Boss Unai Emery had seemed more frayed this month, the stress of the window and Aston Villa's financial restrictions appeared to be wearing on him.
That was added to the Premier League pressure with Villa losing successive home league games for the first time in two years.
It may have been a relief, then, that Villa's window ended quietly with a few young loans out- Samuel Iling Jr leaving on loan for Pisa after his spell at West Bromwich Albion was cut short and Jamaldeen Jimoh-Aloba replacing him at The Hawthorns for the second half of the season.