As we approach the final day of the January transfer window, it is fair to say it has been quiet compared to the chaotic standards of recent years.
The odd big-money move punctuated long spells of silence as clubs guarded their crucial players mid-campaign, and elite sides shirked the resultant inflated fees.
However, this window has seen more than just Manchester City frantically splashing the cash and Marcus Rashford’s Manchester United saga going down to the wire.
From League One to Ligue 1, here are Telegraph Sport’s five weirdest moments of this otherwise dry January window.
Bah pays his own release clause to join City
City have been the top spenders this January by some margin, signing Egyptian forward Omar Marmoush alongside centre-backs Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis for total fees in excess of £100 million. But one City signing flew under the radar.
Juma Bah, an 18-year-old central defender from Sierra Leone, joined City after paying his own €6 million (£5 million) release clause to free himself from his contract at struggling Spanish club Real Valladolid. City then reimbursed him the money.
Bah’s move to Valladolid had only been made permanent at the beginning of the window after he initially joined the club’s youth set-up on loan before being fast-tracked into the first team thanks to an injury crisis. Now the youngster is already off to pastures new, being sent out to French outfit RC Lens, the same club from which City signed Khusanov.
Morley haunts Exeter with two different clubs
Exeter City fans must be sick of the sight of Aaron Morley during this January window. The 24-year-old midfielder broke the hearts of the Exeter contingent who had made the long journey up to Wycombe Wanderers’ Adams Park on January 1 when, in the 94th minute, he scored the winning penalty. The travelling fans probably grumbled about the penalty being given, or maybe quietly begrudged Morley’s knee-slide celebration in front of the home fans, but would have found solace in the prospect of not seeing him again this season.
But Morley was recalled from his loan that same day by his parent club Bolton Wanderers, who just happened to be scheduled to travel to Exeter three days later. Lightning would strike twice as Morley swung in a deep cross from 30 yards in search of a 91st-minute winner, which, as if by divine intervention, avoided the melee of bodies in the box before finding the net.
Whittaker goes from hero to zero at Plymouth
Morgan Whittaker delighted Plymouth Argyle fans early in the window when his 82nd-minute strike sent Brentford tumbling out of the FA Cup, but the 24-year-old’s status at the Championship club soon turned sour.
Plymouth manager Miron Muslić dropped a bomb after his side’s 5-0 loss to Burnley when asked if Whittaker, who was absent from the squad that day, was available for the next match. “He was available today, he was in the selection, and he wasn’t there,” said Muslić, who claimed that the player “didn’t show up,” and said that the club needed to get characters with more desire through the door.
Whittaker, who was being linked with a Burnley move at the time, struck back at the claims following his eventual move to Middlesbrough. “I never refused to play against Burnley,” he said via an Instagram statement. “It was agreed by myself and the manager that, due to bids on the table from Burnley and Middlesbrough, I would not be up for selection.”
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Kvaratskhelia canned in Napoli after PSG move
Georgian sensation Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has become a huge name in European football since signing for Napoli in 2022. His old-school wing play and frightening partnership with striker Victor Osimhen carried Napoli to their first league title in more than three decades in 2023.
Naples fell in love with Kvaratskhelia, and their commitment to him only grew with the departure of Osimhen to Galatasaray in the summer window. But then PSG came calling. Kvaratskhelia, 23, moved in a deal worth around £60 million, but Napoli fans felt it was a betrayal to move in the winter as the club try to chase the Serie A title.
Perhaps the most striking summary of the change in attitudes towards Kvaratskhelia came in the form of a life-size cardboard cut-out of the man, pictured peeking out of a dustbin after his departure. It seems Naples may have to find a new hero.
Samba insists coach is included in Rennes move
British fans will probably best remember France goalkeeper Brice Samba for his heroics in Nottingham Forest’s promotion play-off semi-finals in 2022, producing several crucial saves and an important penalty shoot-out performance to help Forest go up. Samba has since returned to France, first with Lens, and now with Rennes… with a plus-one in tow.
Samba’s switch to Rennes reportedly almost fell through over his insistence that Lens’ goalkeeping coach, Hervé Sekli, move with him. Samba and Sekli first worked together at Caen in 2018, and reunited at Lens in July 2022.
We’ve seen unusual double transfers before, such as Douglas Luiz and Alisha Lehmann’s ‘couple’s transfer’ from Aston Villa to Juventus last summer, but this move has had broader consequences, with Lens having then sought to replace the majority of their goalkeeping department. Rennes now have to deal with additional staff, listing Sekli as “assistant coach in charge of goalkeepers” alongside existing goalkeeping coach Olivier Sorin.
