Written by The Athletic UK Staff
The transfer window offers clubs an opportunity to fill any holes in their squad but also gives players a chance to move on.
We’ve asked our reporters to name a player (or two) from each club who could do with a move in January. It could be someone out of favour with a new manager, a young player struggling to break through, a player returning from injury looking for fitness or someone who needs game-time to show they could be sold in the summer.
Let us know your views in the comments below on who you think could be looking for a move this window.
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Arsenal have an abundance of left-backs. The summer signing of Riccardo Calafiori added to Oleksandr Zinchenko, Jakub Kiwior, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Jurrien Timber as players capable of fulfilling the role. Since then, 18-year-old Myles Lewis-Skelly has emerged as yet another option. Some of these players will have to leave — and, for now, Kieran Tierney looks most likely.
He might well have left in the summer had he not suffered a hamstring injury during Euro 2024 that effectively ruled him out of a move. Arsenal have since declined to take up the optional year on his contract, meaning his deal will expire in the summer of 2025. Tierney may not be prepared to wait that long to get his move.
If he wants to play regular first-team football this season, he will need to go in January.
James McNicholas
There are younger talents, such as highly-rated forward Rory Wilson who has one foot out of the door, who are not involved in Unai Emery’s first-team squad. Kortney Hause is a player who needs a fresh start or a new step in his life, having been plagued by injury over the last two years. His contract expires in the summer, though bringing his inevitable exit forward would suit all parties.
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The defender’s situation has proven complex over the previous two years. Complications with a knee issue have delayed what he hoped to be his comeback at the start of January 2024. Despite the 29-year-old being seen around Bodymoor Heath in recent weeks, Hause needs to get fit — it remains to be seen if he ever will — to convince a prospective club to take a gamble on him and remove him from a desperately unhappy and unfortunate time.
Jacob Tanswell
Max Aarons was viewed as a shrewd signing when he joined from Norwich City in August 2023, but injuries limited him to just 13 league starts last season. Captain Adam Smith’s position as first-choice right-back and Julian Araujo’s arrival from Barcelona last summer have meant Aarons has made just two substitute appearances in 2024-25. He turns 25 in January and will likely welcome a transfer.
Billing featured regularly in the first half of last season, but his playing time suffered from then on, with just 226 league minutes from then until the end of the season.
The 29-year-old was linked with a move away last summer. His contract runs until 2027, but this might be the time to conclude a productive partnership of five and a half years.
Anantaajith Raghuraman
Most of Brentford’s senior players have made important contributions this season apart from Josh Dasilva, Rico Henry and Aaron Hickey who are all recovering from long-term injuries.
There is fierce competition for places in midfield which means even £27.5million ($34.5m) summer signing Fabio Carvalho has been restricted to three starts.
Talented youngsters Ryan Trevitt, 21, and Yunus Konak, 18, are trying to break into the midfield but might feel it is worth heading out on loan. The best option for their development could be a loan in the Championship which would set them up to make a proper impact for Thomas Frank’s side next season.
Jay Harris
The Poland midfielder’s Brighton career has been impacted massively by a serious knee injury. A ruptured anterior cruciate ligament, sustained as a substitute in a 0-0 home draw against Norwich in April 2022, required two operations.
Moder was out of action for 19 months, returning in November 2023 but the 25-year-old is way down the midfield pecking order now.
A free agent at the end of the season, he will drop further out of contention with the January arrival of Paraguay international Diego Gomez from Inter Miami.
Andy Naylor
(Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
Chilwell has to get his career back on track by securing a permanent move or a loan. It is extraordinary how little the England international, who was part of the Chelsea team that won the Champions League three years ago, has played this season.
Head coach Enzo Maresca told Chilwell in the summer he would be better off going elsewhere to get first-team football. The left-back was relegated to the ‘bomb squad’, a group of players who were told to train away from the first team in the hope a transfer would be arranged. Unfortunately for Chilwell, nothing materialised.
At 27, Chilwell has a lot to offer. He is one of the highest-paid players at Chelsea, which is a bit of a hindrance to interested clubs. But he will be an asset for any team if he can stay fit.
Simon Johnson
The 18-year-old has impressed the club’s hierarchy and manager Oliver Glasner, being named on the first-team substitutes’ bench this season after a strong showing on the pre-season tour.
