Soccer is one of the most popular sports at Glasgow Middle School, and lately, it has sparked lots of excitement because of the January transfer window, where players can change clubs, either temporarily (called a loan) or on a permanent transfer. In this article, you’ll read all you need to know about the top five transfers and the reaction of the Glasgow community.

The most expensive transfer of this window was Dušan Vlahović’s $89 million dollar transfer from Fiorentina to Juventus. The Serbian player has been on fire recently, scoring in 84% of his games this season, and the best part is that he’s only 22 years old! While some critics see this transfer as a little too expensive, Juventus fans are finally looking forward to the future of Juventus.

Glasgow has many soccer fans, including teachers! Mr. Gerber is a science teacher here at Glasgow and we asked him his thoughts on Vlahović’s transfer. “I think Juve did very well to bring in Vlahović. Juve have a lot of depth through the midfield and I think that Vlahović will slot in nicely and have plenty of chances to find the back of the net.  As an American, I’m looking forward to seeing how Tyler Adams can connect with the Serb.” remarks Mr. Gerber.

One of the most widely discussed transfers of this month is Ferran Torres’ $60 million dollar move from Manchester City to FC Barcelona. There’s clearly no doubt that he’s a very talented player, with 16 goals and 4 assists in 43 games, but this past season he’s been a shadow of his former self, with rather poor playtime. Needless to say, when Torres, unhappy with his game time, heard Barcelona knocking, he was eager to join the club.

Like many other fans, Mr. Gerber wasn’t a big fan of Barca’s business. “Torres’ move to Barca reeks of desperation from Barca.  With all of the rumors surrounding Real Madrid’s moves during the summer transfer window, Camp Nou was desperate to make a splash and Torres is coming off a very poor season,” he says.

Adama Traoré is one of the most popular players of the Premier League, and for good reason. He’s got insane speed, superb ball control, and extreme strength. He’s really been great as a right-winger for Wolves in the past few years, but many believe that it’s time for him to move on to a bigger club. That’s exactly why FC Barcelona has decided to sign the Spaniard on a loan deal until the end of the season. Anything and everything can happen with Traoré. He could pop off and start dominating La Liga with his strength and skills, or perhaps he’ll start underperforming with less playing time due to the sheer amount of attackers on the team. We’ll hope for the best, but we can only wait and see!

7th-grader Juan Nolasco says, “I feel like Barcelona should’ve made more moves in defense or midfield, because they really need a true playmaker like Leo Messi was.”

Tottenham Hotspur was once a very solid team, even reaching the finals of the UEFA Champions League in the 2018-19 season. They have reached a new low this season, and it seems that everything is falling apart. However, their fortunes could change very soon due to their loan signing of Dejan Kulusevski from Juventus! It’s obvious that the Swedish winger is an amazing talent, but with the stacked squad that Juventus has, he hasn’t really gotten the chance to shine this season. Despite that, joining the Spurs could really turn Kulusevski’s season into a big success.

Science teacher Mr. Von Linden shares his comments on Tottenham Hotspur’s activity. “Tottenham have definitely fallen from their Champions league final form a few years ago. Since then they have not been able to bring in or develop talent to compliment Kane and Son. It seems management keeps a tight grasp on the transfer budget so every signing they make needs to count. It will be interesting to see if head coach Conte will be able to bring his team into form and qualify for a European competition by the end of the season.”

A few years ago, if you asked anybody who the top wonderkids and future stars were, there’s a good chance Anthony Martial would have been among them. He’s been in Manchester United for a while, and his performances have been yo-yo-ing for years now. He’s scored many goals in some seasons while being quite disappointing in the next. However, maybe a loan to Sevilla in Spain could change his fortunes. Perhaps the sheer amount of stars in United was a bit overwhelming for him, whereas in Sevilla the play could circle around him too. It seems like this could be a very successful move for him, and luckily, we’ll get to see him shine in the Europa League this spring too.

Noah Berhane, a 7th grader, shared his thoughts. “I believe Sevilla picked up a great player in Anthony Martial but I do think that Martial really wants to play in La Liga because he even took a pay cut to make it happen. Sevilla got a good pick-up because they got what they needed. A solid, fairly young player!” he said excitedly.

The January transfer window was clearly a big success, and everyone’s already looking forward to the next. Mr. Gerber is only one of the many that are extremely excited! “All eyes will be on Dortmund to see what happens with Haaland.  A generational scoring talent that has all the major sides interested. Where will Mbappe land? Is he bound for Madrid?” he wonders.

This concludes our round-up of the January 2022 transfer window. What’s amazing about soccer is that aside from being very entertaining, this sport is inspiring countless Glasgow students to become the best players they can be.

We saw some great moves, and some poor moves occur this month, but one thing’s certain; with these new transfers and unpredictable games, there is even more excitement for the soccer season ahead!