PREMIER LEAGUE TRANSFER WINDOW REPORT CARD - PART TWO: Which TWO giants scored a D for their business? And which relegation battlers produced an 'abysmal' effort?

Welcome to part two of Mail Sport's transfer window report cards.

In the first edition, we saw Arsenal and Chelsea receive shocking reports for their behaviour, while Aston Villa and Ipswich were in the good books.

Here, we're looking at the second half of the Premier League alphabetically, so that will include Manchester United, Liverpool, and Manchester City.

We'll also run the rule over some key players in the relegation scrap, namely Ipswich, Wolves, and Southampton.

Elsewhere, Tottenham and West Ham are trying to get back to some semblance of normality after their winter business.

Meanwhile, have Nottingham Forest and Newcastle done enough to help sustain their impressive campaigns?

Mail Sport rates the transfer business of every team in the Premier League. How did yours do?

Leicester

Considering their circumstances, Leicester had an abysmal window.

When Ruud van Nistelrooy was hired, he asked for a full back, a forward, a left-sided centre back and a winger.

After a month of deliberating, Leicester managed to provide one of those: right-back Woyo Coulibaly from Parma for £2million. All hail the one-man cavalry.

Of course, the Foxes are hamstrung by financial concerns, Premier League spending rules, and the threat of a points deduction. This was never going to be a window where they went out and spent huge.

But looking at the business that Ipswich and Wolves did, Leicester have left themselves woefully short. Coulibaly may come good, but can he save them on his own?

With multiple key players out injured, they needed a big transfer window and instead lost ground on their rivals. Barring an unexpected spike in form, the Championship beckons, and poor recruitment will be partially to blame.

Grade: E

Leicester failed to back Ruud van Nistelrooy sufficiently, signing just one player in January

Woyo Coulibaly may prove a good signing, but Van Nistelrooy wanted to strengthen in four areas

Liverpool

Liverpool's season has been close to perfect and there is little point in doing business just for the sake of it. The summer window was quiet as well and look how things have gone since then.

Arguably, the Reds could have done with adding to their midfield and strengthening at left-back. Neither of these are urgent issues but it would be a surprise if they didn't bring in extra quality over the summer.

They secured loans out for Stefan Bajcetic, Calvin Ramsey, and Jayden Danns - though the first two were recalled from different stints. In particular, it has been a surprise to not see Bajcetic kick on since an impresive 2022-23 campaign, but he will now spend the second half of the season at Las Palmas after playing under Jurgen Klopp's former assistant Pep Lijnders at Red Bull Salzburg.

It is a disappointment for fans that Liverpool have exited January without sorting out any of their contract situations. Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah, and Virgil van Dijk are still set to leave on a free in the summer.

On the other hand, at least they hung on to Alexander-Arnold when there was talk of Madrid making a concerted effort to sign him at the start of the month.

Liverpool are still fighting on four fronts and more depth would have been nice to see out a Quadruple challenge.

Grade: D

Arne Slot has led Liverpool to an almost perfect season, but should they have reinforced their squad?

Manchester City

Fair play to Manchester City, they didn't mess around in January and haven't thrown in the towel on their worst season under Pep Guardiola.

The reigning champions brought in six players, forking out the princely sum of £180m, or thereabouts.

How many of those will make an instant impact? Probably two. Omar Marmoush, who had a prolific 18 months at Eintracht Frankfurt, has slotted into the forward line to support Erling Haaland. At £63m, he has to play. Meanwhile, midfielder Nico Gonzalez, procured from Porto after being monitored for a long time, is likely to feature consistently. Both were needed.

The rest are lesser known quantities. Abdukodir Khusanov had a disaster debut against Chelsea, being at fault for a goal inside three minutes, but is talked of well. Vitor Reis and Juma Bah, both teenage centre-backs, will likely have to bide their time for regular football. They have also brought in 18-year-old left-back Christian McFarlane from fellow City Group-owned outfit New York City FC.

