Unai Emery really wanted Aston Villa to sign a Tottenham star in January, with the Villans even reaching out to the player directly.
The Midlands club enjoyed a productive month overall, bringing back fan favourites Tammy Abraham and Douglas Luiz to bolster their squad, as well as exciting youngsters Brian Madjo and Alysson.
Abraham arrived from Besiktas for £18 million after netting 13 goals for Besiktas in the Turkish Süper Lig, while Luiz returned on loan from Juventus following his lacklustre spell at Nottingham Forest.
It wasn't all sunshine and roses though, as Villa failed to deal with the Harvey Elliott nightmare that's still set to drag on.
The frozen-out Liverpool loanee remains stuck in limbo after Emery made brutally clear he has no intention of triggering the £35 million purchase clause once Elliott hits 10 appearances.
The midfielder currently sits on seven games and faces months watching from the sidelines despite training with the first team.
But whilst Villa successfully navigated several tricky situations, they came up agonisingly short on what Emery considered a priority signing.
Unai Emery really wanted to sign Conor Gallagher in January
According to The Athletic, Villa seriously chased the signing of Conor Gallagher as a "market opportunity" in January, after learning the then-Atlético Madrid and England midfielder was available.
This wasn't Villa's first rodeo with Gallagher either.
Emery had actively pursued him back in 2024 when the 25-year-old eventually chose to move from Chelsea to Spain instead of Villa Park.
The Villa boss clearly remained convinced about the midfielder's qualities and pushed hard again last month to finally land his man.
Villa's strong relationship with Atletico proved invaluable during negotiations.
They laid crucial groundwork throughout the weeks leading into the winter window, holding productive discussions with both Gallagher himself and his representatives about a potential switch to Birmingham.
Everything seemed to be progressing smoothly until Tottenham suddenly emerged as serious competitors for his signature near the end of the process.
That's when Villa's confidence completely evaporated.
They sensed Gallagher had started deliberately delaying decisions as other clubs attempted to hijack negotiations and spoil Villa's carefully constructed plans.
Until Spurs intervened, Villa had been acting directly on Emery's personal desire to sign the former Chelsea academy graduate and genuinely felt Gallagher was willing to join them.
The Athletic also confirmed this was an Emery-led pursuit from start to finish. Villa sources revealed their offer to involved an initial loan with an obligation to make the transfer permanent for £22 million plus potential add-ons.
Here's where it gets really painful for Villa though — their proposal included a much lower salary package than what Tottenham were offering.
Spurs ultimately won the race by smashing Villa's wage structure, paying £34 million to secure Gallagher's signature and gazumping their league rivals.
Emery must've been absolutely fuming watching one of his primary targets choose Tottenham instead, especially after Villa had invested weeks building relationships and laying groundwork only to see Spurs swoop in with their chequebook.
Another frustrating near-miss for Villa in the transfer market.