5 Unexpected moves of January transfer window 2025

Here, we take a look at some of the unexpected moves that came about in the recently-concluded January transfer window.

The winter transfer window offers football clubs a valuable opportunity to bolster their squads, ensuring they are well-equipped for the crucial stages of the season. As teams prepare for the business end of the term, making strategic moves in January can prove to be a game-changer.

Over the years, some of the most memorable and successful transfers have come about in this window, with certain players going on to become true legends for their respective clubs.

However, this season there haven’t been many moves. Barring a few exceptions, it has been a relatively quiet window. Here, we look at the moves that raised an eyebrow or two.

Jhon Durán | Aston Villa FC to Al Nassr FC

The most unexpected move of this winter transfer window has to be that of 21-year-old Colombian forward Jhon Durán, who made a surprising switch from Premier League club Aston Villa to Saudi Pro League side Al Nassr. The transfer, worth €77 million, has seen Durán pen a six-year contract worth €392,500 per week with the Saudi club. 

This high-profile move has surprised many as Durán is still young and was performing relatively well at Villa. He had also just signed a new contract with the Villans and could have found many suitors in Europe as opposed to moving to a relatively new and still-developing league in Saudi Arabia.

This move is being viewed as one motivated purely by money rather than professional growth, even though Al Nassr boast some of the biggest ex-players of the European stage who are past their prime. 

Marcus Rashford | Manchester United FC to Aston Villa FC

England forward Marcus Rashford’s move to Aston Villa is another one that has surprised a lot of football fans. Even though Rashford’s move is a loan, the fact that United haven’t brought in a replacement after letting go both Rashford and Antony (also on loan) seems to be a bizarre decision. The Red Devils are now short on options at the front, and considering they are in the bottom half of the Premier League, letting go of one of their main goalscoring threats doesn’t make much sense. 

Having said that, Rashford has been struggling with form this season and hasn’t been an automatic choice in the first team. From the recent comments by coach Ruben Amorim, it also seems like he is out of favour with the current United boss. Hence, Rashford has made the choice to get more minutes elsewhere to perform and boost his chances of playing for the England National team as well. 

It remains to be seen how Rashford fares under Unai Emery and whether he gets regular game time at Villa considering the flak he has faced from Amorim and ex-United legends. 

Also read: Top 10 most marketable footballers in 2024

Mathys Tel | FC Bayern Munich to Tottenham Hotspur FC

There were many clubs interested in Mathys Tel with Manchester United seemed like the most preferred destination for the French striker. However, having previously rejected Spurs, he moved to Spurs in London on deadline day on a €10 million loan move with an option to buy for €60 million in the summer. 

Other top clubs like Chelsea and Arsenal were also linked with the striker as those teams are also looking for a clinical marksman but during the transfer window only Spurs and United were interested in the 19-year-old striker. It seems to be a surprising move for the London club as they have not had problems with scoring goals having scored the third highest goals in the league after Liverpool and Arsenal. Their problems have been on the defensive side as their first team defenders have been suffering long-term and recurrent injuries and they have leaked in goals at will. 

With Spurs languishing in the bottom half of the table, it remains to be seen if this signing can make a telling impact to turn their fortunes around. 

Keira Walsh | FC Barcelona to Chelsea FC

This signing came out of the blue as a massive surprise as Keira Walsh has been one of Barcelona Femini’s influential players over the past two years. The England midfielder had made a record signing from Manchester City to Barcelona in 2022 and with her contract ending in June, the English player was looking to make a move back home. 

Keira Walsh won back-to-back league titles and Champions League titles with Barcelona Femení after helping Manchester City to the WSL title in 2016. A transfer fee of £400,000 has been agreed on a four-and-a-half-year contract. This signing has strengthened the Chelsea team as they are on their way to win the WSL title yet again. 

However, the timing of this move might not be right for Barcelona as Chelsea are their fierce competitors for the Champions League and they might have just helped strengthen their rivals. The idea behind the transfer from a Barca perspective though could be to earn a reasonable transfer amount rather than letting the player leave for free in the summer but this could come back to bite them at the end of the season.

Marcus Edwards | Sporting CP to Burnley FC

The Clarets might have just landed a coup with the loan signing of Marcus Edwards from Portuguese defending champions Sporting CP. The English winger has arrived at Burnley on a loan deal with an obligation to buy in the summer. The loan fee for Edwards is reportedly £800,000 with an obligation to buy for £10 million in the summer with a sell-on clause also to be included in the deal. 

With Sporting CP still in the Champions league playoff, the move is a strange one from Primeira Liga Champions to the Championship in Lancashire. However, the English winger who can also play as an attacking midfielder has linked up with Burnley boss Scott Parker at Tottenham and Parker was the deciding factor for him joining the Turf Moor outfit. Burnley are currently second on the Championship table and adding a quality attacker in their ranks could significantly boost their chances of a top flight promotion. 

This is the kind of impactful signing that could make a huge difference for a team. It’s a surprise a lot of Premier League teams didn’t make a move for the talented English forward.