Will Manchester United get reinforcements for Ruben Amorim? Can Arsenal land the striker they need to compete for the Premier League title? And will Jack Grealish revive his career with a move to Tottenham? Here are the 10 best possible Premier League January 2025 signings to look out for.
Donyell Malen to Aston Villa
Aston Villa have been working hard to sign former Euro 2020 standout Donyell Malen from Borussia Dortmund, and things have gotten to a point where the Champions League Finalist has actually agreed to terms with the Lions, so all that is left is for the two clubs to come to terms, which could involve new Villa signing Ian Maatsen heading back to the Bundesliga.
Malen is a frustratingly inconsistent player, but the high are very high. And Unai Emery has a penchant for getting the most out of inconsistent players, whether that has been at Aston Villa or in the past at both PSG and Villarreal.
There wouldn’t be many more explosive or versatile goal-scoring wingers in the Premier League than Malen, and Aston Villa could use the extra juice with Leon Bailey seemingly in decline and Moussa Diaby having moved on to Saudi Arabia in the summer.
Dusan Vlahovic to Arsenal
Arsenal are paying dearly for their lack of proactivity at the striker position in the transfer market, and so the rumor mill has circled back to the mercurial Dusan Vlahovic.
Technically, Vlahovic is off to his best half-season start in Juventus colors with 12 goals thus far, but his up-and-down displays have yet to stabilize in Turin, leading to continued frustrating discussions among Juventini about the merits of sticking with the Serbian at striker.
Vlahovic, on his day, is an elite striker, and Arsenal will hope that their significantly better supporting cast can coax the best version of Vlahovic, who has suffered on a Juve side that has only ever given him one competent attacking outlet to work with in Kenan Yildiz.
Alphonso Davies to Manchester United
Set to leave Bayern Munich as a free agent next summer without any sign of a deal in place, Alphonso Davies has been mostly linked to Real Madrid, with the Merengues showing interest in the Canadian star all the way back in 2022.
But Real Madrid have been slow to move for Davies, leading to rampant speculation that the left back may cool his interest in the world’s biggest club. It’s a scene familiar to Manchester United, who ended up signing the best young center back in the world. Leny Yoro, this past summer because Yoro felt that Real Madrid weren’t moving quickly enough to sign him and simply wanted him to run down his contract.
Well, Davies has already run his contract down, and after the Yoro signing, Manchester United, despite their continued struggles in the Premier League, should feel that they have as good of a chance at signing one of the hottest free agents in world football as the reigning Champions League winners.
Jack Grealish to Tottenham
It has honestly been past time for Manchester City to move on from Jack Grealish, and the sooner the two parties can sign the divorce papers, the better for the former England international in getting his once-promising career back on track.
While the notion that Pep Guardiola “ruined” Grealish’s career is a bit unfair, especially since he played a pivotal role in a treble just two seasons ago, the sentiment behind the frustration is well-taken when watching how unexciting Grealish’s game has become since arriving at the Etihad from Aston Villa.
Meanwhile, Tottenham badly need a spark in their attack, which has become pretty close to a Son Heung-min carryjob. Grealish can take defenders on and even offer an additional goal threat that is lacking for Spurs.
Viktor Gyokeres to Arsenal
Arsenal probably should have made a much stronger play for Viktor Gyokeres than they did last summer, and their dire need for a true goal-scorer alongside superstar right winger Bukayo Saka has reached a crisis point.
Meanwhile, all Gyokeres has done in 2024/25 is enhance his reputation as the world’s best rising striker, providing a marquee performance with a hat trick against Manchester City before it was obvious that City were no longer City.
In total, Gyokeres has scored 21 goals this season, making him a potential counterweight to Erling Haaland and Mohamed Salah in the Premier League in terms of goal-scoring. The cost could be prohibitive, but if Sporting CP are in any way open to listening to an offer, Arsenal need to get on the phone, lest they waste another year of title contention.
Victor Osimhen to Chelsea
Victor Osimhen has, as expected, been excellent for Galatasaray in the Turkish Super Lig, as he is a former Capocannoniere striker who was widely recognized as one of the three best players at the position – next to Erling Haaland and Harry Kane – in the season that Napoli won the Scudetto.
Granted, the Turkish top flight isn’t the most compelling of competition, but talent and even finishing prowess have never been the question with Osimhen. Health and consistency, though, are real sticking points for the Nigerian, who is otherwise a nightmare for defenders.
Chelsea have a pretty good Premier League striker in their own right in Nicolas Jackson, but his strength compared to his peers in the league is mostly predicated on the fact that striking quality in world football – and the Premier League especially – isn’t what it used to be. Osimhen is a rather significant upgrade.
Jarrad Branthwaite to Manchester United
Manchester United went for Jarrad Branthwaite last summer, only to back out of their interest in the Everton star due to a rather onerous 80 million pound asking price.
With Everton continuing to toil in the relegation fight and Branthwaite himself barely a bit player in that battle despite being the team’s most valuable long-term asset, perhaps Manchester United see their opportunity to pounce for the center back.
Despite signing phenom Leny Yoro and Champions League veteran Matthijs de Ligt, Manchester United still aren’t very good defensively. Yoro, Branthwaite, and Lisandro Martinez would be quite the turnaorund from a past center back trio of Raphael Varane, Victor Lindelof, and Harry Maguire.
Jobe Bellingham to Crystal Palace
Sunderland center midfielder Jobe Bellingham is quietly ready for a significant transfer of his own, as the 19-year-old looks to show that he is, just like his world-class brother at Real Madrid, a top English midfielder in his own right.
Crystal Palace have been linked to the 19-year-old, and he’d be a perfect addition to a team that is crying out for a top-notch, box-to-box midfielder with long-term potential.
The Eagles are so good at nurturing great young players, as Bayern Munich can thank with Michael Olise, and the younger Bellingham is already a solid all-around player with seven goal contributions, 1.4 key passes, 1.3 fouls drawn, and about 3 combined tackles and interceptions per game in the Championship.
Dusan Vlahovic to Manchester United
If Joshua Zirkzee heads out of Old Trafford after an ill-fated six months at a club he never fit, then Ruben Amorim could go ahead and bring in a bigger name from Serie A to replace him.
Viktor Gyokeres is obviously the long-term target for Amorim, who coached the big Swede to great success at Sporting. But if Gyokeres rebuffs United, which feels likely when looking at where Man United are in the table, then Dusan Vlahovic is a great immediate option.
It would be something of a swap of strikers with Zirkzee looking to revive his career in Serie A and then Vlahovic trying to make good on his obviously world-class potential at Old Trafford.
Marc Guehi to Chelsea
Marc Guehi was a Chelsea player, but he truly blossomed into one of the best Premier League center backs at Crystal Palace. He is one of the most in-demand players on the transfer market within the Premier League, and while Palace have done so well to rebuff any interest in him, it feels like it could be any window that the England international makes his exit from the underdog club.
Chelsea would love to have Guehi back, and the links to Guehi have never dissipated since his permanent move to Palace in 2021, shortly after which the now 24-year-old established himself as a great defender.
Although the Blues have a few competent defensive players, they don’t really have a sure-fire, shutdown guy like Guehi. He would immediately upgrade the team, which, quite frankly, isn’t far off from Premier League title contention now.
The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He covered Real Madrid from 2019-2022 for The Real Champs as a site manager. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.