The window of mis-opportunity

In the past few seasons, the Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor and Ashley Young of Aston Villa have been signed in the January transfer window. Established Premier League players now, but each one initially raised eyebrows when they were purchased. People also remember Newcastle's £8 million (Dh41m) outlay on the jittery French defender Jean-Alain Boumsong or the £2m spent by Sunderland on Rade Prica, a Swedish striker who scored on his debut last year, but hasn't been seen since.

It is risky business at this time and with less than a week to go before the current window shuts, managers will be hoping to strike gold in the market, not fool's gold. Few like this transfer system. The Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger, says it is "disturbing", while Sam Allardyce, his Blackburn counterpart, is more damning, brandishing it "destructive". I wouldn't go that far, but teams are hamstrung. It can lead to inflated prices and is reminiscent of last-minute Christmas shopping when people rush around panic-buying, desperate to make sure they have something, anything really. Defensive players and strikers are in fashion though.

As the clock counts down to next Monday's deadline, the speculation will be frenzied, the interest feverish, but the underlying question is whether splashing out at this stage helps clubs . Gambling has been part of the criteria for managers ever since the window was made compulsory by Fifa for the 2002-03 season. Rafa Benitez is one manager who may roll the dice as his Liverpool side totter in their pursuit for honours.

The FA Cup draw with Everton saw Robbie Keane left out yet again. His Anfield dream has become a nightmare and Benitez should be bold enough to offload him now and use the resources to bring in a left-back and someone to supplement Fernando Torres up front. Chelsea may finally decide to cash in on the troubled Didier Drogba although they would need a replacement. A wise move may be to test Newcastle's resolve with a cut-price bid for Michael Owen.

Arsenal have their hearts set on Zenit St Petersburg's playmaker Andrei Arshavin, the man who inspired Russia at Euro 2008. But they seem to have enough creativity already and should be looking at players who would provide some steel to their style, like Barcelona's Yaya Toure who has constantly been linked with a move to the Emirates. Aston Villa's purchase of Emile Heskey is astute as they look to keep up their attack on the Big Four's trophy stranglehold. At the other end of the scale, Stoke and West Brom are making a bold effort to survive the drop, turning to the cream of talent from the Championship to help them.

Allardyce was the man who brought Jay-Jay Okocha, Youri Djorkaeff and Fernando Hierro to Bolton so don't be surprised if another short-term hero heads to Blackburn. Middlesbrough, Newcastle and Sunderland badly need quality or the North East could lose at least one of its clubs from the top flight. Portsmouth are in the same boat, but I hope they know which Pele they are getting. Harry Redknapp has highlighted why the window is more about a quick fix, using a small plaster to cover up a gaping hole. Pascal Chimbonda is decent, but, if Tottenham stay up, the right-back may lack the quality to help the club on the Champions League push they want next season?

This is a man booed by his own fans when he was taken off in the Carling Cup final last year. With livelihoods and the futures of clubs at stake, managers cannot be so frivolous, nor can they be fearful. Transfers seemed so much easier before. [e-mail]