IT was a hectic winter transfer deadline day for the Premier League and Europe as clubs scrambled to get deals done before the 11pm deadline on Monday.
The saga of the window saw Mathys Tel going to Tottenham from Bayern Munich on loan following a call from Ange Postecoglou after originally rejecting Daniel Levy.
Other deals saw Manchester City take their January spending to more than £175million as they confirmed the arrival of Nico Gonzalez from Porto, while Evan Ferguson became the latest striker down at West Ham.
There were also blockbuster deals completed before deadline day, including Manchester United‘s acquisition of Patrick Dorgu and Aston Villa‘s quadruple haul of stars including Marcus Rashford.
But you may be wondering how these deals might change the tactical makeup of these respective clubs.
Well fear not, because SunSport’s tactical guru Dean Scoggins is here to break down the nitty-gritty of the deals so you don’t have to.
Former England star Rashford was announced by Villa on the penultimate day of the transfer window.
Unai Emery rates the 27-year-old highly, so much so that he has sanctioned Villa paying 75 per cent of his wages while also getting a £40m option to buy in the deal.
This deal is intriguing to say the least, as Villa are one of the few teams he can fit into tactically.
Some of the clubs he was linked to play short football round the edge of the area, but that is a style which would not fit Rashford.
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But Aston Villa’s counter-attacking system should be a nice fit for both parties.
Rashford has just shy of 200 goal contributions from his time at Man Utd, and it is a calculated risk from Villa to take on a fallen star who could reignite his stuttering career.
So with the extra additions of Marco Asensio and Axel Disasi on deadline day, how could this all play into Villa’s system?
The Midlands side are relatively normal in their set-up, which is a 4-2-3-1 that transitions into a box midfield in the opposition half.
But what’s important for Rashford is how they seek to be lightning fast on the counter-attack after goading teams into pressuring them.
The likes of the injured Pau Torres and Ezri Konsa play the ball around at the back while supported by so-called press resistant players in midfield such as Youri Tielemans.
When the opposition press has pushed high, the defenders will then play fast and direct passes straight down the middle, which has worked to blistering effect against clubs such as Man City and Arsenal.
Rashford’s role involves one of the wingers moving inside to a No. 10 position on one side to receive the ball before playing another straight pass to a team-mate.
His out to in runs have proven themselves effective at United over the years, and if they can be translated to Villa then they should work a treat with their direct style.
Thomas Tuchel may even take some notes for his England squad, with the possible axis of Ollie Watkins, Morgan Rogers and Rashford all working in tandem with their club side and on the international stage.
This is not to mention new signings Donyell Malen, Asensio, and Jacob Ramsey, who all fit the profile Emery likes for his system.
Off the ball, Villa will counter-press but are more than happy to retreat back towards their goal.
Watkins’ hard work is key to this defence from the start, but some of the criticism levelled at Rashford by Ruben Amorim at Man Utd was due to a perceived lack of effort.
That seems anathema to an Emery system, but Rashford seems to have convinced Villa and Emery that he will be willing to put in the hard yards to ensure their gamble pays off.
Dorgu was a £25m plus £4m in add-ons signing from Ligue 1 side Lecce, identified to come in and fit the Amorim profile for a dynamic left wing-back.
While at the age of 20 Dorgu has plenty of time to grow, he is tactically a perfect fit for Amorim’s 3-4-3.
What the system has been missing is a ball-carrying attacker, with only Amad Diallo really able to fit that idea.
Amorim’s system is built around players being able to carry the ball forwards and driving into space rather than relying on passing patterns.
Dorgu’s key stats, including goals, progressive carries, distance travelled and the speed he does it at, he appears to be a tailor-made for Amorim’s system, a bit like Geovany Quenda currently at Sporting.
At six foot two inches tall, Dorgu is almost a copy of a 17-year-old on the left-hand side.
Dorgu has also showed his proficiency by scoring goals on the right side, meaning he is also a flexible asset for Amorim.
Despite some possible defensive misgivings at Lecce, Dorgu should go straight into the Man Utd starting XI ahead of Diogo Dalot.
Harry Kane gave a glowing review of Tel after his switch to Tottenham was announced, and he is certainly one of the most exciting talents in world football at the moment.
Spurs have forked out a decent bit of dosh to get this deal over the line, including a loan fee of above £8m and paying his full wages.
Tel is said to have been keen to move where he would get the most minutes, and with a loan to buy option also inserted into his deal it is a good move for all parties.
