With the transfer window closed in January, clubs in Europe's major leagues will have to accept a squad for the next six months. It's been a busy day on the European continent and the club is desperately trying to strike a deal by the deadline. Several blockbuster transfers took place at the transfer window, with Felan Torres joining Barcelona, Vlahović joining Juventus, Aubameyang at Barcelona and Luis Diaz with Liverpool. However, there are also many potential deals that fail to close for one reason or another. This has frustrated some players as they are at least staying at their current club until the end of the season. Here are five stars who missed out on the January transfer they needed for their careers.
Osman-Dembele (Barcelona)
Osman Dembele's €105 million transfer from Borussia Dortmund to Barcelona turned out to be a disaster. The Frenchman's injury record is shocking, and although he has shown his true talent, these performances are rare for Camp Nou. Over the past year, the club has still tried to get Dembele to sign a new contract, but negotiations have broken down due to players' salary requirements. Barcelona then told Dembele in January to look for a new club, but nothing happened except for later flirting with Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain. He now faces the problem of suffering six months of boos in Barceló.
Luca Jovic (Real Madrid)
Luka Jovic has been underperforming since his hugely invested move from Eintracht Frankfurt and is now arguably Real Madrid's third choice in centre-forward positions after Benzema and Mariano Diaz. The Serbian showed great hope in the Bundesliga, of course the pressure to play for the Galactico was too great and the club were delighted to have him move away. There was a mention of a move to Arsenal but that didn't happen, and other suitors didn't push ahead with the deal. Jovic will need to re-evaluate his future in the summer, with Mbappe coming down further on Ancelotti's pick list.
Nketiah (Arsenal)
Arsenal are very eager to sign a centre-forward in the January transfer window. With Aubameyang already gone, Arteta faces the loss of a large number of strikers at the Emirates Stadium, while Lacazette and Nketiah's contract expires in June. Nketiah has expressed a desire to leave as early as January after seeing the slim chances, but he will now play a bigger role in the second half of the season. He could eventually sign a new contract, but Arsenal will go all out this summer to bring in another striker, so Nketia will ultimately just fill the squad void for the next six months.
Jesse Lingard (Manchester United)
Jesse Lingard doesn't know if he should stay or go. The England international didn't play a minute in the Premier League in the first half of last season and was loaned to West Ham, where he excelled. After Solskjaer promised to give him more playing time, he returned to Manchester United. But that didn't happen, and rumors about January began. Both Newcastle and West Ham united tried to sign him, but were rejected by United. Subsequently, the club told Jesse Lingard that he was needed before his contract expired due to Greenwood's inability to play due to off-field factors.
Artur (Juventus)
Artur was very eager to leave Juventus in January. He appointed a new agent purely to get him out of Turin. The Brazilian doesn't fit Juventus coach Allegri's plan, preferring physically strong midfielders to technical players like Artur. Artur has shown little under Allegri this season, and Juventus were more than willing to dump him in January. They have been in talks with Arsenal for weeks, but the two clubs have been unable to agree on a deal. Arsenal want a six-month short-term loan and Juventus want an 18-month long-term loan. As a result, Artur remains at Juventus and is likely to slip further down the picks after the club signed Zakaria from Borussia Mönchengladbach.