Five players who failed to get the transfer they needed

Carlo Garganese

• 1 Feb 2023 12:15 GMT
• 4 min read

The January transfer window represents an opportunity for wantaway footballers to escape their clubs for pastures new.

Whether it be in order to join a bigger club, to gain regular playing time or just to move somewhere that will make them happy, the winter window can be a Godsend for players.

But then there are those who want to leave but find themselves stuck at their current clubs by the time the January transfer window closes.

We take a look at five such players who failed to get the transfer they needed in January 2023.

Jadon Sancho (Man Utd)

Man Utd waited a year to sign Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund, before securing his signature for €85m in the summer of 2021. But he has failed miserably to recreate the blistering form that shot him to prominence in the Bundesliga.

He has just five Premier League goals and four assists since joining and he is well down the Man Utd pecking order behind the likes of Marcus Rashford, Antony and even Alejandro Garnacho

Sancho was recently sent away for personal training with manager Erik ten Hag saying he wasn't "physically or mentally ready" to play first-team football. A January loan move would have done him good but he is stuck on the bench at Old Trafford for the next months.

Hakim Ziyech (Chelsea)

Hakim Ziyech has never really looked like a Chelsea-level player since his big-money move from Ajax in the summer of 2020.

He has scored only six Premier League goals in two and a half seasons, delivering seven assists, and has never won over current manager Graham Potter.

Ziyech had expected to complete a Deadline Day move to PSG on loan but as the Parisians raced to beat the clock, there was a problem with the paperwork.

Chelsea reportedly submitted the incorrect documents to Les Parisiens on three occasions, ending any prospect of the transfer being completed.

Ziyech thus remains at Chelsea, although there is a chance he could still move to Turkey as their transfer window is open for another week.

Nicolo Zaniolo (Roma)

Roma winger Nicolo Zaniolo risks spending the rest of the season sitting in the stands after failing to find himself a Deadline Day transfer. Zaniolo had been frozen out of the squad at Roma, with the club making it clear he will never play for them again.

The attacker put in a transfer request to leave but rejected a move to Bournemouth and then couldn't find a suitable deal elsewhere, despite interest from Milan, Leeds and Everton.

He is being bitterly attacked by Roma fans and he even had to call police after supporters tried to attack him at his own house. There are reports he may even sue the club.

It’s going to be a long few months for Zaniolo until he can find a new club in the summer.

Billy Gilmour (Chelsea)

Billy Gilmour got his move away from Chelsea last summer, but in a cruel twist of fate the manager who signed him - Graham Potter - left Brighton for the Blues just days later.

Potter's successor at the Seagulls Roberto De Zerbi doesn't seem to fancy the Scot, who has been restricted to just 102 minutes of Premier League football.

Gilmour really needed to find himself a permanent or temporary club in January in order to kickstart his career. He turns 22 in June and he is simple not playing regularly enough in order to develop.

Having remained at Brighton for the rest of the season, questions will remain whether Gilmour will become the player he was tipped to a few years ago.

Harry Maguire (Man Utd)

Harry Maguire has become something of a figure of fun since completing his world-record move for a defender of €87 million from Leicester in 2019.

In the last year especially, he has been hugely error-prone, so much so that he has slipped to fifth choice at centre-back behind Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez, Victor Lindelof and, most embarrassingly, left-back Luke Shaw.

Maguire has only made four Premier League starts this season, with just two of these coming since August.

He really needs to find himself a new club, but Man Utd are not willing to sanction a transfer until the summer. There was also little concrete interest in January.