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One of the most surprising transfers from the window was the signing by former Tottenham and Portsmouth player, Kevin-Prince Boateng, 31, of Italian Sbaduolo.
Since 2016, the companion has played for AC Milan, Las Palmas and Eintracht Frankfurt and joined Sbaduolo only in the summer.
The former Ghana international has played midfield for most of his career, but became an attacker during his previous spell in the Liga – with Las Palmas in 2016-17, when he had scored 10 goals.
He has scored five goals this season for Sbaduolo, 12th in the Italian top flight.
His move to Barcelona is a six-month loan agreement, for an initial fee of £ 870,000 and the possibility to make it permanent for £ 7.1m in the summer.
Is the transaction as weird as it seems? What is the logic behind this? The experts of Football Daily Daily, specialists in European football on BBC Radio 5, focused on the signature "wacky".
"He proposes something different" – why turn to Boateng?
Guillem Balague, a Spanish football journalist, said: "The manager of Barcelona, Ernesto Valverde, wants a number nine with experience in Spain.The list is dwindling.He wants someone who can have a immediate impact and that will include the role.
"He admits that he will not start, he comes in 9th place and offers something different from Luis Suarez, especially when he goes through the Copa del Rey – and Suarez has knee problems." will be competitive in games – and at the training.All at once, you have someone who bites.
"When Valverde called Quique Setien, his former manager, in Las Palmas on Friday, he said," and this guy? Setien said: "In big matches, he will give you more than anyone else." That was the deciding factor. "
"Show how good the club has come" – problems in Barcelona?
Independent football editor Miguel Delaney said: "This is not surprising considering the Barca's recent moves, following Paulinho's move from the Chinese Super League last season.
"It's an amazing thing to say since Barcelona is perhaps the most glamorous football team in 15 years, but it has to resort to low-cost contracts because of the size of its payroll. , she must balance the signatures Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele with players to strengthen their workforce in transactions like this one. "
French journalist Julien Laurens said: "This shows how much this club is down, even a club like Barcelona has to pay attention to the money.I am sure that they would like to hire a player of 100 £ million for this role.
"They would have liked to have the midfielder of Paris St-Germain Adrien Rabiot [who is a free agent in the summer]. But they can not do it in January. But they can find someone like Boateng.
"I think it's amazing, they won the Champions League with MSN [Lionel Messi, Suarez and Neymar] in front and now they sign Boateng. "
"Not as crazy as they say it" – could it prove a clever signature?
"It's a gift to play alongside them," Boateng said of his new teammates.
Italian football journalist James Horncastle thinks it will be a good thing.
"In the first six weeks of the season in Serie A, the best player in the league was Kevin-Prince Boateng, which will surprise a lot of people, but he played exceptionally well.
"He has never separated in bad terms from his leaders, they respect him all and think that he has skills different from those of his collaborators.
"You can let off steam at your leisure, but even if it's a short-term rental, I do not think there's any extra risk. enjoy or eventually he can return to Sbaduolo and that is fine.
"It sounds far-fetched, it's a surprise – it's not as crazy as people say it – I do not think anyone expects it to start every match and mark 50 goals.It is a critical situation.
"The people of Sbaduolo said that he was a leader who spoke several languages and that could constitute a point of reference for other players.People see him as a bling-bling but he's a thoughtful footballer. . "
Balague said that he remembered Barcelona's signing of Henrik Larsson, the 32-year-old Celtic striker, in 2004. The Swede scored 19 goals in two seasons and won two Liga titles and the Champions League.
"Do you remember Larsson?" said Balague. "We are talking about a former AC Milan player [in Boateng], someone with experience. Why not?
"He will immediately have an impact and knows that he will not be a regular." Larsson understood that it was his role – just like Boateng – I think it's a signature on the left but smart. "
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