Hunting for bargains at the January sales can prove costly

As has been the case since the January transfer regulations came into operation six years ago, the strong look to fine-tune their push for trophies and the weak pray for a saviour among the endless loans, exchange deals and bargains on offer.

Past history shows that spending big after choruses of Auld Lang Syne have only just died down is a big risk.

For every Nemanja Vidic, Dean Ashton and Michael Dawson, for whom the January window has been one of opportunity, there are failures like Louis Saha, who is no closer to establishing himself as a regular at Manchester United three years after leaving Fulham, and Scott Parker, whose career stalled after a £10million move from Charlton to Chelsea.

Twelve months ago, £81m was spent by Premier League clubs, mostly by those desperate to avoid relegation and missing out on the new TV deal.

No one was busier than Alan Curbishley, who spent £16.5m of West Ham's money on Matthew Upson, Lucas Neill, Nigel Quashie, Calum Davenport and Luis Boa Morte.

The policy of concentrating on players with Premier League experience helped them stay up.

But January does not always provide a quick fix against relegation. Watford and Sheffield United signed 13 players between them 12 months ago, albeit mostly from the bargain basement, and both went down.

"In a perfect world you wouldn't want to do any business in January, but football is rarely perfect," said Curbishley, who succeeded Alan Pardew with West Ham in a parlous state.

"The best players are not going to move and the selling clubs know how desperate you are to bolster your squad.

"Sometimes, though, it's needs must and we knew this time last year that we needed to be proactive when that window opened, otherwise things were likely to get even worse."

Curbishley, helped by then chairman Eggert Magnusson, trawled the market for players who would need little time to acclimatise to the Premier League.

"There were a few long days and nights," said Curbishley.

"I used to finish training and then drive over to Upton Park and get on the telephone for hours. Sometimes, Eggert and I could still be there at midnight.

"In the end, though, it was worth doing given the circumstances which prevailed at the time."

For many of those who work in the business of player transfers, the restrictions on mid-season dealing to one month has not made much difference.

Leon Angel, chief executive of Base Soccer, whose clients include Aaron Lennon, Tom Huddlestone and Andy Johnson, says that only 30 per cent of the year's transfer business takes place in January.

"I don't think the transfer window has worked particularly well because it seems too much is done in too short a time," he said.

"I don't think that's the best way to make your decisions."

At Arsenal, there will be more human traffic going out than in.

Manager Arsene Wenger spent heavily two years ago when he signed Emmanuel Adebayor, Theo Walcott and Abou Diaby but he is unlikely to splash out this time.

"When you feel that you have a good team you do not necessarily need to spend," he said.