly is, Liverpool would be just fine with Ekitike if push came to shove and the £130m that went on an unnecessary second new striker could be redistributed to land multiple new centre-backs and a successor for Mohamed Salah.
Manchester City: Omar Marmoush (bought for £63.3m including add-ons)
The 2024/25 campaign was certainly a rare one to forget for Man City as their era of dominance ended with a whimper, though January signing Marmoush was a highlight of an otherwise poor campaign.
Signed as part of Man City’s accelerated squad overhaul, Marmoush scored seven goals in his first 16 Premier League games and was Pep Guardiola’s best player during last season’s run-in.
The 26-year-old was expected to kick on this season, but he has dramatically gone backwards and is still without a Premier League goal this term.
Injuries have played their part, but also the freakish form of Erling Haaland has meant he has not had a sniff up front, while he has also been outperformed by other Man City wingers, particularly Jeremy Doku.
And with Semenyo on the brink of joining Man City in January, Marmoush is already on the back foot and could even join rivals Spurs as they look to replace Johnson with a successor with a far greater output.
READ: Transfer dominoes: Five moves set in motion by Man City signing Semenyo
Manchester United: Manuel Ugarte (bought for £50.7m including add-ons)
Benjamin Sesko was another option for Man Utd as he has been unconvincing in the shadow of Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha, but Ugarte is their last fully fledged flop and needs to be sold as soon as possible by INEOS.
Signed as a potential successor to Casemiro, Ugarte, who was also expected to benefit from a reunion with Ruben Amorim, has actually proven to be a huge dud for the Red Devils as an incredibly limited midfielder.
Casemiro’s unexpected resurgence has further exposed Ugarte’s limitations in possession, with Man Utd looking far worse when the former Sporting Lisbon player is on the pitch instead of the veteran.