Five transfer deals that nearly happened in January

The January transfer market is fast, with the clubs having only four weeks to make crucial decisions. With deals moving at pace, surprises can be just around the corner.

Sometimes what once seemed a concrete deal can fail at the last minute. Here in his Skrill column, Fabrizio Romano reveals five transfers that were incredibly close to completion but never became a reality.

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1. Fabio Carvalho to Liverpool

A practically completed deal, this Portuguese talent who has been shining in the Championship failed to transfer over to Liverpool from Fulham.

Carvalho had even passed his medical tests, but the two clubs were unable to sign the contracts within the deadline.

There will be talks about this deal again in the summer, because Liverpool are very interested.

2. Adama Traoré to Tottenham

Spurs had been working on this deal for weeks and were very close to completion in the third week of January.

But Wolves couldn’t agree on €16m, so Tottenham made other choices, such as Dejan Kulusevski.

Before the end of the window, Adama managed to secure a loan to Barcelona.

3. Jesse Lingard to Newcastle

The Magpies had been trying for a whole month to get Lingard before the last assault on Deadline Day. The idea was a loan deal until the summer when Lingard will be a free agent.

But Manchester United blocked this negotiation because they will need Lingard in the second half of the season.

4. Alvaro Morata to Barcelona

During the first days of the January transfer market, Barca really tried to sign Morata. Xavi called him all the time and Juventus had given an opening on this deal.

But Atletico Madrid (owners of the player) blocked everything because they did not accept another loan for Morata, especially to a Spanish club.

5. Renato Sanches to AC Milan

In the last 48 hours of the transfer market, AC Milan made a bid for the Lille midfielder.

There was an opening bid, talks with his agent, but then a decision to postpone the negotiation to June when there will be more time to analyse the deal.