Of course, besides Chelsea and Leeds United, who are making real-time announcements about their transfer progress, other Premier League teams are also keeping busy.
With Li Shiguang's help, Liverpool solved their attacking problems and saved millions to strengthen their defense.
Although Benitez and Morse had some friction this season, their intentions were ultimately for the sake of the team.
So at Benitez's request, Morse agreed to let go of Mohammed Sissoko, who was eager to join his mentor Ranieri at Juventus because he couldn't get a starting position. Then he raised £6.5 million to bring in Slovakian defender Martin Skrtel from Zenit St. Petersburg.
Manchester United's moves were also minimal. With a deep squad, Ferguson only brought in Angolan striker Manucho at the end of December, and then loaned out several young players to gain experience, thus completing the winter transfer window operations early.
As for Arsenal, who hadn't made any moves in the winter transfer window, they lived up to expectations.
Wenger only spent a small amount of money to satisfy his blind box hobby, bringing in a 15-year-old youngster, Freeman, and then stopped after sending midfielder Diarra to Portsmouth.
In contrast, the media's focus was not on Arsenal's own signings at all.
What they were more concerned about was the rumor that had been circulating for some time now: Barcelona wanted to sign Arsenal's midfield maestro, Cesc Fàbregas.
Each of the major corporations has its own actions.
Nearly ten teams, currently in the middle of the Premier League table, also have reinforcement targets.
Among them, the most eye-catching are Tottenham Hotspur and Portsmouth, who went on a spending spree as soon as the winter transfer window opened.
Tottenham Hotspur set their sights on their weak defense during the winter transfer window. After conceding a staggering 38 goals in 21 league matches, Sergio Ramos was determined to tackle the backline, signing center-back Woodgate and right-back Hutton for hefty sums. However, the Brazilian international left-back Gilberto, whom they had initially targeted from Hertha Berlin, unfortunately did not materialize at the last minute due to problems during his routine medical examination.
As for Portsmouth, Harry Redknapp first brought in the frustrated Diarra from Arsenal, and then added Czech striker Baros to the forward line. After the Africa Cup of Nations ends and the team's African contingent returns, along with the addition of fresh blood, Portsmouth's strength will surely increase significantly in the second half of the season!
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On January 12th, after a week's break, the Premier League resumed.
Li Shiguang led Leeds United to Derby County for an away game against Derby County.
The outcome of this match between the league leader and the bottom-ranked team was considered by outsiders to be a foregone conclusion.
However, it must be said that Derby County played very tenaciously throughout the ninety minutes of the match.
Although Leeds United dominated the game from the start, Derby County's defensive tactics prevented them from scoring for a long time.
It wasn't until the 57th minute of the second half that Derby County defender Davies committed a foul during defense, receiving a second yellow card and being sent off, which allowed Leeds United to start finding some opportunities.
In the 81st minute, Kaká made a solo breakthrough in the middle, broke into the penalty area, and crossed the ball to the middle, where Adriano followed up with a shot, finally giving Leeds United the lead.
Leeds United managed to snatch three points away from home thanks to Adriano's goal.
However, the game was not very attractive.
But the ending was good.
Shortly after Leeds United's match ended, good news came from another venue: Arsenal, playing at home, faced a tougher Birmingham side and were ultimately held to a 1-1 draw, earning only one point.
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After overcoming the unexpected tough challenge of Derby County, Leeds United went on to defeat Everton and Middlesbrough in the following two weeks, maintaining their lead in the standings with 58 points.
Manchester United, currently in second place, also performed admirably, defeating Reading and Portsmouth in succession, maintaining pressure on Leeds United with 57 points.
Arsenal also made quick adjustments. After being held to a draw by Birmingham, they won their next two matches 3-0 against Fulham and Newcastle United, placing them third in the standings with 54 points.
With the conclusion of these two rounds of league matches, Leeds United will face their second formidable opponent since the start of 2008: Chelsea.
In the previous round of the FA Cup, Chelsea narrowly defeated Queens Park Rangers by one goal, successfully advancing to the next round to face Leeds United.
Li Shiguang took this match very seriously.
Chelsea have been in good form for the past two months, and including the match against Queens Park Rangers, they have won six consecutive league and cup games.
However, due to the significant problems left by Mourinho in the first half of the season, although they regained fourth place in the league, they were still eight points behind first-placed Leeds United.
Grant was well aware that, given the form of the three teams ahead of Chelsea, it was undoubtedly a pipe dream for Chelsea to win the league title this season. Fortunately, Abramovich, who had already won two Premier League titles, was no longer interested in the league title. Now, in the heart of the Russian oligarch, the Champions League trophy was what he wanted most.
Grant, who has been Chelsea's manager for some time, knows better than anyone what his owners are thinking.
With the league title seemingly out of reach, and the Champions League even less certain, Grant naturally shifted his focus to the FA Cup and League Cup, thinking that even if he came away empty-handed in the league and the Champions League, he wouldn't end up with no trophies at all and a season without any achievements.
In the League Cup, after defeating Leeds United, Chelsea have made it all the way to the final, where they will face fellow London side Tottenham Hotspur.
Grant is equally confident about facing Leeds United again in the FA Cup.
In his mind, Leeds United is competing on three fronts, and compared to the league and the Champions League, the FA Cup is definitely the least important! Perhaps Li Shiguang will also give up the FA Cup just like he gave up the League Cup!
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