The art of staying put: Why Weston McKennie, Christian Pulisic, Tyler Adams and USMNT stars didn't move in January

This one is tricky. Pepi has deserved a move out of PSV for a while. He is scoring goals at a clip that suggests he should be playing at a higher level. According to reports, he is open to leaving. But bad luck has repeatedly been his downfall. Most recently, a broken arm, suffered in January, complicated a potential switch to Fulham. Had he been fit, it looked like this thing might have happened. Instead, he's staying in the Netherlands until at least the summer.

Oh boy, Josh. 

It goes something like this: Sargent had the chance to leave Norwich last summer. The transfer broke down. He stayed, scored some goals, then stopped scoring for a long time. By early January, it was clear that MLS club Toronto FC were interested in securing his signature. Sargent was pretty open to the deal, so much so that he went on strike and was banished to the Under-21s. Talks with the sporting director about negotiating a reason to stay went horribly. By that point, the whole thing was supposed to end with Sargent being shipped to Canada for a decent fee. 

Instead, for now, he's stuck. However, there could be another twist, as Toronto are able to sign players until March. If Sargent is indeed exiled, then he could still go. The problem now? Norwich have zero leverage outside of refusing to sell. 

If there wasn't any fine print to read, then Musah's move would have been an easy one to call. He isn't playing for Atalanta after making a puzzling decision to sign there from Milan last summer. A departure felt inevitable. The issue is that UEFA rules prevent players from representing more than two teams in one season. That means Musah could either leave the continent entirely or return to Milan. And since neither happened, then Musah is stranded with just 443 league minutes this season so far. 

All of the rumors with Pulisic felt a little half-baked. Liverpool chatter has been around for ages, and any extra noise was, no doubt, fueled by rumors of a Mohamed Salah departure that never happened. Besides, Pulisic has a knock, and is, by all accounts, really rather happy in Milan. Nothing to see here. 

Here's an intriguing one. McKennie is a baffling football player who can be quite brilliant and also frighteningly average. Right now, he's in something of a purple patch, enjoying a fine run of form and showing why he could yet be a crucial player for Juventus. That means he was locked into staying, right? Well, not necessarily. 

McKennie has six months left on his contract, and he hasn't exactly been getting loads of love from Juve's front office, especially with the Bianconeri insisting on trying to see just how many sporting directors they can employ before getting it right. Everything about that would say he should get out of there. But he keeps scoring goals, and no suitable offer came in this month. 

So, for now, he stays. This summer, though? TBD. 

It's a question of "when", not "if" for Luna, at this point. And when Freeman left Orlando City for Villarreal, it seemed that Luna could finally make the European move that had been promised for some time now. There were a few suitors, with interest from Spain widely reported. But sources told GOAL that Real Salt Lake wouldn't sanction an exit before the summer - if at all. 

Nothing to see here - for once. Robinson rather missed his shot at a big move last summer, and was instead doing his thing for Fulham as he fully recovers from a knee injury. A quiet January probably did him some good. 

Adams was linked with a departure here and there, with reports in England suggesting that Manchester United were interested. But the Red Devils switched managers in January, while Adams tore a ligament in his knee. An unlikely deal became pretty much impossible. 

He was a trendy rumor for a while, and it all made a lot of sense. This is, after all, a well-trodden path: player gets good in MLS, earns a few USMNT nods. Before you know it, European heads are turned. Middlesbrough were interested, and there was chatter that Arfsten could fit that mold, but the Crew showed little apparent interest in selling the left back, and will hang on to him for the foreseeable future.