AC MILAN THE LAUGHING STOCK OF JANUARY WINDOW

Already Serie A's big under-achievers this season, seven-time European champions A.C. Milan find themselves in ninth place with a horribly inconsistent record of seven wins, seven draws and seven defeats. Not only that, they face Diego Simeone's on-form Atletico Madrid in the Champions League last 16 later this month with little realistic chance of defeating the rampant Rojiblancos who find themselves valiantly battling Barcelona and Real Madrid for the La Liga crown. To make matters worse for Milan, their activity in this past transfer window can be seen by some of their fans as a cruel joke.

Clarence Seedorf, with no experience of management or coaching whatsoever, has taken over the managerial reigns at San Siro and has not got off to a great start. They were eliminated from the Coppa Italia by struggling Udinese and there doesn't seem to be any miraculous change in their league performances with results largely hindering on volatile Mario Balotelli's form up-front. They have brought in two new players to add to their rag-tag bunch of mismatched former stars. Michael Essien joins from Chelsea whilst bizarrely, they have also snapped up Q.P.R.'s Adel Taraabt on a six-month loan despite spending the first half of the season at Fulham on another loan, being his sometimes promising but typically inconsistent self.

Milan already have plenty of creaking, elderly former superstars - the likes of Robinho, Philippe Mexes and Kaka spring to mind - and Essien adds to this almost ironically. Here is a player who was once considered one of the best midfielders in the world some years back before being struck with several long term injuries that have left him a mere shadow of his former self. Jose Mourinho attempted to revive him last season by taking him to Real Madrid on loan where he did not impress. This season, Essien has not had games at Chelsea under the Portuguese so it's clear that even his good friend does not rate him anymore.

Taarabt joins in a loan deal that has raised many eyebrows. Having only started a handful of times for Fulham, the creative Moroccan midfielder is not expected to set the world alight in Italy. His career is littered with spells at various clubs where he never quite broke through because despite his technical ability, huge questions remain over his attitude and tactical discipline.

Milan are truly clutching at straws here. Money appears to be tight so the possibility of getting in legitimate world class players is not there but by bringing in the likes of worn-out Essien and perplexing Taarabt in the short term, Milan are setting themselves up for mid-table mediocrity. Perhaps they have expected this this season but not challenging for anything might open the door for developing young players they already have pinned down to longer-term contracts. Essien and Taarabt will interfere with the likes of Bryan Cristante, Stephan El Shaarawy and Riccardo Saponara's development, three young players they could actually nurture rather than catering for a has-been and a problem child. Rossoneri fans would love to be proven wrong but realistically, things appear grim for them at the moment.

D. Ray Morton, 1st February 2014.

JANUARY DEADLINE DAY - DESPERATION OR DEAL?

We enter January's transfer deadline day where clubs around Europe will scramble to put together last minute deals, whether it be that star player to bring your team to the next level or just recruiting a useful player to bolster one's squad for the second half of the season. No doubt Jim White will be busy but let's now look at some of January's better (and worse) deals.

The Good

In January 2010, Liverpool made arguably their greatest signing of a generation in bringing in Luis Suarez for a fee of £23m. At the time however, not many expected Suarez to reach the dizzying heights he has done. Coming from Ajax where he had scored a decent amount of goals, many had suspected he could struggle in the Premier League against tougher defences. Flash forward to 2014 and Suarez is now one of the hottest properties in world football. Liverpool have had to restructure their wage budget and offer him a bumper contract in order to fight off interest from Real Madrid.

During the same window, Stoke City acquired an obscure Portsmouth goalkeeper by the name of Asmir Begovic for just over £3m. A relative unknown at the time, due to being loaned out over several seasons by his parent club, Begovic's impact at Stoke has been a revelation leading him to be linked to bigger clubs in recent times - Manchester United until David De Gea refound his form and more recently, Manchester City due to Joe Hart's shaky performances between the sticks this season.

The Bad

An obvious frontrunner in this category is poor old Fernando Torres. In January 2011, Chelsea splashed out an incredible £50m on the Spanish international who had taken the Premier League by storm in his years at Liverpool. Needless to say to anyone who has watched Chelsea in the past two and a half years, Torres has been little more than a classic, expensive flop. Having lost a yard of pace, the goals never really came apart from a few fits here and there. Unless his form drastically changes, the deal might go down as one of the worst in EPL history. Torres would need a miracle to get into the Spanish World Cup squad, let alone establish himself as a world class striker in England's top flight again.

A deal which took place in the same window, off-shot by the Torres deal, was Andy Carroll's move from Newcastle United to Liverpool for an absolutely mind-boggling £35m. Manager Kenny Dalglish felt the fee was justified by the money they got for Torres and like the Spaniard, Carroll flopped like a fish out of water. As soon as Brendan Rodgers took over at Anfield, big Andy was quickly shipped off to West Ham, the new gaffer sensing that the immobile target man had no place in his vision for a fluid, possession-based style of play.

A perfect example of why clubs should buy with caution in January

The Ugly

The ugly side of the January transfer window deadline day is not necessarily the desperate hunt for last minute deals which clubs find themselves in. This is understandable, as many teams get ravaged with injuries over the busy Christmas period but the out-and-out media circus that comes with it is probably most annoying. Harry Redknapp's head sticking out of a car window, Peter Odemwingie turning up at clubs that don't want to sign him and all those flashy countdowns and bright gold splashed over Sky Sports News can drive any football fan mad. Do yourself a favour - leave the telly off and read about the done deals tomorrow!

D. Ray Morton, 31 January 2014.