Five January transfer deals left - Jesse Lingard, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Denis Zakaria, Diego Carlos and Luis Diaz

With the transfer window closing on January, Premier League clubs have little chance left to assuage their desperation by chucking money at whatever problems they feel they have.

Following Newcastle United’s takeover, they are of course the big spenders this winter as they attempt to sure up their Premier League status by finding the various promising, affordable players, and punting huge amounts of money in their direction.

But that’s not all - across the table there are players and clubs who are yet to have their futures nailed down. Here’s what could still happen before midnight on Monday.

Lingard’s move to Newcastle appears to be nobbled by Manchester United’s understandable desire to lobby for £12.5 million in schmuck’s insurance. Nobody, after all, enjoys somebody else succeeding, and that counts for double if it is a rival. Nevertheless, if United are faced with the choice between losing Lingard for nothing or negotiating a sensible compromise, expect United’s board to make the wrong decision, whatever it is.

As for Lingard, he will presumably want his own guarantees that he can move on swiftly if he finds himself starting in the Championship next season.

Borussia Monchengladbach have reportedly been willing to let their 25-year-old Swiss international go for as little as five million euros this winter so as to avoid losing him for nothing in the summer.

With his contract running down the midfielder must be tempted to wait out the next few months before sizing up which of the mammoth footballing projects/signing-on fee appeals the most. He has Manchester United, Liverpool and others circling. He should not be tempted to rush his choice.

Sevilla did not muck around when Chelsea were circling for Jules Kounde last season - pay up the release clause, or jog on. Chelsea did not and so the Frenchman remains in Spain, and something similar appears to be going on with Newcastle and Diego Carlos. They want the 28-year-old Brazilian, and Sevilla have made it clear that the way to do that is to meet his release clause.

Eddie Howe’s team have since offered up £9m for Brighton’s Dan Burn, suggesting they are not quite as rich as we think just yet, or perhaps more realistically they are choosing to keep their powder try to make sure they can land their premier targets this summer. Do not be surprised if they return with at least one more improved bid for both or either players, though.

Aubameyang has been frozen out by Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta, which is presumably an easier decision now that his form is far below its peak. When he was the club’s best player, it is easier to ignore any poor timekeeping, but if he cannot be an example to follow on the pitch, then a captain owes it to his club to be an example off it.

The problem, yet again, for Arsenal is that their fading star player is on a huge wedge and understandably does not want to imperil his bank account or his way of life. A move to Saudi Arabia might earn the Gabonese international a fair whack, but it would deny him the chance of a late career resurgence. Thankfully for the player, both Barcelona and Juventus look set to move for Aubameyang once the dust is settled over Alvaro Morata.

Earlier in the week, Spurs seemed as if they might be able to reward Antonio Conte for his patience and perseverance by landing not just one but two of his transfer targets. Porto appeared ready to do a deal for their 25-year-old Colombian international winger Luis Diaz, and Adama Traore was expected to perform as a wing-back for the Italian after coming from Wolves.

Instead: calamity! Conte will miss out on both of them, with Liverpool acting quickly to gazump Spurs for Diaz and Barcelona are willing to stump up more cash in the summer to secure Wolves’ winger. Obviously nothing is certain when it comes to the transfer market but we can be almost sure that Conte is currently experiencing pure, hot rage.