Ten January transfers to deny Arsenal the quadruple features Vitinha to Real Madrid | OneFootball

With Arsenal still four points clear at the top of the Premier League, sauntering through the Champions League with a 100% record and on course to reach the Carabao Cup final, we can’t stress enough the importance of clubs at home and abroad doing everything possible to deny them the quadruple. It doesn’t bear thinking about.

With the January window still open, here are 10 transfers which could help thwart the Gunners on their seemingly inexorable path to glory.

Aston Villa sign Goncalo Ramos

“We are not contenders to be in the top five,” Emery said after defeat to Everton, before falling awkwardly silent when asked why he feels his side cannot compete with the Premier League’s top clubs. He knows that everyone else knows it comes down to a lack of investment in his team, with Aston Villa’s net spend near zero since he arrived at the club in October 2022.

Neither Tammy Abraham nor Jean-Philippe Mateta are going to move the contender dial to any great degree, but Ramos, who’s scored his 43 goals at a rate of one every 112 minutes for Paris Saint-Germain, could make a tangible difference.

Manchester City sign Michael Kayode

Pep Guardiola insisting he has “a thousand other priorities” ahead of long throws before signing arguably the face of the Premier League-wide campaign to bring it back into fashion would be lovely.

We suspect Guardiola’s interest is more based upon Kayode’s almost unrivalled ability to dribble past opponents from right-back, along with his aerial ability and his addition would bring about the end of the Matheus Nunes experiment, which has gone on for far too long.

But we’re not sure we would enjoy anything more than some pinball in the Arsenal box following a Kayode throw-in leading to a City victory, either in the Premier League in April, or should they meet in the knockout competitions.

Real Madrid sign Vitinha

A penny for Xabi Alonso’s thoughts should Real Madrid sign Vitinha after he begged Florentino Perez for a midfield conductor, was denied, then sacked and would be forced to watch the presentation ceremony of the very best midfield conductor in world football rock up at the Bernabeu a couple of weeks later.

We’re essentially suggesting here that Real Madrid have a better chance of winning the Champions League with Vitinha than PSG do, and do indeed sign up to that view given both Los Blancos’ astonishing ability to pull performances out of their proverbials when the tournament really kicks into gear and through what we reckon would be a monumental improvement in their team with the Portuguese star at the base of their midfield.

Al Nassr sign Gabriel Martinelli

The Saudi Pro League side are far more likely to give Arsenal’s coffers a tidy boost in the summer, but we could really do with them sticking a ludicrous figure on the table for Martinelli in January, which Andrea Berta and the Arsenal board believe is too good to turn down, preferably right at the very end, by which stage there’s no time to source a replacement for a guy who’s scored five goals in 305 Champions League minutes this season.

PSG sign Julian Alvarez

This isn’t so much about how Alvarez would improve PSG as they’re already pretty well stocked up front and we strongly suspect the loss of Vitinha to Real Madrid will result in a typical and greatly missed implosion for the Ligue 1 giants which will see them dumped out of the Champions League in the not-too-distant future.

What we absolutely cannot have is Arsenal signing someone to replace Viktor Gyokeres, who – bless him – is doing his level best to ensure the Gunners puzzle remains unfinished by being as dog-eared a final piece as possible.

Manchester United sign Elliot Anderson

Michael Carrick made very clear the importance of taking advantage of the increased energy that comes with the arrival of a new manager as part of his Old Trafford revolution. The added motivation bore juicy fruit in the Manchester derby and they carried that momentum to the Emirates. What a bizarre feeling it was for Manchester United to be the lesser of two evils as neutrals across the country celebrated that Matheus Cunha stunner.

A new player bounce to add to the leap courtesy of Carrick wouldn’t go amiss, even if Manchester United are indeed now firmly in the Premier League title race after *checks notes* two wins in two games without spending £100m on Anderson, who presumably no longer prefers a move to Manchester City as DNA will make short shrift of the eight-point gap between the two clubs.

Chelsea sign Mike Maignan

There are more than a few Chelsea-supporting Robert Sanchez apologists these days, and there has indeed been a significant improvement in his performances this season. But Liam Rosenior toying with the idea of second goalkeeper of 427 on the Chelsea books, Mr Jorgensen, isn’t the greatest of fillips for the Spaniard, nor are the rumours of the Blues reigniting their interest in Maignan, who is said to have reached a verbal but not written agreement with AC Milan over an extension.

What we cannot allow is for Chelsea to gift Arsenal goals in the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final as Sanchez did on two occasions in the first meeting.

Bayern Munich sign Yan Diomande

Yan Diomande? The 19-year-old, right-footed, 1.8m Ivorian, born in Abidjan, who moved to the US in 2022 and had an unsuccessful trial at Rangers in October 2023? Know him? Sounds like it doesn’t it.

Bayern are keen along with most Premier League giants so he must be pretty good. Doesn’t feel like they particularly need him given Luis Diaz’s 25 goal contributions from the left, but any means of increasing the squad depth arguably Arsenal’s greatest Champions League challengers is a positive, and also means Arsenal themselves – who have been linked – can’t have him.

Wigan sign Benn Ward

Wigan have reportedly had a third bid – thought to be in excess of one hundred thousand of your British pounds – rejected by Accrington Stanley for defender Benn Ward, whom Gyokeres would get precisely zero change out of should he sign before the Latics head to the Emirates in the FA Cup fourth round next month, as  such venerable strikers as Notts County’s Matthew Denis, Harrogate Town’s Tom Cursons and Colchester’s Samson Tovide can attest.

Borussia Dortmund sign Oscar Bobb

Arsenal’s reward for finishing first in the Champions League table stands to be a two-legged last-16 tie against one of four teams: Galatasaray (17th), Qarabag (18th), Juventus (15th) or Borussia Dortmund (16th).

We’re manifesting a meeting with Dortmund as – crushingly embarrassing defeat to Thomas Frank’s Tottenham aside – they’re probably our best bet of knocking Arsenal out; they’ve got good recent history in the competition and are currently second in the Bundesliga.

They’ve been linked with Bobb and the 22-year-old feels like a prime candidate for being a hugely talented footballer who doesn’t quite make it at Manchester City, moves elsewhere and becomes a £100m star within two seasons.