Alex Howell
BBC football news reporter

The conversation between Arsenal and Aston Villa about Ollie Watkins was before Villa had completed a deal to let Jhon Duran leave.

Watkins was then their only senior forward which made it hard for a deal to be done. They were not close on the valuations from the conversations I've had.

But Mikel Arteta had made it clear that they have been looking for a striker, but what made it difficult is that they wanted a striker to come in to make an impact and someone who could impact the squad in a positive way in the long-term as well.

Arsenal scored five goals on Sunday with five different scorers. Kai Havertz has 15 goals this season. And now Arsenal are the second highest scorers in the Premier League as well.

So there is that balance, even though supporters would've liked a new striker.

On the live yesterday somebody texted in to say Arsenal should bid for Karim Benzema.

Thanks for the message Rich! Thing is, apart from Mathys Tel who is more of a second striker anyway, were there that many forwards available this window?

Image source, Getty Images

Sticking with transfer news, Tottenham Hotspur signed France Under-21s forward Mathys Tel from Bayern Munich on loan in what was probably the most 'headline' deal yesterday.

The 19-year-old reportedly rejected Spurs earlier this month but will now move to north London, with Tottenham having an option to buy him in the summer for £45m.

Tel has made 83 appearances for Bayern since joining from French club Rennes in 2022, scoring 16 goals and providing seven assists.

Southampton went down with Manchester United that season (1973-74).

Despite a strong start, Liverpool fell away in the title race and finished second...

Decent shout that Stuart. Plus, keeping hold of Matheus Cunha and Rayan Ait-Nouri.

Red Star Belgrade defender Nasser Djiga and Reims midfielder Marshall Munetsi were deadline day deals, too.

Burkina Faso international Djiga, 22, has made 27 appearances for Red Star Belgrade this season, including all eight games in the Champions League group stage.

Zimbabwe international Munetsi, 28, has made 19 league appearances for Reims this term.

Image source, Getty Images

Ins

• Emmanuel Agbadou (£17m - defender, Reims)
• Nasser Djiga (undisclosed - defender, Red Star Belgrade)
• Marshall Munetsi (undisclosed - midfielder, Reims)

Outs

• Luke Cundle (£1.11m - midfielder, Millwall)

Here's the official list, in full:

• 01:00 - Axel Disasi [Chelsea - Aston Villa] Loan
• 00:25 - Marshall Munetsi [Reims - Wolves] Undisclosed
• 00:15 - Carlos Alcaraz [Flamengo - Everton] Loan
• 00:00 - Nasser Djiga [Red Star Belgrade - Wolves] Undisclosed
• 23:15 - Ben Chilwell [Chelsea - Crystal Palace] Loan
• 23:10 - Mathys Tel [Bayern Munich - Tottenham] Loan
• 23:00 - Nico Gonzalez [Porto - Manchester City] £50m
• 22:50 - Eli Junior Kroupi [FC Lorient - Bournemouth] Undisclosed
• 21:32 - Somto Boniface [Chelsea - Ipswich] Undisclosed
• 21:32 - Alex Palmer [West Brom - Ipswich] Undisclosed
• 20:00 - Tyler Bindon [Reading - Nottingham Forest] Undisclosed
• 19:00 - Marco Asensio [Paris St-Germain - Aston Villa] Loan
• 14:02 - Evan Ferguson [Brighton - West Ham] Loan
• 10:31 - Stefanos Tzimas [Nuremburg - Brighton] £20.8m

Thanks for getting in touch Alisdair.

Now, not to immediately start an argument with the first person who texts in, but....

Can we say Liverpool had a good window while Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk's contract situations are unresolved?

Manchester City

Image source, Getty Images

Manchester City signed Porto midfielder Nico Gonzalez for £50m to take their January spending to £180m.

It is the second biggest outlay worldwide in January window history behind Chelsea's £274m in 2023, according to Transfermarkt, external.

Gonzalez is City's fifth signing of the winter transfer window and has penned a four-and-a-half-year contract.

The 23-year-old Spaniard began his senior career with Barcelona in 2019 and joined Porto in July 2023.

Gonzalez has scored nine goals and laid on nine assists in 68 appearances for Porto and won the Portuguese Cup last season.

Incidentally, Aston Villa are one of the options in the poll we've just put up at the top of this page.

"Which Premier League club had the best transfer window?"

Actually, you can help us out if you think we've missed a team from our list of options. We'll probably be able to add them in.

Aston Villa

Image source, Getty Images

Aston Villa had a busy end to the January window and last night they signed Paris St-Germain midfielder Marco Asensio and Chelsea defender Axel Disasi on loan until the end of the season.

The duo follow the arrivals of Marcus Rashford, Donyell Malen and Andres Garcia at Villa Park this month.

Villa will reportedly cover the wages of three-time Champions League winner Asensio but do not have an option to make the move permanent.

They will pay a £5m fee to loan Disasi but again there is no purchase option.

It's very good to be back on these morning lives by the way.

Regulars, sadly I have no strange taxi journey stories to share with you this morning. In fact, it's been a very calm start to the day.

That said, I'll probably end up spilling my cuppa all over my keyboard or something similar.

Hello!

What a Tuesday, we have SO MUCH to talk about.

I reckon we start off by rounding up last night's late completed transfers. But we'll also have time to chat Chelsea vs West Ham, and we've even got the EFL Cup semi-finals to build up to.

It's all go in the BBC Sport office.