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Dayne St. Clair was named MLS Goalkeeper of the Year after a career-best season for Minnesota United, yet surprised many when he left the club that drafted him to suit up for Inter Miami. But he has no regrets.

With some Americans potentially on the move, and a few surprises in store, GOAL's writers take a look at the state of the transfer window.

With the Lionel Messi-Cristiano Ronaldo duopoly now disappearing into the rearview mirror, the battle for the Ballon d'Or hasn't felt so open for the best part of 20 years, with countless players beginning the campaign believing they have a chance of claiming the most prestigious individual prize football has to offer. Ousmane Dembele emerged from a career plagued with inconsistencies to win the Golden Ball in 2025, and he was among a crowded field of contenders as the 2026 race got going.

Another transfer window and another highly-rated prospect is on their way to Chelsea. The club's youth policy has struck again, with the west Londoners landing 17-year-old full-back Yisa Alao from financially troubled Sheffield Wednesday. Despite his very limited experience at senior level, the teenager provoked a transfer tug-of-war between three Premier League giants, but it is the Blues who have emerged victorious.

When the Women's Super League fixtures for the 2025-26 season were released, this Sunday's clash between Manchester City and Chelsea was pinpointed as a big one. That feeling only intensified through the first few weeks of the campaign, as the two teams in blue marked themselves out as the best in the division, winning 12 of their first 14 games combined to sit in the two spots at the top of the table. However, what has transpired in the last three months has made this weekend's meeting feel much less decisive.

Michael Carrick used to look up to Roy Keane. When he was a youth teamer at West Ham, Carrick would analyse the way the Manchester United captain walked out of the dressing room at Upton Park. The first time he faced Keane on the pitch, Carrick watched him ‘clatter’ his team-mate Joe Cole. And yet he was never intimidated by him. And maybe that is why Keane is waging a war of words with United's interim boss.

"There’s still questions about the mental strength of the team. I think there was a lack of aggression. Too many players failed to deliver," Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira said on Sky Sports after watching his former side suffer a 3-2 defeat at home to Manchester United last weekend. "It was a must-win game. They needed to send a message to the rest of the teams in the league."

GOAL breaks down the key takeaways from Pochettino as the U.S. ramp up their World Cup build-up.

Ahead of the transfer window closing, GOAL grades the USMNT-related deals completed during January.

With the World Cup just months away, GOAL looks at how the U.S. squad might look in the summer.

Emma Hayes’ January camp offered clarity. With the SheBelieves Cup approaching, GOAL breaks down whose stock rose - and who slipped - as the USWNT’s core comes into focus.

Rothenberg, who oversaw the planning of the 1994 World Cup, knew nothing about soccer growing up. Yet now, he is a true legend of the American game.

January is a notoriously bad time for buyers because nobody ever wants to sell top talent midway through the season. There are, however, exceptions to the rule. Some clubs need to raise funds to balance the books, while others can be left with not option but to unload an unhappy player who has made it clear that he wants to join a stronger side.

The Champions League league phase ended in insanity, with Benfica nicking a place in the knockout stage from under the noses of Marseille with a last-gasp header from goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin. There was no such drama at the Emirates as Arsenal maintained their 100 percent record with a 3-2 win over Kairat Almaty, even if the Kazakhstani side gave a fine account of themselves, and Premier League strugglers Liverpool once again proved that they're a very different side in continental competition by routing Qarabag to finish third.

So there we have it! After a mammoth 144 games that included plenty of goals and drama, the curtain has been drawn on the league phase of the 2025-26 Champions League. Arsenal finished top of the table with a perfect record, while Manchester City secured automatic qualification to the round of 16 by the skin of their teeth. But three historic European giants have been eliminated already, in the form of Napoli, Marseille and Ajax.

The Champions League league phase drew to a predictably chaotic conclusion on Wednesday, with all of the matchday eight fixtures kicking-off at the same time. The net result was numerous positional changes over the course of 90-plus minutes of madness, though the highlight was undoubtedly Anatoliy Trubin scoring a last-second header to keep Benfica in the competition.

Barcelona booked their place in the last 16 of the Champions League with a 4-1 over Copenhagen on Wednesday. While Hansi Flick's side would eventually run out comfortable winners thanks to second-half goals from Robert Lewandowski, Lamine Yamal, Raphinha and Marcus Rashford, they suffered through a frustrating opening 45 minutes after they went behind to a fourth0minute goal from teenager Viktor Dadason.