Prediction

It's finally here! The end of the January transfer window is almost upon us. The Bale-to-United articles will finally disappear (for at least a week anyway), the squads will be set and business will resume as normal.

As a rule, the January window is always more rumour than substance, but there have been some interesting transfers this window that may have some bearing on the destiny for a few Premier League clubs (or in Aston Villa's case, a lack thereof). Here are ten January transfers that could make an impact.

2015 MLS Cup | Columbus Crew SC versus Portland Timbers

Sunday, December 6th | 4:00 PM ET

ESPN | WatchESPN | UniMás | TSN | RDS 

After nine months and 356 games, it all comes down to one final winner-take-all match between the Columbus Crew and Portland Timbers for the 2015 MLS Cup. With identical regular season records (18 wins, 11 losses and 8 draws), there’s no clear favorite heading into Sunday’s showdown.

The Confederation of African Football player of the year award shortlist has been released ahead of the award ceremony on January 7, 2016. The full list can be seen below in alphabetical order. 

Sharpen your proverbial knives, unabashedly flaunt your club allegiances and, if you’re Javier Mascherano, pray that Roy Hodgson has spent the year canvassing for your cause. It’s the 2015 FIFA Ballon d’Or shortlist!

At the end of this past season there were numerous rumors about Bastian Schweinsteiger leaving Bayern Munich. Although no offers were made, Manchester United, with head coach Louis van Gaal, never failed to miss an opportunity to praise the German midfielder for his leadership, strength, and ability to control the game.

And although Schweinsteiger himself remained quiet for the most part about Manchester United’s interest in him, one could sense his passion and his will to move to another club, to get another challenge; Schweinsteiger never committed himself to Bayern Munich.

Real Madrid is stuck in a sticky spot after they let longtime goalkeeper Iker Casillas go on to Porto after 25 years with the club. To replace him Real Madrid is looking to make a deal for Manchester United keeper David De Gea, but it looks like the Red Devils won’t be willing to let him go without Sergio Ramos in exchange.

A solemn farewell to Casillas leaves backup keeper Jesus Navas, who is also Costa Rica’s first choice keeper. He had a great World Cup, but had a dismal first season for Real Madrid.

There is a very real possibility that Manchester United could sign a striker, according to Louis van Gaal. 

Ironically, after a season in which the Red Devils’ strike corp was arguably its most talented set of players, they find themselves with a dearth of midfield options, a bolstered defense, and only one proven senior striker: Wayne Rooney (Apologies to Javier Hernandez).

Many think that the team needs to buy another striker, and van Gaal has not ruled out more spending, although he didn’t say specifically what positions further spending would increase. 

In just a few hours from now, we will be witnessing probably the match of the year between the US and Germany, the two best teams in women's soccer.

With the exception of their game against France, the Germans cruised into the semis. The US on the other hand, has played a few nail biters to get to this point.

It's going to take a team effort in order for the USWNT to advance to the World Cup Finals. So, what will it take to defeat the Germans?

Here are three things:

Yes, you can expect Alex Morgan, arguably the USWNT's best player, to start tonight when the US faces China in the quarter finals of the 2015 World Cup. 

Morgan may still be recovering from a knee injury, but she is far closer to being 100% than she has ever been since going down injured in the first place. It is no coincidence that she has started the last two games. Expect that trend to continue, especially given the fact that Morgan scored the game winning goal against Colombia in her last match.