The forward made his debut as an 88th-minute substitute in Palace’s 1-1 draw away against Nottingham Forest in October. He is no longer sufficiently tested by under-21 football but appears to be too far away from any meaningful game time with the first team.
The youngster is expected to be sent out on loan to the EFL in January, if there are willing suitors, and that is a better challenge for him.
Matt Woosnam
(Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
Patterson was meant to be Seamus Coleman’s long-term successor. But nearly three years into his time at Goodison Park, he has yet to cement a regular starting berth.
The Scot has been unlucky with injuries. A problematic hamstring injury, sustained against Chelsea in April, saw him ruled out until late September. Three appearances for Everton’s under-21 side saw him prove his fitness, but he has managed minimal minutes since.
Patterson has still not convinced Sean Dyche, with Ashley Young and Coleman ahead of him in the pecking order. With those two out of contract this summer, this was meant to be the season Patterson showed he could be Everton’s future at right-back.
In order to do so, he may first need a temporary step away and minutes elsewhere.
Patrick Boyland
Promotion-campaign hero, player-of-the-season candidate and an outside bet for England’s Euro 2024 squad.
Reed has put together a string of highlights at Fulham but injuries and the form of his midfield team-mates have pushed him out of the side.
When he is on the pitch, Reed is still effective, captaining the side in victories over Manchester United and Brighton last season. His problem is getting picked. Before he suffered a knee injury in November, he had played 54 minutes in this season’s Premier League.
He is expected to return to fitness soon, potentially opening the door for a January transfer.
Justin Guthrie
Back-to-back promotions have reduced Luongo to a bit-part role at Ipswich after the 32-year-old midfielder was instrumental in the club’s rise from League One to the Premier League.
The loan additions of Jens Cajuste and Kalvin Phillips have pushed Luongo down the pecking order, while Jack Taylor is considered a more attacking option and has played a more prominent role.
His performances during the 2023-24 campaign showed he has plenty to offer at Championship level.
Ali Rampling
Alves is a huge talent who could have a bright future at Leicester, but he needs to get a taste of senior football.
His under-21 team-mates have benefited from loan moves away and Alves is ready to gain experience. He has recovered from an ACL injury that kept him out for a season and made two substitute appearances in the Carabao Cup against Tranmere Rovers and Manchester United.
Alves was rated highly by former manager Steve Cooper, and Ruud van Nistelrooy has also taken note of his talents as an attacking midfielder. He regularly trains with the first team.
Rob Tanner
(Michael Steele/Getty Images)
After back-to-back seasons on loan in the Championship with Hull City and Blackburn Rovers, where Morton made over 40 appearances in each campaign, this was supposed to be the year where he kicked on.
However, the form of Liverpool’s senior midfield players has left him sitting on the sidelines waiting for action.
Bayer Leverkusen were interested in signing Morton last summer but a deal could not be agreed. Liverpool also rejected any loan offers after missing out on Real Sociedad’s Martin Zubimendi. Morton is waiting to find out whether Liverpool will sanction a move away in January.
Gregg Evans
The answer will depend on what the players involved actually want. For example, you could imagine both Kyle Walker and James McAtee wanting to stay at City for various reasons, even if, from the outside, a move might seem beneficial in some ways.
Walker has been struggling for weeks now but it is easy to imagine him wanting to stay and play his part, as captain, in getting City back to the top — especially given he has not been given the opportunity to have a rest due to injuries elsewhere.
McAtee’s goal has always been to make the grade at City, but his limited game-time in this injury and results crisis has been baffling. If he wanted to move, even on loan, it would be no surprise and there would be no shortage of takers given his spells on loan with Sheffield United.
Sam Lee
If you were asking this question a month ago, maybe the answer would have been different.
Back then, Marcus Rashford followed up scoring the first goal of the Ruben Amorim era with two in a 4-0 win over Everton. United’s highest-profile player looked like he may be an important part of Amorim’s plans. But a lot has changed, particularly since Rashford’s revelation he is considering a “new challenge” away from Old Trafford.
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It is not entirely clear if there is a market for a player with a salary of more than £325,000 a week who has struggled to find consistency over the last 18 months.
Although United will countenance offers, they are not in a rush to sell in January.
Mark Critchley
(Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images)
Martin Dubravka, Kieran Trippier and Callum Wilson are among the higher earners whose exits could free up space in the wage budget.
