Perhaps Liverpool’s owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks have a point in their belief that players bought in the January transfer window are habitually overpriced.

Despite the constraints rumoured to be placed on Rafa Benitez where he is restricted to only making loan signings, the club’s official position is that it would rather save the income from any sales to build a war chest for the summer. Liverpool has managed to offload the completely peripheral duo Andriy Voronin and Andrea Dossena for a total of about 6.5 million euros – more than they are worth.

This may prove to be a much more astute move than most critics would suggest.

To date we’ve seen very little transfer activity in the Premier League. This could be more a function of the recession than anything else.

Of course Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti went so far as to say he would run around the club’s training ground at Cobham naked if he signed any players – a daring bet. Most journalists figured they’d get to see this spectacle because of the absence of four first-team players during the African Cup of Nations tournament.

How naïve is that thinking? Why would you sign a player (or two) and disrupt the squad for three or four weeks? What do you do with that player once the African players are back? He’s a shrewd man that Ancelotti…

Sir Alex Ferguson has also repeatedly said that prices are over-inflated in the mid-season window.

Even Manchester City haven’t splashed out during the past three weeks. But that may be more a function of the economic slump in the Middle East, than anything else.

The only teams who are really looking to bolster their numbers are Tottenham (who have a lopsided squad), West Ham (who have new owners and a few key injuries), Stoke (who are fighting to stay up), and Birmingham (who are looking to build on their success).

Former heroes have returned to the League. Arsenal have re-signed Sol Campbell, while Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini has brought in aging Patrick Vieira.

A few clubs have sent superfluous players out on loan. Danny Welbeck has joined Sir Alex’s son Darren at Preston, Jo is off to Galatasary, and South African Elrio van Heerden has been sent to Sivasspor by Blackburn. And Liverpool have scooped Maxi Rodriguez from Atletico Madrid for free.

The most promising and exciting prospect of this transfer window is Eidur Gudjohnsen returning to the Premier League. Spurs are leading the race to sign him from Monaco, and the former Barcelona and Chelsea star has said he would like to return to England. West Ham also want him, but chances are he’ll land up at White Hart Lane.

Do we need the window? It’s a nice safety net in case of injuries, but the market suggests it’s simply unnecessary.