8 leagues still open for transfer business offering wantaway stars route out

01 February 2023 , 14:01

1172     0

Hakim Ziyech is among the Premier League stars looking for more minutes (Image: Dave Shopland/REX/Shutterstock)

Premier League stars hoping to find pastures new could still do so despite the transfer window closing - albeit not to one of Europe's glamour leagues.

England saw their mid-season window slam shut last night, which several other leagues following suit. Teams in Spain, Scotland, Italy and France will now have to wait until the summer if they want to do business after what was a frantic deadline day.

Premier League clubs continued to spend huge sums, the biggest being Enzo Fernandez's record-breaking £107m move to Chelsea. Certain players will now be left wondering where they sit in the pecking order, though, and could yet find a way out if they desire.

Several transfer windows, especially those in Eastern Europe, will remain open for days and even weeks in some cases. The top divisions in Turkey, Austria, Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Switzerland and Ukraine are all still open for business - which gives several clubs the chance to get some new faces in.

Some of those remain in the knockout stages of European competitions - Red Bull Salzburg and Shakhtar Donetsk among them. The latter have just received £89m from Chelsea and could look to reinvest having lost one of their leading lights in Mykhaylo Mudryk.

Chelsea complete record-breaking Enzo Fernandez transfer after deadline day rush

Of all the leagues listed, Austria have the highest league coefficient, as per UEFA's rankings. Salzburg are well backed and have looked to England for recruits before, leaving the door open for a late move, especially for those seeking more minutes.

Hakim Ziyech thought a move to PSG was in the pipeline, but his switch to Paris has fallen through leaving him to review his options. Anthony Elanga was linked with a move away from Manchester United too as he looks for more minutes,while there are plenty of others in a similar boat.

Nat Phillips was also hopeful of sealing a move away from Liverpool, though Ibrahima Konate's injury may make Jurgen Klopp think twice. Galatasaray were linked with the centre-back.

Nathan Redmond swapped England for Turkey in the summer

Which players will want to leave their current clubs? Have your say in the comments section

Turkey - and especially teams from Istanbul - are stocked full of talent that has previously played in England's top flight. Galatasaray are currently top of the table with Fenerbahce and İstanbul Basaksehir just below them. In the summer the likes of Michy Batshuayi, Bertrand Traore, Nathan Redmond and Dele Alli all made moves from the Premier League to Turkey - some permanently and some on loan.

The top flights in Serbia, Switzerland and the Czech Republic are also ranked in the top 15 coefficients. That means the likes of Red Star Belgrade, Young Boys and Slavia Prague could all look to invest in Premier League talent that looks like it may be overlooked in the coming months.

Clubs like Chelsea and Nottingham Forest were particularly busy, adding more players than they let go, which means certain individuals are likely to be marginalised as a result and will want to find minutes if possible. Pep Guardiola has previously said handling players who are not selected is the most important quality a manager can have - confessing that it makes the job difficult if they are not on side.

Samuel Meade