Transfer deadline day winners and losers: Liverpool make big moves; Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen stay put

The Premier League champs went after two center-backs as the winter transfer window closed

European soccer's transfer window is coming to a close Monday, and plenty of clubs rushed to do late business that could change their fortunes between now and the end of the season. The biggest news in the Premier League came from Liverpool, as the Reds signed two defenders. Elsewhere, AS Roma welcomed a rising American talent and Jean-Clair Todibo found a new home. Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen, however, did not get their desired moves and Olympique de Marseille's Duje Caleta-Car missed out on Anfield.

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Let's make sense of the madness with the winners and losers from across the continent this deadline day.

Winner: Liverpool

In their hour of need in defense, Liverpool landed two players when even the arrival of one had previously seemed unlikely at Anfield. Jurgen Klopp's men landed long-term target Ozan Kabak from Schalke 04 on an initial loan, but they also completed a surprise move for Preston North End's Ben Davies. The Premier League champions are now better equipped to deal with Virgil van Dijk's continued absence through injury and the other absences within the squad -- including a season-ending ankle injury for Joel Matip that was disclosed Monday shortly before the window closed. The Reds' decision to move for Kabak now means that they do not risk losing him in the summer after AC Milan had shown interest in the Turkey international.

Loser: Duje Caleta-Car

Unfortunately for Olympique de Marseille's Duje Caleta-Car, somebody had to miss out with Liverpool signing Kabak and Davies. The Croatia international had been the first port of call and it was well-timed as OM's training facility was stormed by irate supporters over the weekend, forcing the postponement of their Ligue 1 clash with Stade Rennais. It looked as if the 24-year-old was going to be granted a swift exit but the sale of Morgan Sanson to Aston Villa earlier this month with the loan of Nemanja Radonjic to Hertha BSC meant that the French outfit were not forced to sell. Their desire to keep Caleta-Car, though, impacted their pursuit of his compatriot Lovro Majer from Dinamo Zagreb as Olivier Ntcham arrived from Celtic instead.

Winners: Bryan Reynolds and Moises Caicedo

Two of this transfer window's longest-running transfer stories came to a happy ending Monday with Bryan Reynolds joining Roma from FC Dallas and Moises Caicedo completing his switch to Brighton and Hove Albion. Both players were the subject of much interest this month and Reynolds was one of a number of USMNT talents on the move, but Roma eventually beat off Juventus for the 19-year-old's signature on loan with an obligation to buy. Caicedo, 19 and already a full Ecuador international, has penned a contract until 2025 with the Seagulls after his move from Independiente del Valle.

Losers: Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen

Touted for moves at the start of the transfer window, both Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen find themselves staying put this winter. The former has barely played for Tottenham Hotspur all season while the latter is trying to make a go of his time with Inter Milan despite the Italians initially admitting that he had no future at Giuseppe Meazza. As detailed by CBS Sports insider and transfer guru Fabrizio Romano, Alli wanted a loan move to Paris Saint-Germain and the French giants wanted him too but his signing depended on Spurs identifying a replacement, and an Eriksen return was ultimately too complicated.

Winner: OGC Nice

After signing William Saliba on loan from Arsenal, the struggling French outfit snared another highly rated young French defensive talent from Barcelona in Jean-Clair Todibo. With the two installed at the heart of the defense with talisman Dante out injured, Nice can feel optimistic about turning their disappointing form around -- starting away at coastal rivals AS Monaco this midweek. With an option to buy Todibo, 21, and Saliba's future at Allianz Riviera already being discussed, these two could yet be made permanent signings by owners INEOS if the remainder of the campaign goes well.

Loser: Schalke 04

Things are bad enough in the German Bundesliga without losing Kabak and replacing him with Shkodran Mustafi. Schalke's winter business has been largely solid with American goal machine Matthew Hoppe tied to his first professional contract, as well as former players Sead Kolasinac and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar welcomed back to Veltins-Arena. However, Mustafi is a risky addition to a defense that hemorrhages goals, and it will take more than the nostalgia value of Huntelaar to solve the Royal Blues' goal-scoring worries.

Honorable mentions

Jese Rodriguez has resurfaced after he and PSG mutually agreed to end his contract toward the end of 2020. The former Real Madrid man, once considered one of the brightest talents in the game, has been in freefall in recent years and was regularly loaned out by the French champions after his $30 million move to Parc des Princes. Las Palmas, his hometown club and his home for the first part of 2017 on loan, have snapped up the 27-year-old and he will now try to resurrect his career at Estadio Gran Canaria in Spain's second tier.

Southampton's deadline day business was decent with Japan international Takumi Minamino coming in from Liverpool and Shane Long replacing Bournemouth's Josh King at Dean Court. In Italy, Parma Calcio 1913 enjoyed themselves with the arrivals of Joshua Zirkzee from Bayern Munich and Mattia Bani from Genoa CFC to go with their recent capture of Romanian Dennis Man from FCSB. 

You can review all the action from deadline day with our live blog below.

[Feb 1, 2021 at 6:07 pm ET · James Benge]

And it's closed! Doesn't that feel like a weight off your shoulders?

[Feb 1, 2021 at 6:00 pm ET · James Benge]

We've got confirmation of Joe Willock's loan move to Newcastle and Ainsley Maitland-Niles' to West Bromwich Albion from Arsenal, about which manager Mikel Arteta said: "Ainsley is a very talented player and we are proud of his hard work and development with us. This decision to go on loan to West Bromwich Albion for the rest of this season is to support Ainsley and his growth further. He will be working at a very good club in the Premier League and we all wish him the best of luck during his time at the Hawthorns."

Meanwhile the Arsenal boss has also been discussing the future of Alexandre Lacazette, who has hit a fine vein of form in recent weeks as he approaches the final year of his contract. As I understand it there have been no serious talks since the summer of 2019 over the Frenchman's future and there won't be any until the summer according to Arteta.

"We will talk certainly about that situation," said Arteta. "At the moment what I want is that he keeps performing at the way he is until the end of the season. Then it will be the right time to talk about it."

[Feb 1, 2021 at 5:28 pm ET · James Benge]

That news from Liverpool that Joel Matip will miss the remainder of the season offers some context as to why they went for not one but two centre-backs. Every one of the three senior players who were on their books when the summer transfer window closed will have missed a sizeable chunk more of the season than they featured in.

Matip's fitness has required careful management since he joined Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp acknowledged that his side's need for defensive support prompted the Cameroon international to play through niggling injuries and fitness issues. "Unfortunately, we found out now after everybody looked at it that Joel will be out for the rest of the season," he said.

"But he will be ready for the start of the next pre-season and finally everything will be sorted."

[Feb 1, 2021 at 5:07 pm ET · James Benge]

Two done deals linked to each other. Schalke's Ozan Kabak joins on loan until the end of the season with Liverpool holding an option to purchase a player who had been a long-term target.

Schalke have got their replacement in Shkodran Mustafi, who Arsenal released on a free. The Gunners had tried to extract a fee for a player who was out of contract at the end of the season but that was never likely to happen and instead they have terminated his deal.

Mustafi's new deal at Schalke also runs to the end of the season with the Royal Blues battling against Bundesliga relegation.

[Feb 1, 2021 at 4:53 pm ET · James Benge]

Now that Dele Alli is not getting the move he and PSG want let's check in on the Tottenham star and his social media. What's he liking? What's got him buzzing? Oh...