English Premier League finally come to an end.
The EPL January transfer window has finally come to an end and there were a few more players on the move.
Fifth-place Arsenal, who now seem to be out of the title race, has signed Russian Andrei Arshavin from Zenit St Petersburg. He should help the Gunners as long as Wenger plays him instead of sitting him on the bench. The 27-year-old Arshavin scored 51 goals in 232 games for Zenit, and was the 2006 Russian Footballer of the Year.
Portuguese international Ricardo Quaresma left Italy’s Inter Milan and signed on loan with Chelsea until the end of the season. Although he’s only 25, Chelsea becomes the fifth club of Quaresma’s career. Inter Milan boss Jose Mourinho paid 16.3 million pounds for him last year.
West Brom signed winger Juan Carlos Menseguez from Argentine Primera Division champions San Lorenzo along with Youssouf Mulumbu from French club Paris St Germain.
Fulham signed French midfielder Olivier Dacourt, 34, on loan from Inter Milan until the end of the season
Twenty two-year-old Charles N’Zogbia’s left Newcastle after he was swapped to Wigan for 24-year-old Ryan Taylor. Newcastle also reportedly received six million pounds in the deal.
In loan moves: Calum Davenport joined Sunderland from West Ham, James Chester left Manchester United for Peterborough United, Tel Ban-Haim went to Sunderland from Manchester City, Michael Chopra left Sunderland for Cardiff City, and Matt Derbyshire was loaned out from Blackburn to Greek side Olympiakos.
Striker Robbie Keane’s return to Tottenham from Liverpool became official after six miserable months at Anfield under manager Rafael Benitez. The Spanish manager cost club owners about five million pounds or more by signing the 28-year-old Republic of Ireland striker last year for close to 20 million pounds. It’s not sure how much Tottenham paid to get Keane back as both clubs are now disputing figures.
It was an odd move in the first place as Liverpool had striker Peter Crouch, but Benitez sold him for some reason to Portsmouth for about seven million pounds before signing Keane. So at the end of the day, Liverpool has neither Crouch nor Keane, and are out millions of pounds. And yes, Benitez is still employed there. In another twist to the story, Spurs manager Harry Redknapp has said Keane will now captain Tottenham, but defender Ledley King will retain the club captaincy, whatever that means. It will also be interesting to see how the fans at White Hart lane will greet Keane after he deserted them in the summer.
Meanwhile on the pitch, Championship side Burnley continued its FA Cup run by beating West Brom 3-1 at home in their fourth-round replay. Burnley will now face either Cardiff City or Arsenal in the fifth round. Burnley are getting used to beating Premier League sides this season as they have already beaten Fulham, Chelsea, and Arsenal in the Carling Cup and came oh so close to knocking Spurs out of that competition too, only to lose in the last two minutes of extra time last month. The Arsenal vs Cardiff FA Cup replay was postponed due to current weather conditions in England. Translation: It’s cold and snowing.
