Deadline Day was a tribute to football's 'bad boys' headlined by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to Barcelona - The Warm-Up

The great Transfer Deadline Day of January 31, 2022 (note: each word must be capitalised) was a day for football’s supposed 'bad boys'. The immensely-talented players who play on the edge, often say no to - in their eyes - questionable authority and perhaps most crucially, have to be loved at new homes to be at their best.

In the case of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang he was willing to go full Peter Odemwingie to be unshackled from the wrath of Arsenal’s head honcho Mikel Arteta.

It looked like the day would end in complete embarrassment as grainy footage emerged of the 32-year-old strolling out Barcelona’s El Praet airport only for the update to “break” hours later that a move to Barcelona had broken down over his wages. Aubameyang's camp insisted he was on a “family holiday” because nothing screams sunnies and flip-flops quite like a brisk January morning. But this is football and some players are so filthy rich that they can agree to drastic pay cuts. An agreement was reached.

It’s a sad end to Aubameyang’s time at Arsenal. The Gabon international scored a healthy 92 goals in 163 appearances for the Gunners and he will always be remembered fondly amongst Arsenal fans for his two against Chelsea in the FA Cup final back in the heady days of 2020. It also appears as though Arsenal now need a striker having only scored once as a team in January.

It will be fascinating to see if he will be rejuvenated under Xavi at Barcelona, put his well-documented disciplinary problems to one side and help lift the Catalan giants into the top four before the season is up. In theory Aubameyang could spearhead a brand new front three at Barcelona alongside Ferran Torres and Adama Traore against Atletico Madrid on Sunday afternoon. Aubameyang has a grand opportunity to redeem himself at Barca and now we eagerly wait to see if he will takes it.

One player who does not seem to have a future at Barcelona is Ousmane Dembele. January began with a swell of rumours that the 24-year-old would be heading for the shores of Tyneside to be a part of Eddie Howe’s Saudi-backed revolution – it’s a heart-warming tale over there - but the saga developed on Transfer Deadline Day with fresh reports that he will join either Paris Saint-Germain or reunite with former Borussia Dortmund boss Thomas Tuchel at Chelsea in the summer when his Barcelona contract expires.

If the reports prove true then it is good news for Dembele as he can look forward to spending hot summer nights in a glamorous cultural hub, or at least fire up his Winchester FC Football Manager career from a brand new cosmopolitan location, but it still leaves a turbulent period between now and June.

With Dembele heading for the exit door it is unlikely he will get many minutes in the crunch half of Barcelona’s season, and his plans will not go unnoticed in the dressing room. Barcelona captain Gerard Pique went on his favourite streaming website Twitch on Monday night and as well as telling the club president’s inner circle to “f** off” he also made time to talk about the Dembele situation.

"I understand both parties,” he said.

"We are in a business that moves a lot of money. Everyone is free to defend their own interests. Let the best solution be found. We have asked him once and he doesn't get involved, he is waiting to see [what will happen]."

With Dembele’s future still up in the air there will be a keenness from all sides to draw a line under this messy ordeal in the next few days.

Dele Alli is back, everybody. The 25-year-old, branded “lazy” by many people based off a single throwaway comment by Jose Mourinho in an engaging Amazon documentary, has gone to Everton football club on a permanent transfer.

But it’s not just the two-time PFA Young Player of the Year’s move of up to £40m, and his chance to play as a first-choice number 10 in England’s top-flight, that has caught the eye on the blue side of Merseyside on Deadline Day. Before bringing in Alli, club majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri pumped more money into his project with the arrivals of Donny van de Beek on loan until the end of the season – Everton are paying his Manchester United wages in full – and Frank Lampard as their new manager.

Van de Beek and Alli both said yesterday that Lampard was influential in their decision to move to the club positioned 16th in the Premier League table and so it is now up to the former Derby and Chelsea boss to get his quality additions into an effective starting XI and get them firing up the table. Can he do it? Quite possibly. If not the criticism of the club’s ownership will only intensify.

Jermain Defoe lives, breathes, and sweats in the hearts of Sunderland fans. After all, he was the one that virtually single-handedly kept the Black Cats in the Premier League in the 2015/16 season, scored one of the greatest ever goals witnessed at the Stadium of Light in a 1-0 victory over Newcastle and formed a beautiful friendship with avid Sunderland fan Bradley Lowery who suffered from terminal childhood cancer neuroblastoma.

After leaving Rangers a fortnight ago, Defoe has re-joined Sunderland on a free transfer with the mission of helping the proud club escape the third tier of English football.

After the deal was done late on Monday night, the 39-year-old told the club’s official website: “I can’t stop smiling because this is a special move for me for many reasons. I’ve had so many messages saying, ‘remember when you said you would come back’, as I said that I would one day and when I left, I wasn’t ready to leave. I have a special bond with the fans here and the club is in a fantastic position to get promoted.

“I want to be a part of more special times here and I’m looking forward to it.”

Defoe’s comeback is a special moment in Sunderland's recent history and his presence alone may well be able to lift some of the gloom that has plagued the club for so long.

A shock result has come out of the Coupe de France on Monday night as Paris Saint-Germain, who had Lionel Messi in their starting XI from the first minute, crashed out on penalties to Nice in the last 16. It will be the first time since 2014 that a Coupe de France final will not feature PSG.

The game finished goalless and Nice emerged the winners on penalties 6-5. Dante scored an ice-cold Panenka for Nice while former PSG goalkeeper Marcin Bulka had a night to remember as he kept out Xavi Simons’ spot-kick to seal the win.

Mauricio Pochettino decided not to start Kylian Mbappe for the game so that will probably not go down too well.

Former Manchester United striker Giuseppe Rossi, who currently plays his club football at Serie B side SPAL, turns 35 today!

Rossi joined United as a 17-year-old in 2004 and was remembered fondly by United fans despite only playing 14 games for the club. He moved to Villarreal where he went on to play some of the best football of his injury-ravaged career.

There are World Cup qualifiers being played in Asia and South America today with Argentina v Colombia arguably the highlight if you are willing to stay up for a 11:30pm GMT kick-off. It’s also the Edinburgh Derby as Hibernian takes on Hearts. Expect meaty crunching tackles in that one.

Tomorrow’s Warm-Up will be delivered to you by the football industry’s leading, undisputed bad boy… Michael Hincks.