Arsenal releases three, Blackburn recruits trio
Mood:  chillin'
The monthlong window closed Tuesday after Premier League clubs spent a record 70 million pounds (US$124.6 million; ?102.2 million) on new players. The previous record of 50 million pounds (US$89 million; ?73 million) was spent last season and the season before.

On the final day, Arsenal winger David Bentley turned his loan move to Blackburn into a permanent transfer, while the Gunners also loaned Jeremie Aliadiere to League Championship Wolves.

But Quincy Owusu-Abeyie's move to Spartak Moscow was Arsenal's surprise transfer. The 19-year-old Dutch forward had scored twice in 23 appearances in the Premier League, Champions League and League Cup. He had also signed a three-year deal with Arsene Wenger's team in July.

"I'm a young player and I need serious playing time at a high level," Owusu-Abeyie said. "Spartak have a chance to play in the Champions League next season. I understood that I needed to change my situation and I've joined a good team.

"Everything has been decided for about a week. Many European clubs were interested in me but Arsenal had refused all the offers."

Arsenal signed Theo Walcott from Southampton and Emmanuel Adebayor from Monaco earlier in the month.

Rovers also tookLiverpool forward Florent Sinama-Pongolle on loan and signed teenage defender Martin Olsson from Swedish club Holgaborgs BK.

"Although it goes close to the wire at times it's important you get the right people in," said Rovers manager Mark Hughes, who has lately been without injured forwards Craig Bellamy and Paul Dickov.

"Obviously our situation changed in the last couple of weeks. I had four strikers, but then I was left with only one. We had to do something. But it wasn't a case of bringing someone in to make up the numbers. Florent is somebody who will add to the squad and have an impact for us.

"David has done well during his loan spell and is a young player with clear ability and a big future in the game."

Danny Murphy's move from CharltonCharlton to Tottenham just minutes before the midnight deadline was one of the biggest transfers on a busy day of trading. The midfielder is trying to win back his place on the England squad for the World Cup having missed out in 2002 because of a foot injury.

"I am looking forward to playing my part in the team Martin Jol is building," said Murphy, who has played eight times for England.

Tottenham also recruited Egypt midfielder Hossam Ghaly from Feyenoord, but sold Michael Brown to Fulham and loaned striker Mounir El-Hamdaoui to Derby County.

The biggest transfer fee was the 3.5 million pounds (US$6.23 million; ?5.1 million) West Bromwich Albion received from League Championship Norwich for Wales striker Robbie Earnshaw. The Baggies spent 1.4 million (US$2.5 million; ?2 million) on Scotland midfielder Nigel Quashie from Southampton.

Dudley Campbell, who scored two goals for Brentford in Saturday's FA Cup upset victory over Sunderland, moved to Birmingham City.

"English clubs have again demonstrated their ability to invest in players," said Dan Jones, Partner in the Sports Business Group at business advisory firm Deloitte. "Despite the lack of recent transfer activity by Chelsea, player spending of 70 million pounds is a record for a January transfer window.

"Overall, the Premiership clubs have spent around 300 million pounds (US$534 million; ?438 million) in 2005/06, moderately up on spending of around 270 million pounds (US$481 million; ?394.2 million) in each of 2003/04 and 2004/05."

Arsenal willing to gamble on Walcott
Mood:  cool
Arsene Wenger has said that by potentially paying over $21 million for 16-year-old Theo Walcott, he is taking a big gamble.


Certainly for a club that has in the past been able to poach such young talent as Cesc Fabregas and Arturo Lupoli from foreign teams for the equivalent of pocket change, it is a substantially greater investment than they have been used to making.

But is it really such a high-stakes bet? Perhaps Wenger remembered the last time he forked over a multi-million pound transfer fee for a young talent? That was back in 1999 when he signed a 15-year-old Jermaine Pennant from Notts County. It was a move that could not be termed a success as Pennant encountered numerous on and off-field problems before eventually being unloaded to Birmingham City last season.

The Pennant outcome supports the conventional wisdom that a great teenager does not guarantee a great player. And of course conventional wisdom becomes such, because over time, it has proven to be right more often than it has been wrong. But there are exceptions.

Almost all of the great players of the last fifty years have shown prestigious talent as youngsters. The likes of Cruyff, Pele, Maradona, Ronaldo, Best, Greaves, Law and Maldini all made their first senior appearances before they turned 18. In the last few years representatives of the next generation — Wayne Rooney and Lionel Messi — have dribbled their way down the same path.

Of course on first blush, mentioning a youngster who only took up the game six years ago, in the same breath as such exalted company, would seem preposterous. But those who have seen and have worked with Walcott on a regular basis are convinced that he is not only the real thing but also the next big thing.

George Burley, who recently took over at Southampton and who has never hesitated to give a young player a first-team chance, has no doubts that Walcott is a very special talent. Former boss Harry Rednapp made Walcott the youngest first team Saint ever and quickly opted to play him in a more difficult central role rather a favored wide position.

Both those managers and others rave about Walcott's speed, his balance, and ability to run at defenders. He has been timed at a little over 11.5 for 100 meters which puts him in contention with other Highbury whippets such as Gael Clichy, Kolo Toure and Thierry Henry for the title of Highbury sprint champion. Speed like that cannot be taught.

You also have to consider that the way the deal has been structured significantly reduces the risk to Arsenal. With $8.8 million due up front and the rest only payable on appearances and progress, the full fee should only kick in if Walcott becomes the kind of player that so many believe he can be.

Southampton will receive $1.75 million for every ten Premiership appearances Walcott makes up to fifty, with another $3.5 million coming due based on an assortment of other achievement-based criteria.

In fact, the full fee would have Arsenal paying less than half of what Manchester United paid to take a then almost 19-year-old Wayne Rooney to Old Trafford from Everton in 2004. Those who have seen both players believe that Walcott — although differing in style — compares favorably to a 16 going on 17-year-old Rooney.

It might also have been a bigger gamble if Arsenal had waited until he had gained more experience at Southampton or had even allowed him to go to another club. As Liam Brady, the Arsenal youth coach, pointed out a few months ago, the older a player is when he arrives at a club, the more set in his ways he has become. Bad habits have become ingrained and much more difficult to correct.

The fact that the youngster chose Arsenal over a better financial Chelsea offer is also important. Walcott's decision shows that Chelsea still has some way to go before they become the destination of choice for youngsters looking to complete their football education.

Also while the rest of the Premiership has become resigned to losing the best players of this generation to Chelsea, Arsenal has sent a clear signal that they are not willing to sit idly by and lose the next generation.

The move and the money has brought attention and focus on the rules and regulations governing the movement of young players between clubs in England. Southampton faced a stark choice. Either conduct an auction for the player before his seventeenth birthday — even now Arsenal can't register Walcott to a pro contract for another two months — or watch him walk away with Southampton receiving a minimal amount of compensation.

It is easy to sympathize with Saints supporters and accept that chairman Rupert Lowe's concerns over the contracting of young players are legitimate. While the youth academy at Southampton, and in particular the stellar work of former coach Steve Wigley, has been praised for developing Walcott's talent, the bottom line is that another group of fans will be the long-term beneficiaries.

But a case can be made that given the circumstances it was a good move for the south coast club. Southampton is not showing any sign of returning to the Premiership anytime soon and given that Premiership clubs have been pressurizing Southampton to sell since the kid was 14, the frenzy surrounding the player was only going to increase. A repeat of the Rooney and Everton dilemma was a likely outcome when we saw a phenomenal talent rapidly outgrow and then quickly dominate an entire club