Which January Transfer will shape the Premier League race?

The January transfer window is firmly shut right now, with the highlight of the deadline transfer shopping been the Sale of Darren Fletcher to West Brom and West Ham's failed attempt to sign Emmanuel Adebayor from Tottenham. However, most of the deals that looked 'decisive' seemed to have been wrapped up much earlier, or much quicker than expected. Here are the perceived deciding transfers.

1.

Juan Cuadrado Of Colombia, who moved to Chelsea for around 30M pounds is the first in my list. Unremarkable , considering what he brings to the table. Cuadrado is pacy with a lot of trickery, which Chelsea lacked, apart from Hazard of course. He also brings some defensive soundness and may well be the answer to the lack of incisiveness at the opponent half of the field, that is if other teams don't find a remedy for him.

2.

Manchester City always looked one-legged with just Sergio Aguero and Pellegrini did what most of us thought he would; He went for a striker and got Bony. In the strong Ivorian, he has a proven goal scorer at Swansea and to top it all, one of the leading lights of African football. With his strength akin to an Aguero or Tevez  (not with the latter's tenacity though) and his aerial abilities far better than what both Argentine players can offer, he may be the last piece of the jigsaw that may bring the EPL to Manchester City for a consecutive time. Currently at the AFCON, he must be given the time to rest if Pellegrini wants to get the best from him, though with the Champions League getting closer, I doubt if its  possible.

3.

I first did not understand this signing. First of all, Liverpool and Arsenal have more problems in this aspect of the team than Manchester United and would be prefect candidates for this coup. However, with Ospina back from injury and contending seriously for the goalkeeping berth at Arsenal and Liverpool seemingly content with Mignolet, it seems to be a shrewd signing, consiodering the immediate future is not known. With Chelsea and Manchester City off the FA Cup, Manchester United seem to suddenly have two realistic targets, get a spot in the Champions League and win the FA Cup. And Valdes seems to come in handy here. Vastly experienced, winning all the trophies available in Spain and playing crucial part in Barcelona's sucesses in the past five years at least, Valdes will be the lad to ease off any tiredness from current number one in Manchester United; David De Gea. The very least he will have an run in either the league or the FA Cup, which will not be bad for him or Manchester United at the moment.

4.

We all moaned and mourned about Arsenal defensive woes, especially in the centre back position. Now with Gabriel, Arsenal may have solved that problem. Fast and comfortable on the ball, he also seemed to have the strength to cope with the Premier League and may well be key to Arsenal pulling off their usual 'last four spot' rally. With engagements in Europe set to be a bit prolonged ( as Monaco should be easy enough for the Gunners), it will be comforting if Arsenal has a centre-back they can fall back on in lieu of injuries to either Mertesacker or Koscielny.


So there they are. Which one will be most useful?