For a forward, Ange Postecoglou style is more exciting than the likes of Man Utd – who were also interested in Tel – and Tel can ultimately fit the system very well.
He is able to play anywhere across the attack, which will be a very useful addition to Spurs given their injury crisis.
Tel is big, powerful, strong with both feet and importantly quick on the ball, attributes which are favoured by Postecoglou.
There is no doubt he has bags of ability.
But the main question mark will be how hard is Tel going to work in a notoriously high octane system at Spurs.
Following their 5-1 defeat at Arsenal, Man City went out and splashed £60m on 23-year-old Gonzalez in the hopes they can alleviate the absence of Rodri.
The tag of Rodri replacement places huge pressure on him, particularly in a team which has not performed at its best this season.
No one in world football is as good as Rodri in that role, but if you are looking for a player around Europe to try and put into that profile, then Gonzalez certainly has that.
Gonzalez, like previous names on this list, is a big, powerful and combative midfielder who is a strong runner and who always manages to get his toe on the ball.
The La Masia graduate also has this dynamic ability to get his foot across to win the ball back before rolling to then drive the ball upfield.
While a smaller player may be knocked off the ball, his size in itself is a key weapon in his locker.
Gonzalez also likes to get in the box, so don’t be surprised to see him pop up in the attacking third at times.
But ultimately he should go a long way to solving many of the structural issues City had against Arsenal.
Ferguson is the 54th striker West Ham have signed under the ownership of David Sullivan.
The 20-year-old was handed his debut at Brighton by Graham Potter, scoring six goals in 19 games in his breakout season.
His main issues have come down to fitness, particularly with his ankles after missing 11 months out of the last 18 through injury, playing just 12 Premier League games this season before another knock.
But tactically speaking, Ferguson goes against the grain of West Ham signings of the past where a big name forward was added without them really fitting the system.
Ferguson is a nice all-rounder forward. He is a solid seven out of ten in several aspects, while too many other signings were too specialised at one thing.
The Irish ace has been behind one of the most of tactically adaptable players you can find in Danny Welbeck, but with West Ham lacking a focal point for their attack Ferguson should improve them dramatically.
Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus are both wonderful talents, but need a foil to play off of in the final third if they are to truly excel, like what the crocked Michail Antonio provided them with.
If Ferguson’s fitness issues can be resolved, then West Ham fans have the right to be really excited about this deal.
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MASON MELIA will join Spurs for a League of Ireland record fee of almost €2million.
Melia did not train with St Pat’s yesterday, following their return from a pre-season training camp in Spain.
Instead, he was in London to undergo a medical to seal a deal with the English Premier League giants, although he will not be able to move until the transfer window in January 2026.
Brexit has meant players cannot move from Ireland to Britain until they turn 18, with Melia reaching that landmark in September.
SunSport revealed in December that Tottenham had launched a major charm offensive in a bid to jump to the top of the queue to sign the St Pat’s striker
He was brought over for their game against Chelsea and shown around their training facilities.
That was a decisive move in ensuring Spurs remained in the hot seat to sign the Wicklow native.
Everton, Chelsea and Celtic were also keen but, like Tottenham, could not proceed with a deal until he turned 18.
Bologna and Hannover 96 were in a position to sign the forward now but SunSport revealed that he would be staying put until at least the summer.
In theory, he could line out for St Pat’s for the entire 2025 campaign, although Spurs may require him to take a break before he links up with them.
He suffered a back problem towards the end of last season which was attributed to his increased load.
Melia clocked up 41 appearances in all competitions, bagging seven goals.
He had made a scoring debut for St Pat’s against Wexford in January 2023 at the age of 15 and went on to play 10 times in the league that season, scoring twice.
The initial sum of around €1.9m that Spurs have agreed to pay the Inchicore outfit will be by far the largest upfront fee paid for a player based in Ireland.
The League of Ireland side will also maintain a sell on clause is 20 percent on the player.
That could be doubled through performance-related clauses, including ones after five and ten first-team appearances, goals scored, senior international caps won and any future transfer.
Shamrock Rovers eventually received well in excess of €2m from the sale of Gavin Bazunu to Manchester City, following his subsequent move to Southampton, but the initial fee was just €500,000.
St Pat’s received around €700,000 for James Abankwah from Udinese three years ago and are still in line to receive further payments relating to the defender, now on loan at Watford.
