The summer transfer window may have slammed shut, but planning for January is already well under way across the Premier League. In the latest edition of his weekly Q&A on The Athletic FC podcast, The Athletic's soccer correspondent David Ornstein identified Everton as the club most likely to be busiest when the window reopens — while mapping out a catalogue of collapsed deals that could yet be revived.

Asked which club is most likely to be active in January after a frenetic summer window, Ornstein did not hold back.

“I’m on a hiding to nothing here! There were collapses, weren’t there? So could those deals be revived, such as a Folarin Balogun, if it doesn’t happen before January (the summer windows in Portugal and Saudi Arabia remain open), from Monaco to Everton or elsewhere?”

Collapsed deals top the January shopping list

Ornstein reeled off a string of near-misses that could resurface in the New Year: Lamine Camara of Monaco, whose move to Chelsea was pulled at the last moment because of the Folarin Balogun situation; Roma’s Manu Kone, who came very close to joining Chelsea before the club pivoted to Camara; and Brighton’s Yankuba Minteh, who will not be back to full fitness until around October or November but was clearly pushed for by Liverpool, with Brighton open to selling “at the right price”.

Crystal Palace also featured heavily in Ornstein’s assessment. Ismaila Sarr was “first intrigued by the idea of Galatasaray and then by Liverpool”, and with Jean-Philippe Mateta’s situation at Selhurst Park having not seemed “particularly well” for a while, potential moves are “always in the offing”.

“So how receptive would Palace be to approaches in January?” Ornstein asked. “And then could Arsenal look at that front line? They didn’t end up with a sort of world-class attacker, even though Christos Tzolis appears to be making a good impression.”

He drew a parallel with Liverpool’s pursuit of Virgil van Dijk — that famous deal collapsed in the summer before the club got it done the following January — and wondered whether Arsenal could “pull an attacker out of the hat to almost jet-propel their second half of the season” as they continue their title defence and push for Champions League glory.

Everton the busiest of all

Manchester United, meanwhile, were considering a left-back in the summer — a position that could again become a focus in January against the backdrop of a market-wide shortage of left-back recruits. But it is Everton, in Ornstein’s view, who will be the most active club of all when the window reopens.

“Everton might be the busiest, because they need reinforcements, a bit more depth. David Moyes is in the final year of his contract, let’s not forget, and will want reinforcements. So I’m going to go for Everton.”

With European windows in Portugal and Saudi Arabia still open and several clubs monitoring financial compliance rules, Ornstein’s message is clear: stay tuned, because January promises to be anything but quiet.