Havertz, Rashford and more: Transfer MISTAKES that could cost these teams Titles

The January transfer window has closed, but some of Europe's biggest clubs made mistakes along the way.

While some clubs, such as Paris Saint-Germain or Aston Villa, worked wonders in January; others were not as decisive and, for one reason or another failed to do the deals they needed to do.

Who were those clubs? And what mistakes did they make? FootballTransfers has a look.

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1. Arsenal not signing a striker

The big and most obvious error is that Arsenal failed to sign a striker. It's truly a baffling error from the Gunners for a wide variety of reasons.

Heading into January they knew that Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka were facing long spells on the sidelines, and they were in need of a striker even if those two were fit!

Mikel Arteta seemingly placed his trust in Kai Havertz to lead the line. But Havertz is not a true striker and, regardless, he too is now injured. And it's a hamstring issue (like Saka) so you can't even rush him back.

Meanwhile Arsenal are just 7 points behind Liverpool in the Premier League title race. With a proper goalscorer the chance of hauling them back becomes a distinct possibility, but having not signed a goal-getter they're going to struggle to put a long-enough winning run together.

The Gunners tried one bid for Ollie Watkins late in the window. It was understandably rejected, but it was not enough of a commitment from Arsenal. They may never have a chance like this again!

2. Man City waiting to sign Nico Gonzalez

Defensive midfield has been an issue for Man City ever since Ballon d'Or winner Rodri went down injured in the Autumn. Coming into January they knew they had to sign someone there.

And they did! Signing Nico Gonzalez from Porto.

Nico, a second generation footballer and La Masia graduate, is a good fit to play at the base of midfield. A great fit even. He plays like a mini-Rodri and should be a viable long-term alternative and partner to the dominant defensive mid.

So why did they wait until deadline day to do the deal?!

As a result of the late deal, Nico debuted in the FA Cup against Leyton Orient and was caught out by the relentless speed of play in England, picking up an injury that meant he couldn't play any part against Real Madrid in the Champions League.

In his absence Los Blancos high-stepped through the City midfield over and over again and in the end bagged a win that leaves City on the brink of an embarrassingly early European exit which was their best chance to win major silverware this season.

If you know you have to do the deal... don't wait, do the deal!

3. Real Madrid not signing a centre-back

Speaking of Real Madrid, they opted against signing a centre-back in January. Eder Militao has once again injured his ACL, David Alaba is sufferig from injury reverberations after his own ACL injury last season, and now even Antonio Rudiger has gone down with hamstring trouble.

Against Man City they had Aurelien Tchouameni and Raul Asenscio play centre-back. Tchouameni is a defensive midfielder and Asenscio is a good-not-great academy graduate who is a suspect in a case regarding the distribution of child pornography.

Madrid needed a centre-back. They opted not to sign one. They are currently in the running to win all three competitions they're in but a sheer lack of centre-backs could hold them back on one or all three fronts.

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4. Man Utd not dealing with Marcus Rashford promptly

Man Utd are in PSR Hell. Thanks to dwindling revenues and spiralling costs, United are in a position where they need to sell (or at least cut the wage bill) before they can buy.

The biggest instance of this was Marcus Rashford, one of the club's highest earners who they have been actively trying to sell since late last year.

And yet United were so calm and passive about the whole situation. They didn't seem to be rushed even though any incoming transfer business was linked to Rashford leaving.

By the time they got Rashford gone, they had only managed to sign Patrick Dorgu from Lecce. A good start to a window but nowhere near enough to bolster the squad to the point where they can secure Champions League football for next season (either by finishing top 4 or winning the Europa League) or win a trophy (the Europa League of FA Cup).

Shame on you, INEOS.

5. Barcelona failing to sign a winger

Barcelona are one of the two best teams in the world alongside Liverpool. One could argue they're more fun to watch than the Reds, while being a bit less secure and stable. Part of the reason for that is their lack of depth in attack.

Robert Lewandowski, Lamine Yamal and Raphinha is the best attacking unit anywhere on the planet. It has everything you'd want in an attack, with each player possessing individual quality and all those qualities harmonising with each other.

But of those three, only Lewandowski has a back-up. Ferran Torres has proven to be a useful no. 9 when the Pole is rested, but there is 0 depth on the wing and one of their starters there is 17 years-old. And during his last spell of injury/fitness woes Barcelona dropped a whole bunch of points.

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Obviously money is tight over in Catalunya, but Barcelona are genuinely in with a chance of winning multiple trophies this season (they already have the Spanish Super Cup) but one bad injury in attack and it could all be over. They should have pulled a lever!

6. Napoli saving the Kvaratskhelia money

Napoli sold their star player Khvicha Kvaratskhelia for €70 million in January. Admittedly against their well, as the Georgian had told them he wanted to leave, but they did nevertheless sell him.

And €70 million is a massive amount of money that, with some well-planned amortisaton, could have funded the kind of squad investment that Napoli are very much in need of.

While Napoli are top of Serie A right now their squad is paper thin compared to Inter Milan's. One bad injury (like the recent one to David Neres) could be enough to derail their hype train.

The Kvaradona money could have been used to sign multiple players to add true depth. Instead Napoli are just sitting on the money, helping their bank balance but not their performances.

7. Chelsea not signing a striker

Chelsea aren't quite fighting for the title like Arsenal are, but they are in contention to finish in the top four as well as win the UEFA Conference League.

But their attempts to win those trophies has been dealt a serious blow by injuries to strikers Nicolas Jackson and Marc Guiu.

Chelsea fans will feel immense frustration because for all of January (and all of the summer window before it) the Blues were linked with several strikers, but they never signed any.

Now the Blues are left praying Christopher Nkunku, who wanted to leave in January to get more playing time, is up to the challenge of leading the line.