Sam Preston Archives: 01/2019

Liverpool are not expecting any big-money, big-name arrivals on deadline day but there may well be some business around Anfield before the window slams shut.

West Ham are in the hunt for Danny Drinkwater to boost their midfield options but his Stamford Bridge team-mate Ruben Loftus-Cheek would be a better option.

Real Betis appear to be in the market for a new striker, but if they get West Ham’s Lucas Perez, they may no longer want Tottenham’s Vincent Janssen.

West Ham are looking a little light on firepower and Chelsea’s Olivier Giroud would be the ideal man to reinvigorate their attack.

Wigan have so far been reluctant to sell Will Grigg to Sunderland but the Black Cats may hope that landing Clarke will mean the Latics are more agreeable to a sale.

Everton are in need of firepower but an expensive deadline day swoop for Michy Batshuayi does not look like an effective answer to that problem.

Aston Villa have been linked with swoops for English midfield duo Issac Hayden and Nathaniel Chalobah but the Watford man is the far superior option.

Arsenal and Everton’s January business appears to be interlinked, with Idrissa Gueye holding the key to the Gunners signing Christopher Nkunku.

James Ward-Prowse continued his recent goalscoring form by salvaging a point for Southampton in their crucial relegation six-pointer against Crystal Palace last night.

Nottingham Forest and Stoke City are in talks over a swap between Ben Osborn and James McClean, but that smacks of short-term thinking by Martin O’Neill.

Southampton are on the lookout for a new right-back now that Cedric has joined Inter and James Tavernier is a better option than Omar Elabdellaoui.

West Ham had a talented wideman on their hands in the shape of Domingos Quina but failed to nurture him before he left for Watford and they must be careful to not make the same mistakes with Mesaque Dju.

Jack Clarke has been the subject of transfer interest in this month’s transfer window but his agent Ian Harte has said he will not be going anywhere.

Andreas Christensen moving to Juventus would leave the Italian champions with a surplus of centre-halves and Arsenal should use that as encouragement to land Daniele Rugani.

Celtic have strengthened their squad in the January transfer market but just as important is keeping hold of their top talents and Olivier Ntcham falls into that category.