January window displayed which Premier League clubs have a plan

There is no doubt about the most unusual clause of this transfer window. Internazionale signed Robin Gosens on loan from Atalanta with an obligation to buy him for €25m (£20.8m) when they score their first goal of 2023. But perhaps the most interesting theme of the month was what it showed about clubs who have a clear strategy and those who do not.

This was a typical January window, with slow weeks followed by a crazy final few days, but whereas some clubs moved late and had real moments of panic, others had an obvious plan. Aston Villa did good business relatively early by bringing in Philippe Coutinho and Lucas Digne, and Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City are also examples of clubs with a policy.

Chelsea decided not to make a panic buy at left-back even though Ben Chilwell is out for the season. They wanted Emerson Palmieri back but there is no recall clause in his loan with Lyon so they decided to continue with the current squad rather than sign a player they only want for six months and maybe create a problem.

City taking Julián Álvarez from River Plate for £14m was a smart strategy with an eye on the future and United were also looking ahead. They did not include buy options when they loaned out Anthony Martial, Donny van de Beek and Amad Diallo because they want whoever the manager is next summer to decide whether they want to keep those players.

Similarly, United did not buy a midfielder even though they were offered opportunities such as Denis Zakaria, who went to Juventus from Borussia Mönchengladbach, and Marseille’s Boubacar Kamara. They preferred to carry on with this squad and keep the funds for the manager in the summer.

The club turned down a lot of money from Newcastle for Jesse Lingard on