How do you build for the future in January?

The pressures of the midseason transfer window are largely focused on the here and now. Teams buy in the winter in order to strengthen for the next five months, whether it be for a title race, European push or relegation battle; they don't generally spend with the next five years in mind. But this season has seen several intriguing transfer stories in which the needs of the present and the future overlap.

WINTER TRANSFER WINDOW LATEST

- Infographic: How a transfer works
- Karlsen: Premier League club-by-club needs
- Carter: Top 10 transfer targets in England
- Window Shopping: Club-by-club guide
- Delaney: Top free agents next summer
- Delaney: What January holds in store

West Bromwich Albion and England U-21...

Football is a game of fine margins, and few understand this better than French striker David Trezeguet, whose retirement from football was widely reported this week.

There's a tremendous symmetry about Trezeguet's high and low points of his career. Both came in major international finals, both came against the Italy national team -- the country where he spent his best years at Juventus during 2000-10 -- and both were utterly decisive.

One was a thumping drive into the top of the net, the other was...

The sight of Phil Jones backing toward the Queens Park Rangers crowd, arms raised to signal the plan to his Manchester United teammates, was rightly met with utter bemusement. It wasn't even, as many would have presumed upon seeing him do so once, a matter of mere coincidence; he wasn't taking a corner kick just because he was the nearest man when the ball went out. Shortly after, he was taking another one.

As centre-backs go, Jones is certainly one of the more technical. Comfortable in possession...

You can never entirely judge a player upon highlights alone, but a showreel of that individual's goals often summarises their footballing personality.

Watch Thierry Henry's 228 Arsenal goals and you'll find his cool, composed finishes epitomise his grace and nonchalance. View Cristiano Ronaldo's and you'll witness his sheer power. Observe Lionel Messi's collection and you'll marvel at his immaculate precision.

Tottenham's Christian Eriksen is a fine example, because the Danish playmaker scores...

During their first Premier League meeting in September, Sergio Aguero and Alexis Sanchez both scored in a 2-2 draw at the Emirates. Ahead of their second meeting on Sunday as Manchester City host Arsenal, few would bet against them repeating the trick; these two South Americans are arguably the Premier League's two most exciting attackers.

The fact they're both from South America is of interest, considering forwards from that continent have rarely been consistently successful in English football....

It's fair to say that when Louis van Gaal was quizzed on whether his Manchester United side had improved from the one so often mocked under former manager David Moyes, he wasn't pleased. The most basic numbers suggest, however, that there is not much difference between the two.

It's been well documented that United, under the increasingly maligned Scotsman, have the same points tally (37) as they had at this stage last season. At that time, the fans were placing very little blame anywhere other...