It was certainly a statement window and they have come out stronger. Losing Kyle Walker in such sudden circumstances was unceremonious, but not as damaging as it would have been two or three years ago.

On the whole, for being proactive in trying to fix their problems, City deserve credit.

Grade: B+

Omar Marmoush is the marquee signing of a very busy window for Man City as they try to compete at home and abroad

Abdukodir Khusanov has been parachuted into a struggling defence but had a tricky debut

Manchester United

Manchester United are having their worst-ever Premier League season and did little to strengthen their squad.

Shout it from the rooftops: United need a striker. How about some midfielders, too? Kobbie Mainoo was forced to play up front against Crystal Palace. Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee have mustered 11 goals in 64 combined outings this season.

After loaning out Marcus Rashford and Antony - seemingly wise - United have left themselves with fewer attacking options and chose not to strengthen. The can has been kicked down the road until the summer. Not that that's much of a promised land, considering their ineptitude in recent summer hazes.

Granted, Patrick Dorgu has come in. The versatile left wing-back is said to be physical enough to cope with Ruben Amorim's 3-4-3 system. You'd hope he would be for a £29.4m deal.

Their only other piece of business was bringing in centre-back Ayden Heaven, 18, from Arsenal. Promising, yes, but nobody would expect him to salvage the season.

United needed significant overhaul to resurrect themselves. Such a mute transfer window suggests they have abandoned hope for the campaign. The only silver lining is that they have saved money.

Grade: D

Patrick Dorgu and Ayden Heaven have been drafted in at Man United, but still no striker

Newcastle

Newcastle fans are becoming used to tame windows despite their minted owners.

The Magpies brought nobody in this window. Their squad is virtually the same, though Miguel Almiron has moved back to Atlanta and Lloyd Kelly has been sent on loan to Juventus with a £20m buy option.

Toon have scarcely added to their first team in recent windows and could do with a right winger, a centre-back, a striker, and a goalkeeper, just for more depth in a squad that could encounter a deep European run next season.

Eddie Howe admitted his players looked 'fatigued' after their 4-1 battering by Bournemouth, that coming on the back of a nine-game winning streak.

Keeping the players fresh throughout the season while trying to play a positive, aggressive style of football is always going to be a challenge.

It's no disaster that it was a quiet window but they could do with extra fortifications to their squad.

Grade: C

Eddie Howe has complained of squad fatigue but saw no additions to his squad in this window

Nottingham Forest

Nuno Espirito Santo's side didn't do much business to speak of and it could come back to bite them.

Forest were looking at Matheus Cunha and Yoane Wissa, which admittedly would have been ambitious signings mid-season. However, it is a worry that they did not bring in a reliable back-up to Chris Wood in case their key bagsman gets injured.

Not all of it is their fault. Premier League spending rules are a tightrope to walk, particularly when you've got Forest's recent history of splashing the cash. Ideally they needed to sell somebody but there were no takers for the talented but injury-blighted Taiwo Awoniyi.

All the same, Forest are playing a risky game by making Wayne Hennessey the only immediate addition to their dressing room. That's nothing against the Welshman.

This is their shot at Champions League football and the best they could do is bring in a second or third-choice goalkeeper.

Obviously, Forest have been sensational this campaign. There are no cheap signings who would have enhanced a starting XI who beat Brighton 7-0 at the weekend. And Nuno tends not to rotate. But a little depth wouldn't have hurt.

Grade: D

Nottingham Forest's tight-knit squad will fight on without any winter incomings

Southampton

Southampton did the business of a condemned club, and that is no criticism.

Saints are 10 points from safety. They could have gone and splashed £100million this window and still had no guarantee of safety. It would have been noble but reckless.

They could, of course, fight their way out of this mess. Southampton have played good football this season. But they're probably needing top-six form at least over the next 14 games to give themselves a fighting chance.

