As the January transfer window deadline approaches, several deals are completed or underway. 

Premier League champions Liverpool signed defender Ben Davies from Preston North End. Davies will be a backup option for Liverpool’s defense after several of the club’s first team defenders are all sidelined with injuries. 

In addition to Davies, Liverpool are reportedly in talks to sign another defender on loan with option to buy, Ozan Kabak, from Bundesliga club Schalke. The Turkish defender has been reportedly in the club’s consideration for a long time. The Reds were also linked with Marseille defender Duje Caleta Car, but the move reportedly stalled. 

Tottenham midfielder Dele Alli is rumored to be in talks with Ligue 1 club PSG to seal a move before the deadline. PSG head coach and Tottenham former head coach Mauricio Pochettino was reportedly pushing for the move to happen. However, there are reports that claim that the move is off and that Alli will stay at Tottenham for the rest of the season.

Arsenal recently signed Real Madrid midfielder Martin Odegaard on loan after the young midfielder did not get enough playing time at Real Madrid. Also, while not identifying any other specific transfer targets, Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta claimed that he is optimistic of new arrivals before the deadline.  

The Gunners are linked with Southamption’s Ryan Bertrand, Marseille’s Jordan Amavi and Crystal Palace’s Patrick Van Aanholt. 

La Liga club Sevilla signed midfielder Alejandro Papu Gomez from Serie A club Atalanta. Gomez left the club after falling out with head coach Gian Piero Gasperini. Meanwhile, Atalanta signed midfielder Viktor Kovalenko from Shakhtar Donetsk. 

Juventus defender Daniele Rugani completed a loan move to Serie A club Cagliari. Rugani recently played in Ligue 1 club Rennes on loan from Juventus. Rugani struggled to get playing time at the French club. 

Bayern Munich’s promising star Joshua Zirkzee completed a loan move to Serie A club Parma. 

As the January transfer window is live, more and more signings are happening. Also, the window closes on the 30th and so the speculation on certain players’ futures continues. 

Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos has still not renewed his contract with the club. His current contract expires this year and so the player is expected to renew as the player has previously expressed his desire to retire at Real Madrid. However, reports claim that Ramos and the club did not reach an agreement yet and so the player can possibly leave for another club. Among the clubs interested in signing the Spanish center-back are PSG and Tottenham. 

Another Real Madrid player, Lucas Vazquez, recently rejected a renewal offer from Real Madrid. Vazquez’s contract also expires this year.

FC Barcelona outcast Carles Alena signed for La Liga side Getafe on loan. Alena did not get much playing time and so his exit from the club was expected.

FC Barcelona young player Riqui Puig signed a contract extension that will keep him at the club until 2023. Despite not getting enough playing time under head coach Ronald Koeman, the midfielder is full of potential and is considered a future star for the club. 

Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta is looking to offload several players. Recently, Arsenal’s Sead Kolasinac joined Bundesliga club Schalke on loan. Arsenal defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos is also expected to leave the club this month. 

FC Barcelona legend Lionel Messi could possibly leave the Catalan club at the end of the season. Reports claim that PSG and Manchester City are in the front line to sign the Barca legend. In fact, PSG’s new head Mauricio Pochettino coach claimed that “any big player in the world is always welcome at Paris Saint-Germain,” raising further speculation on the Argentine’s future. Messi’s transfer away from FC Barcelona would definitely be a big loss to the club. 

The January transfer window recently opened and several exciting transfers are completed or in the process of completion.

Premier League club Manchester United is set to sign Ivorian wonderkid Amad Diallo from the Serie A club Atalanta B.C. The player uploaded a photo on his Instagram showing himself boarding a private jet. Concerning the transfer, Manchester United head coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer told reporters, “Amad had the paperwork, I can’t see any obstacles and hopefully within not too long he’ll be with us. I think he has shown his qualities a few times but has to learn to play in England, which is a different way of playing football. We will give him time to develop and express himself.”

Bundesliga club RB Leipzig recently signed Dominik Szoboszlai from the Austrian club Red Bull Salzburg for €25 million. The young talent was reportedly chased by Arsenal but ended up signing for Leipzig. 

