Image source, Getty Images

Manchester City's midfield has struggled in the absence of the injured Rodri, with a lack of physicality abundantly clear during the 5-1 defeat by Arsenal on Sunday.

New signing Nico Gonzalez could help in that department, though he is not a single pivot and isn't a like-for-like replacement for Rodri.

"He's a completely different player to Rodri, the two cannot be compared, either in quality or playing style," says founder of PortuGOAL Tom Kundert.

"He's stood out at Porto. Normally that would mean a lot but this is the worst Porto team in 40 years.

"That said, it's not his fault and he's been just about the only Porto player who has maintained a high performance level over the last couple of seasons. He's a good player but I have to say I was gobsmacked by the fee."

Thank you Lee.

Good news everyone! BBC Sport's chief football writer Phil McNulty will be in the hot seat in an hour's time.

Got a question for Phil on the transfer window. Send it in!

Image source, Getty Images

This season has not gone to plan for Manchester City.

A dreadful run of form in November and December during which they lost six out of eight Premier League games saw their hopes of defending the title once again all but ended.

Meanwhile, hanging over them is the outcome of the 115 charges they face for allegedly breaking the financial rules of the Premier League.

But they made the biggest moves during the winter window, signing Eintracht Frankfurt's Omar Marmoush for £59m, Palmeiras' Vitor Reis for £29.6m, and Lens' Abdukodir Khusanov for £33.6m before completing their business with £50m Gonzalez just before Monday's deadline.

They also signed Argentina Under-17 midfielder Claudio Echeverri for £12.5m but immediately loaned him back to River Plate.

Despite the outlay of around £180m, their net spend for the 2024-25 season so far stands at £67m, helped by the departure of Julian Alvarez to Atletico Madrid last summer for an initial £64.4m, while defender Joao Cancelo moved to Saudi Pro League club Al-Hilal in a £21.2m deal.

It is rare for Manchester City to spend big in the winter window but this has been the most they have laid out since the £225m in the 2017 summer window.

Man Utd for example could be, "No striker? What?!"

While we wait for your much wittier responses, shall we review Manchester City's big spending?

And once again, Ben, this was always a long term plan. Your post was lovely.

Thanks for all your messages.

Now, and Ben I absolutely promise this is not a targeted post just to you, but as we're getting in so many messages we're thinking about adding a word count.

Can you sum up your team's window in exactly three words?

Nick Mashiter
BBC Sport football news reporter

The Foxes - third bottom of the Premier League - still needed to work within of profit and sustainability restrictions.

The club also needed to be mindful of bringing in players who can make a difference, having signed Odsonne Edouard on loan from Crystal Palace on deadline day in the summer, only for the striker to have made four substitute appearances in the top flight so far this season.

Right-back Woyo Coulibaly is Ruud Van Nistelrooy's only signing this month, having joined from Parma for around £3m.

Interesting looking back at the thumbs up and thumbs down.

Plenty of support for Aston Villa's business. Disappointment around Manchester United and Leicester.

Keep getting involved.

Ins

• Woyo Coulibaly (£2.92m - defender, Parma)

Outs

• Tom Cannon (£10.68m - forward, Sheffield United)
• Will Alves (loan - midfielder, Cardiff City)

Julien Laurens
European football expert on The Football News Show

European football expert Julien Laurens speaking to The Football News Show about Aston Villa signing Marco Asensio on loan until the end of the season:

He's obviously won a lot, when he was at Real Madrid as a squad player. Really not a proper starter or a superstar there.

He can play in a number of positions. I guess maybe the right side, as a right-winger, is his best position, coming in on his left foot.

But he can play as a false number nine, where he's played quite a lot this season for PSG. He can play on the left hand side too, as a second-striker, he can play deeper.

So I think Unai Emery will have the luxury to play him where he needs him in different positions.

Plus the experience. Plus the winning mentality that he had at Real Madrid where he spent most of his career.

I think it's a great coup, it's depth, it's Champions League pedigree that Villa will use between now and the end of the season.

Ins

• Donyell Malen (£20.5m - forward, Borussia Dortmund)
• Andres Garcia (£5.98m - defender, Levante)
• Marcus Rashford (loan - forward, Manchester United)
• Marco Asensio (loan - midfielder, Paris St-Germain)
• Axel Disasi (loan - defender, Chelsea)

Outs

• Jaden Philogene (£20.5m - forward, Ipswich Town)
• Diego Carlos (£8.97m - defender, Fenerbahce)
• Jhon Duran (£64.96m - forward, Al Nassr)
• Emiliano Buendia (loan - midfielder, Borussia Leverkusen)
• Louie Barry (loan - forward, Hull City)
• Samuel Iling-Junior (loan - forward, Middlesbrough)
• Kosta Nedeljkovic (loan - defender, RB Leipzig)

Simon Stone
BBC Sport's chief football news reporter

In the end, though head coach Ruben Amorim said the club would try to bring in new players on deadline day, the other element of his assessment of Manchester United's transfer business held sway – do not repeat the mistakes of the past.

United did explore the loan market and there were discussions around Tel. But, according to United sources, the structure of the deal being offered did not make sense. They effectively felt they were taking a chance on a young player knowing if he did well, Bayern Munich would benefit from his increased value.

But, according to Old Trafford officials, there is a wider point, namely avoiding what they felt were "reckless and expensive risks" which is essentially how United have ended up in the mess Sir Jim Ratcliffe is trying to sort out.

The reality is, after years of heavy losses, United were not in a position to buy anyone, without selling someone for a profit.

Well...

Ins

• Ayden Heaven (£1.28m - defender, Arsenal)
• Patrick Dorgu (£25.64m - defender, Leece)

Outs

• Antony (loan - forward, Real Betis)
• Marcus Rashford (loan - forward, Aston Villa)

Hello to everyone just joining us. A bit later on we'll react to Chelsea's win over West Ham, and build up a little bit to this week's EFL Cup semi-finals.

But, for now, we want your best transfer window takes.

Phil McNulty
BBC Sport chief football writer

Image source, Getty Images

There will be widespread consternation among Manchester United fans that they leave the transfer window with their already slim attacking options even thinner than they were when it opened.

Head coach Ruben Amorim effectively wiped Marcus Rashford from his mind, leaving the exiled 27-year-old to join Aston Villa on loan, with United sources stating a minimum of 75% of his wages will be covered at Villa Park.

Amorim's decision to play teenage England midfielder Kobbie Mainoo as a false nine in the 2-0 home defeat by Crystal Palace, ahead of expensive recognised striker Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee, delivered a damning verdict of how little he feels he has at his disposal with that pair.

This lack of a striker will be the biggest talking point of a United transfer window that brutally outlined their reduced circumstances, mocking their status as the world's third richest football club.

The bottom line was that, given United's current financial status and the requirement to stay on the right side of Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR), they could not make a statement signing without a statement sale.