17 European transfers you might have missed: Subotic, Bartra, Eto’o & more

Quick Reads

Former Manchester City, Chelsea and Newcastle players have all been on the move this January in transfers which might have passed you by.

While Premier League clubs have continued to splash the cash with a number of big-money moves this month, a host of intriguing transfers on the continent have also taken place.

We’ve taken a closer look at 17 deals which caught our eye.

Nigel De Jong

For a midfielder who has represented some of the biggest clubs in Holland, Germany, England, Italy and Turkey – not to mention the fact he maimed Xabi Alonso in a World Cup final – De Jong had completely disappeared from our consciousness.

This month the former Manchester City man, now 33, joined Mainz on a free transfer after falling out of favour at Galatasaray.

“It was a problem with the coach there. I am the type of guy who always speaks my mind. Sometimes it is better when someone like a footballer keeps their mouth shut, but I can’t always do that.”

We can definitely believe that.

John Guidetti

European cult hero Guidetti made an instant impact after joining Alaves on loan from Celta Vigo, scoring against Barcelona as his new club came agonisingly close to a result at the Camp Nou – admittedly thanks to a complete scuff of a finish.

Tom Victor is still sad the striker never made it at Manchester City.

READ: Why football needs John Guidetti, the Mario Balotelli replacement the PL lost

Wesley Sneijder

Another former Galatasaray and Holland midfielder, we’d also completely forgotten Sneijder joined Nice in the summer. Despite dreams of Sneijder linking up with Mario Balotelli, the 33-year-old made only four starts in Ligue 1.

Sneijder has now moved to Qatar to join Al Gharafa, captaining the side in the AFC Champions League.

Marko Pjaca

Juventus paid €23million to sign Pjaca from Dinamo Zagreb in 2016, but the young winger’s time in Turin has been disrupted by injury so far.

The Croatia international has moved to Schalke on loan until the end of the season in order to cement his place in the squad, having starred in the 2-1 victory over Spain at Euro 2016.

Lisandro Lopez

When we saw Inter had signed Lisandro Lopez on loan we assumed it was that striker who banged them in for Porto and Lyon a while back.

It turns out they’ve signed a 28-year-old centre-back on loan from Benfica who had only made four league appearances for the Portuguese outfit this season.

Marc Bartra

Former Barcelona defender Bartra has returned to Spain having penned a five-and-a-half year deal with Real Betis.

The 27-year-old’s 18-month spell at Borussia Dortmund was overshadowed by the terrorist attack on the team bus in which he was injured, though he did start the final as they won the German Cup in 2017.

Inigo Martinez

Athletic Bilbao may have lost Aymeric Laporte to Manchester City, but for less than half the €65million fee they received they have signed an able replacement in Martinez from fierce rivals Real Sociedad.

The Spain international had previously said he would “never go to the other side”, which means the Basque derby in April should be even more fiery.

Brown Ideye

Remember when Ideye became West Brom’s record signing and went on to score seven goals in his only season at The Hawthorns? Well, yeah. Sort of. Vaguely.

Anyway, after two years in China he’s joined Malaga on loan, where he will form a strike partnership with on-loan Swansea CityL forward Borja Baston. Remember when Swansea made him their record signing and he went on to score one goal in his only season in Wales…

Loic Remy

One of Harry Redknapp’s best January deadline day signings. We’re not quite sure where it went wrong for Remy.

The France striker joined Las Palmas in the summer after being released by Chelsea but now finds himself on loan at Getafe. Despite scoring five goals in 12 appearances, Remy had not featured since December after falling out with coach Paco Jemez.

READ: Every player signed by Harry Redknapp on January deadline day

Neven Subotic

Brilliant on various editions of FIFA. Brilliant on various editions of Football Manager. Brilliant until injuries took their toll.

Subotic has ended a decade of service for Borussia Dortmund by joining Saint Etienne on an 18-month loan deal. He gets to wear their always-fantastic kit at least.

Bruno Zuculini

A name that vaguely causes a twang in your brain, like when you walk past that lad you once sat next to in history in Year 8.

Zuculini was a highly-rated prospect at Manchester City, making his debut in the 2014 Community Shield defeat to Arsenal. Six loan moves followed, including spells at Valencia and Middlesbrough, before he joined Hellas Verona permanently in the summer.

The midfielder has now returned to his native Argentina by signing for River Plate, pocketing City €1.25million due to a sell-on clause in the process.

Pietro Pellegri

Monaco have made Pellegri the second-most expensive 16-year-old in history by paying €20million to land the Genoa forward.

Pellegri became the first player born in 2001 to score in Serie A last May, which suggests we’re probably never going to make it.

Martin Terrier

With seven goals in five appearances for France’s Under-21s, Lille loaned Terrier to Strasbourg at the start of the season to continue his development. The 20-year-old forward will remain on loan at the club, but Lyon have paid €11million for his services.

We’re just going to ignore the fact that he should really have joined Huddersfield. Because they’re called The Terriers. Like his name. Forget it.

Florentin Pogba

After six years at Saint Etienne, Paul’s big brother has moved to Turkey to join Gençlerbirliği, where he has the honour of playing alongside Stephane Sessegnon.

Vagner Love

Vagner Love: the greatest striker that never was.

The former Brazil international has joined Besiktas, and you really need to watch his transfer unveiling.

Samuel Eto’o

Believe it or not, he’s still playing, and he’s still banging them in. Having scored 44 goals in 77 appearances for Antalyaspor – f*cking hell, mate – Eto’o has moved to Konyaspor, signing a deal which would take him up to the ripe old age of 39.

No doubt he’ll still be banging them in now.

READ: Sameul Eto’o: Criminally underrated and the REAL star of Inter vs Spurs

Miguel Layun

We contest that it’s actually impossible to name more than 10 Watford players at any one time. But when we saw the name Miguel Layun we knew that definitely sounds like somebody who could play for Watford.

It turns out he made 21 appearances for the Hornets, helping the club to promotion from the Championship in 2015.

After two-and-a-half years with Porto, the Mexico international has now joined Sevilla on loan.

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