Bayern Munich star David Alaba is reportedly in talks for a move to Real Madrid. There are several clubs including FC Barcelona and Chelsea were interested in signing the Austrian defender, but he is clearly interested in a move to the La Liga giants. 

Inter Milan outcast Christian Eriksen is expected to leave the club after a disappointing season. The Danish midfielder is not playing regularly under head coach Antonio Conte. Inter Milan CEO Giuseppe Marotta told Sky Sports that the player is on the transfer list and that “there is no punishment, it’s just a situation that has developed and it’s only fair to give him the chance to go where he can play more regularly.” Arsenal is one of the clubs interested in signing the player. 

Arsenal is reportedly interested in signing midfielder Houssem Aouar from Ligue 1 club Olympique Lyonnais. Head coach Mikel Arteta is looking for new players to help strengthen the squad. 

Every year fans wait anxiously for trade deadlines to find out if their team is getting that much better or worse. The 2016 MLB non-waiver deadline is Aug. 1, not that I needed to state it, but this Bugs Bunny tweet from Dodgers Nation says it all.

Trade deadline is more exciting than playoffs because there are fewer options, it’s either win or lose. There is still anticipation, but there’s just less sense of urgency.

Information about possible trades hits sports fans hard as trade deadline approaches. ESPN has analyzed potential last-minute MLB trades and will no doubt continue to update them until the last minute. Cincinnati Reds outfielder Jay Bruce will likely be leaving Ohio for California, only question is Northern or Southern? White Sox would hate to see star pitcher Chris Sale go, and might have them a bit confused but Sale would be replaced with some serious youngsters. Potentials for Sale are Julio Urias  and Jose De Leon from the Dodgers, Rangers outfielder Nomar Mazara and third baseman Joey Gallo, or Red Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi. The list goes on.

The water cooler talk around playoffs is usually based upon predictions on how many games it will take a team to win the series. Water cooler talk surrounding trades is usually more involved because possibilities are endless. Even if your team is losing the best pitcher in the league, it’s disappointing, but it’s like watching a train wreck, you can’t take your eyes off of it or stop talking about it.

NBA trade deadline is mid-February, NHL is late February and NFL is mid-October. Big NFL mid-season trades aren’t as common as the other sports, a little less juicy. Soccer is more complicated, if the season starts in August or September like many of the European leagues the transfer window occurs in January. If the season starts and ends in the same year, like MLS, transfer window is July or August.

There are rankings for everything in sports, so lets take a look at some of the craziest mid-season trades.

In 2010 Mariner’s pitcher Cliff Lee was traded to the Texas Rangers, who really couldn’t afford him, but they needed him to make playoffs for the first time in ten years. He took the Rangers all the way to the World Series where they lost to the Giants, but hey, they had a good run.

In 2003 Seattle Sonic’s guard Gary Payton was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks for Ray Allen who was 7 years younger. The Bucks had money to spare that the Sonics didn’t. The Bucks haven’t won a playoff series since Payton in 2003.

This past year’s NHL trade deadline saw Maple Leafs’ goaltender James Reimer and minor league forward Jeremy Morin traded to San Jose for Alex Stalock, right wing Ben Smith and 2018 conditional fourth-round pick. Reimer was the Leafs’ best goalie, he got more time in Toronto than he did in San Jose as the back-up for Martin Jones but the playoff experience he got was a first.

Buffalo Bills running back Marshawn Lynch proved to be one of the best in-season trades in the NFL of all-time for the Hawks in 2009. The unfortunate part was the Bills hadn’t had a running back like Lynch since Thurman Thomas in the 90s. It was more of a tragedy for the Bills to lose a player like him than vice versa. Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll was in his first year in Seattle and he gave up a first round pick in 2011 and fifth round pick in 2012 to get him.

In 2013 in the Premier league Chelsea striker Daniel Sturridge was traded to Liverpool, which has proven excellent for him as he is currently Liverpool’s leading striker with a record 36 goals in 52 games for the club. It’s now rumored he may be leaving Liverpool for Arsenal.

By the time playoffs roll around it’s a little easier to predict how a series is going to play out, no pun intended.