Clock ticking on Spanish winter window

January is not usually a month that sees much movement in the transfer market, unless a club is looking to sign cover for an injured player or find themselves in a bad League position where they look unlikely to meet expectations. Otherwise most just look past this transfer period during the season.

There isn't long to go though before the winter window shuts down at midnight on February 1 and there are still some clubs in need of getting business done before the deadline.

Barcelona have been linked all month with Nolito and Denis Suarez as they try to fill the gap left by Pedro Rodriguez in the summer, but it looks unlikely that anything will get done on that front. Denis is set to stay until the end of the season, when Barca will be able to activate their buy-back clause on him.

The refusal to include a mandatory buy option in their loan offer for Nolito has left Celta Vigo uninterested to continue negotiations any further, the Balaidos club not really interested in a loan in the first place. It remains to be seen if this is the end of the Nolito saga, but Barca have already made it clear that Sandro Ramirez will stay put for as long as no replacement is brought in before the deadline.

Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid look unlikely to sign anyone before Monday regardless of the transfer bans given to them by FIFA. The hope is that their appeals will be accepted and the bans will be delayed by an extra window or quashed altogether, which would allow them to bring in players during the summer.

Questions could be asked of whether Villarreal will bring in cover for injured Samuel Garcia, whose season is likely over, and if Sevilla will sign someone to fill the void left by Ciro Immobile's departure to Torino.

Despite having below par campaigns, it seems unlikely at this point that Valencia and Real Sociedad will be signing anyone while on the other side of the spectrum, clubs such as Eibar, Deportivo, and Getafe seem content given their strong positions in the table with relegation looking unlikely.

Malaga and Espanyol have bolstered their rosters in the last couple of days with Christian Atsu joining the former on loan to help fill the gap left by Nordin Amrabat's departure. The Catalans have added respective Costa Rica and Lithuanian international Oscar Duarte and Giedrius Arlauskis to their ranks.

Real Betis will be hoping to find a permanent successor for Pepe Mel now they've got Leandro Damiao in, while Sporting Gijon will be looking to find a couple of more bargains on their tight budget after signing Bosnian international Ognjen Vranjes on a freebie earlier this week.

Transfer windows are known for bringing unexpected moves and late surprises, but it remains to be seen if that will be the case for some of the clubs still looking to strengthen their squads with less than a week to go before the deadline expires.

La Liga - Club News