Southampton made four signings. Welington, a full-back from Sao Paulo, and Albert Gronbaek, a loanee midfielder from Rennes, made winning debuts against Ipswich. They are the hopes for the here and now. Both are 23.

Striker Rento Takaoka has joined from Nissho Gakuen, as has centre-half Joachim Kayi Sanda from Valenciennes. Both are 18.

Looking at the profile of the deals, it looks as if Southampton are preparing for life in the Championship and finding players who they can mould. It's likely not enough for now, but could pay dividends down the line.

Grade: C-

Southampton added four stars, perhaps with an eye on Championship football after a hard campaign

Tottenham

If we'd been grading this three days before the deadline, the mark would have been a whole lot lower. But like any wise child in the build-up to parents' evening, Tottenham got their act together.

Antonin Kinsky was the sole arrival for most of the window, a back-up goalkeeper who enjoyed an impressive debut against Liverpool.

What Kinsky did not do, however, was plug the injury crisis or offer them any defensive protection beyond making saves.

Hats off, then, for securing the loan of Kevin Danso from Lens, a signing which will be made permanent for £20.5m in the summer. Radu Dragusin and Cristian Romero are out, while Micky van de Ven is not fully fit. Another body was needed and they bagged one.

They also managed to convince Mathys Tel to change his mind. Spurs have brought in the exciting Bayern Munich winger, just 19, on loan, even while Arsenal and Manchester United were interested in him. Min-hyeok Yang was signed from Gangwon and sent on loan to QPR.

Spurs were slow to react this window and hardly unleashed the full force of their financial potential. What they did won't stop fans groaning about Daniel Levy. But in the end, they've made three credible first-team additions. Not bad.

Tottenham: B-

Tottenham looked as if they were set for a poor window but managed to loan in Mathys Tel

They have also added Kevin Danso to their ranks amid an injury-hit season in north London

West Ham

This was a quiet but tumultuous window for the Hammers. It ended with recruitment chief Tim Steidten's head rolling just weeks after Graham Potter joined.

There had already been huge scrutiny following West Ham's £130m summer spree. This time the approach was more muted. Potter, who has brought in his own recruitment guru, is very much a man for a process rather than a slapdash sprint around the market stuffing random signings into his shopping trolley.

So, what happened? Well, they signed Evan Ferguson on loan from Brighton. They recalled James Ward-Prowse from Nottingham Forest. And they brought back Maxwel Cornet from Southampton, just to send him to Genoa.

Ferguson and Ward-Prowse could prove neat additions. There's no harm in having one of the Premier League's best dead-ball specialists, even if he doesn't have many minutes under his belt this season.

Young Ferguson joins a long line of strikers signed in recent memory. He'll have to buck a trend to succeed - lots of his predecessors in east London have flopped - but you wouldn't put it past him to thrive.

Reaching the top half is a bit of a stretch, but these two should help them on course to stability.

Grade: C+

James Ward-Prowse has been recalled to West Ham after hardly getting a game at Forest

Multiple defensive additions, including Emmanuel Agbadou, should see Wolves over the line

Wolves

Wolves have significantly boosted their chances of staying in the Premier League thanks to an efficient winter window.

The Midlands outfit look to have recruited well with three signings. Centre-back Emmanuel Agbadou appears a good buy for £16.6m, arriving from Reims - who he captained - alongside defensive midfielder Marshall Munetsi. They have also added defender Nasser Djiga from Red Star Belgrade, where he played Champions League football.

Vitor Pereira was initially a galvanising presence at Molineux but they have lost four of their last five. A spate of defensive signings should help them grind out results.

It solves a major issue - a leaky back door. Wolves have conceded 52 goals in 24 games, an abysmal haul only exceeded by Southampton (54) and Leicester (53).

Furthermore, they tied down Matheus Cunha on a new contract. Even if that only means he stays until the summer, they've held on to arguably the best player involved in the relegation scrap.

They're just two points above the drop zone, but they've given themselves a helping hand with some useful recruitment.

Grade: B+

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