Robertson deal off but another Spurs transfer among five most bizarre PL deals in 2026 January window | OneFootball

The January transfer window has taken an odd turn in recent days as certain Premier League clubs appear intent on targeting the weirdest deals possible.

On Friday, everyone’s favourite transfer reporter, David Ornstein, sent shockwaves around the footballing world when he revealed that Spurs were making a serious play to sign Liverpool left-back Andy Robertson.

This proposed deal – according to Ornstein it was ‘agreed’ but now looks unlikely to happen with Liverpool ‘not proceeding’ – managed the unique feat of confusing both fanbases; the transfer did not make a great deal of sense for either club, but especially Spurs, as they already have 364 left-backs.

We also have the prospect of Douglas Luiz, who has barely featured for Nottingham Forest this season, having his loan at the City Ground terminated so he can join Chelsea instead? Liam Rosenior’s midfield injury issues somewhat explain this one, but talk about falling on your feet…

These deals would be hard to top on the transfer bizarre-o-meter, but there have already been five pretty strange deals involving Premier League clubs this month…

Facundo Buonanotte – Brighton to Leeds United

Better late than never, I suppose…

A move to Leeds United was in the pipeline in the summer for Buonanotte, and this would have been ideal for both parties after he was one of Leicester City’s better players last season. But the attacker joined Chelsea instead in a deal which, even by their lofty standards, was particularly pointless.

Buonanotte is certainly a good Premier League player, but he was never likely to feature regularly for Chelsea at this stage of his development, and this proved the case in the first half of the season despite impressing in flashes.

It initially felt likely that the next steps for Buonanotte would be a permanent move to Chelsea en route to a profit sale for BlueCo. Instead, he has had his Stamford Bridge dream taken away by having his loan terminated before joining Leeds for the remainder of the season.

Buonanotte and the clubs involved have finally stumbled on the right outcome for everyone concerned, but it took some unnecessary faff to get there.

Conor Gallagher – Atletico Madrid to Spurs

Robertson to Spurs is way more left-field than the Gallagher signing, but this one does not make perfect sense either.

Gallagher was always likely to be on the move in this window as he had dropped in the pecking order at Atletico Madrid and will have his eye on snatching a place in Thomas Tuchel’s World Cup squad, but he would not have expected to be involved in a permanent deal or a hijack.

Given Atletico’s lofty demands, a loan-to-buy deal seemed Gallagher’s most likely route back to the Premier League and this is what Aston Villa were offering until Spurs came bounding in with an irrefutable £34m permanent bid.

The finances on the table and the lure of a return to London gave Villa no chance, while Spurs ease their midfield issues with the signing of a former foe from down the road. On the face of it, this is a solid signing for the north London outfit, but the drastic manner in which they went about signing him reeks of desperation.

Pascal Gross – Borussia Dortmund to Brighton

One of this window’s most wholesome transfers is also one of the most bizarre, with 34-year-old Gross unexpectedly returning to Brighton only 18 months after leaving for Dortmund.

The midfielder racked up 261 appearances for Brighton during his first spell at the AMEX Stadium, and his upward move to Dortmund was certainly well-deserved, but it did not quite pan out as he intended.

Limited game time in a World Cup year led to his second spell at Brighton, and there has already been evidence of this being a beneficial move for player and club. A really nice story that no one saw coming.

Donyell Malen – Aston Villa to AS Roma

Before Robertson and/or Luiz steal his thunder, Malen is currently at the heart of this window’s oddest Premier League transfer.

We, like many others, initially laughed off reports suggesting Malen could head to Roma because he’s been rather important for Aston Villa this season and they are not exactly spoiled for choice in attack.

But this transfer became serious rather quickly and was even finalised way before the Villans had a replacement lined up, which did leave Unai Emery’s side at risk of having egg on their face.

But, in the end, it’s all well that ends well as Malen gets a good move and

Callum Wilson – West Ham to free agent (or not)

I’m sure you readers were as surprised as we were when Wilson was named on the bench against Spurs, even more surprised when he came on and in utter disbelief at his late winner because wasn’t he let go by West Ham a couple of days ago?

This obviously is not the case, but all the recent noise surrounding Wilson is that he and Nuno Espirito Santo had agreed to terminate his contract so he could move elsewhere, with this made more likely by West Ham’s Hail Mary in the form of their new £57m strikers.

Now, though, Wilson could foreseeably end up remaining at West Ham and make more cameos off the bench en route to them getting relegated. The Hammers really are a ludicrous football club.