But Miguel Almiron’s time at Newcastle feels like it has now passed its natural conclusion. The Paraguayan has been excellent over almost six years and was crucial to the fourth-placed finish under Eddie Howe in 2022-23.
However, his importance waned across 2023-24 and this season, despite Newcastle’s failure to sign a right-winger during the summer. He has fallen behind Jacob Murphy in the pecking order, while each of Anthony Gordon, Joelinton and Harvey Barnes have been trialled out of position on that flank ahead of Almiron.
The 30-year-old has been available for each of the past two windows but a move to the Saudi Pro League never materialised in January, before Charlotte FC in MLS were unable to meet his personal demands during the summer. There is interest from Saudi, MLS and River Plate heading into 2025, and while it appears likely Almiron will go, it is far from certain.
Chris Waugh
The forward’s last appearance for Forest came in May 2023 and he spent last season on loan at Basaksehir in Turkey and then at former club Watford, in the Championship.
He is outside of the first-team squad and a long way outside of Nuno Espirito Santo’s plans. If Dennis does not want to become the next Harry Arter — who saw out the final three years of his Forest contract with little chance of first-team football before departing last summer — Dennis needs to find first-team football elsewhere.
Forest spent £10million to sign the striker, amid a big fanfare of publicity, following promotion in 2022. But he will not add to the six Premier League starts and 13 sub appearances he had made for the club.
Paul Taylor
A defender who has the potential to play at a high level, the 23-year-old fell off the grid under Russell Martin and would benefit from either a loan or permanent exit.
There could be a pathway back to the first team now Martin is no longer manager but Bella-Kotchap’s fall from Germany international to first-team exile in the past two years has been sharp. Regular football is a must — his loan to PSV last season was cut short by a shoulder injury and injury also disrupted the end of his 2022-23 season.
If Southampton could recoup some money for him in January that would be a bonus, although a loan looks more likely.
Nancy Froston
Reguilon made his first appearance for Tottenham since April 2022 when he came off the bench in their 4-3 victory over Manchester United in the Carabao Cup quarter-final on December 19. The 28-year-old is not suited to Ange Postecoglou’s system, where he likes full-backs to invert, but an injury crisis has presented him with a couple of opportunities.
The full-back spent the second half of last season on loan with Brentford but they were never going to pursue a permanent deal because Rico Henry and Aaron Hickey were due to return from long-term injuries at the beginning of this campaign.
There was little interest in Reguilon during the summer and, even though he is more experienced, Postecoglou prefers to use Archie Gray and Djed Spence as back-up for Destiny Udogie. Reguilon will enter the final six months of his contract in January and will be allowed to sign a pre-contract agreement with foreign teams. It will be best for everyone if he finally moves on although Spurs might be tempted to hold onto him until Udogie recovers from a hamstring injury he suffered in the 2-2 draw with Wolves.
The alternative option is Richarlison who has struggled with injuries and form since he joined Spurs from Everton in a deal worth up to £60million in July 2022. Money generated from the Brazilian’s sale could be reinvested into the squad but the problem is he is recovering from a hamstring issue which may put potential buyers off.
Jay Harris
The 28-year-old attacker is set to be recalled from his loan spell at Southampton and is available for sale having failed to find a place in the struggling side. He has only played 187 minutes across four matches.
The Ivory Coast international has not been in 10 of Southampton’s last 12 matchday squads and is in need of a permanent move.
The winger, who has attracted interest from clubs in Ligue 1, joined West Ham for £17.5million from Burnley in August 2022. He featured fleetingly under David Moyes and has been deemed surplus to requirements by Julen Lopetegui. During his two-year spell, Cornet has scored one goal across 37 matches.
Roshane Thomas
There are very few senior players who Wolves can afford to lose right now but midfielder Luke Cundle, 22, is in desperate need of game time, whether that is on loan or via a permanent move.
If the worst happens and Wolves are relegated then Cundle could become a useful squad member, so it is possible a loan move is all that is sanctioned this month, but sticking around at Molineux in the short term is not helping, with Mario Lemina, Joao Gomes, Andre, Tommy Doyle and a soon-to-be-fit Boubacar Traore all ahead of Cundle in the pecking order.
He has already spent time on loan at Swansea City, Plymouth Argyle and Stoke City with mixed success but, if he is to prove that his diminutive stature is not a permanent barrier to top-level football, he needs to get more first-team football.
Steve Madeley
(Top photos: Getty Images)
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