Jonathan David escapes Juventus, Santi Gimenez gets a fresh start, but Liga MX stars are left stranded - Canada and Mexico transfer window Winners and Losers

Well, here's the obvious one. Jonathan David did not have the World Cup impact many expected, with his hat-trick against Qatar in the group stage standing as little more than an outlier in an otherwise disappointing tournament. It was the culmination of 12 weird months for David. He was highly rated at Lille, but a move to Juventus proved to be a massive mistake, where he managed just six league goals. It was a weird move from the outset, with David joining a side that had little interest in the concept of scoring goals, and had just signed Lois Openda to be their main man up front.

Finally, he has his exit route. Atletico Madrid aren't exactly the archetype of attacking football, but they are an interesting fit. David should work well in a front two, which manager Diego Simeone favors. There would seem to be room for minutes, too, with Alex Bena and Lee Kang-In - both attacking midfielders - starting at striker in their 3-1 win over Sevilla last time out. David might not be given the keys to the kingdom here, but he is a natural forward who will be given a chance at a Champions League club. That's no small feat.

Sometimes, simply "playing in the Premier League" isn't a good thing. And make no mistake, Promise David is a weird signing for Brighton - even if he's on loan. This is a player who scored 41 goals across three seasons at Union St. Gilloise, asked to make an impact for a team that will feel they have a shot at Europe in a packed Premier League.

Indeed, while the Premier League might be irrefutably the best in the world, there is no room for failure here. Brighton are rather thin at striker, too, with David poised to grab plenty of looks for Fabian Hurzeler's side. But is he good enough? Well, that's not quite clear. David is a proper presence, but this is still a player not fully trusted by his national team manager, who never fully established himself in the Belgian top flight.

Of course, Brighton are smart operators in the transfer market. If David impresses, he will certainly be playing for a big six club within the next 18 months. But the pressure is immense here. A more orthodox route to the Prem, perhaps with a stop in Ligue 1, might have served him better.

There's that saga over.

Chucky Lozano was involved in a high-profile fallout with San Diego FC head coach Mikey Varas towards the end of last season, with a reported locker room verbal altercation seeing Lozano effectively kept out of the team for the rest of the campaign - and removed from plans altogether in 2026.

It was a weird series of events. Lozano was surely in with a shout at the World Cup squad, but the inability to work out a move before the tournament cost him a spot. He has finally sorted his exit, though. LA Galaxy acquired Lozano on loan, and he figures to be a crucial part of their squad for the remainder of the season. He might not be a perfect signing, and this is not necessarily a long-term home for the Mexican. But he finally has a new spot to show what he can do.

Alistair Johnston has always been on the up. Only injuries have prevented the versatile right back from playing in a top league in Europe. It's quite a remarkable rise for a player who was relatively unheralded when he was recruited by St. John's University in 2016. But he has made all of the right steps from there, impressing at Nashville and Montreal before earning a move to Celtic in 2023.

However, injuries have stalled his progress in the last year or so. Recurring hamstring issues cost him a chunk of the 2025-26 season. Even that didn't deter reported interest from Premier League clubs in securing his signature, with Everton - in dire need of a right back - among those listed. However, another injury saw the deal collapse in mid-August. Johnston will have to wait until at least January to get a Premier League chance he so richly deserves.

Gimenez's career for the last 18 months has basically been a masterclass in making the wrong transfer decisions. He impressed immensely under Arne Slot at Feyenoord from 2022 to 2025. But a move to Milan in January of last year was ill-advised, not least because the Rossoneri already had plenty of options up front. His Milan career has been defined by a mixture of injury and underperformance. In 18 months, he has managed 30 league appearances and five goals (none of which came last year).

And so we arrive at Porto, which should be a more natural fit for the Mexican. In truth, Gimenez is a weird player to figure out. He's not a classic No.9, nor is he a false nine. He exists in the Lautaro Martinez realm: athletic, a good finisher, decent at everything, but world-class at nothing. That has carried Lautaro to three Serie A titles, a World Cup and a Copa America.

It might win Gimenez a Portuguese league title. That's hardly a like-for-like comparison, but it would be an excellent outcome for a player who has rather lost his way.

Liga MX hasn't been great at selling for a while. MLS clubs are flogging players to Europe by the dozen, making countless tidy profits on homegrown players. There haven't been many Zavier Gozo-esque deals. But that doesn't really matter. MLS clubs are making money from talent they have developed.

Mexico, meanwhile, is rather caught in the past. Their record sale to Europe is Max Araujo, who moved from Toluca to Sporting CP in 2024 for $20 million. While MLS continues to break records, Mexico's top flight is running in place. Alvaro Fidalgo, sure, went from Club America to Real Betis last January. But he felt like an outlier - if only because he was born in Spain and went for a tiny fee. And while a handful of USMNTers went to Europe, just one player who appeared for the Mexican national team, Armando Gonzalez, made the leap. It has always been difficult for Liga MX players to leave. Still, it's been a particularly bleak year.