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The January transfer window was mostly about Chelsea buying and selling, letting go of Juan Mata (to Manchester United) and Kevin de Bruyne (to Wolfsburg) while adding Mohamed Salah, Kurt Zouma and Nemanja Matic.
Lacina Traore –Ā The Ivorian striker is the next player to leave the sinking Anzhi ship, signing with Monaco forĀ ā¬10 million before moving on loan to Everton, where he still hasn’t played.
Leandro Damiao –Ā The Brazilian striker has been tipped to join a Premier League club for quite some time, but his injuries and drop in form made him a less attractive transfer target. Santos picked up the player forĀ ā¬13 million. He scored only 4 goals for Internacional last season.
Mohamed Salah –Ā The 21 year old Egyptian winger did an excellent job over the last couple of seasons for Basel, including against Chelsea, enough to leave an impression which got them to sign him (or was it to keep him away from Liverpool) forĀ Ā£11 million.
Kurt Zouma –Ā Chelsea were very busy in this transfer window, mostly buying for the future and not the immediate now. The 19 year old who will surely make an appearance for the French national team left Saint Etienne forĀ Ā£13 million, loaned back to the French club.
Konstantinos Mitroglou –Ā Fulham are looking to try and save themselves with the hottest scorer in the Greek league. Mitroglou scored 14 goals for Olympiacos in the league and 3 more in the Champions League before being signed forĀ Ā£13.5 million by the struggling London club.
Kevin de Bruyne –Ā Chelsea weren’t only signing, they were also selling, with the Belgian attacking midfielder unhappy with his minutes and how he was being treated. The German teams have been after him for quite some time, and Wolfsburg won the battle for him in their attempts to make the Champions League, signed forĀ ā¬17 million.
Jose Salomon Rondon –Ā A move inside the Russian league, as the Venezuelan striker left Rubin Kazan forĀ ā¬18 million, joining Zenit, after scoring 12 goals in 20 matches so far this season in all competitions.
Yohan Cabaye –Ā After two and a half seasons, mostly successful, in Newcastle, the talented French midfielder has joined the richest club in Europe, signed by PSG forĀ ā¬25 million as they attempt to bring over every major French name out there.
Nemanja Matic –Ā The biggest of the Chelsea signings was actually someone they sold in the past to Benfica. Chelsea brought the defensive midfielder forĀ Ā£22 million and unlike other signings, will probably get a lot of minutes right away.
Juan Mata –Ā The biggest of the January signings by far, also involving Chelsea: Manchester United might not have signed the right man, but they sure spent a lot of money on him, buying him forĀ Ā£39.5 million.