Bundesliga only once in the top 25
Financially, the Premier League plays in a completely different dimension than the other major European football leagues – that’s no secret, but the differences in the numbers are always remarkable. This winter it will become even clearer, above all through the shopping spree of Chelsea FC, which has invested 208.5 million euros in seven players so far and did not have enough before the deadline day on Tuesday. In total, the English first division teams paid 583.06 million euros for 42 players this year as of Monday evening, shortly after 8 a.m. This broke the previous spending record for a league for a transfer window.
Click here for the biggest spending leagues in winter transfer windows!*
Duranville to Mudryk: The most expensive winter transfers 2022/23
Julien Duranville | Anderlecht to BVB | Transfer fee: €8.5 million
© IMAGO
As of January 30, 2023
Josip Juranovic | Celtic to Union Berlin | Transfer fee: €8.55 million
© IMAGO
Jonas Omlin | Montpellier to Gladbach | Transfer fee: €9 million
© IMAGO
Evander | Midtjylland to Portland | Transfer fee: €9.5 million
© imago images
Jean Victor Makengo | Udinese to Lorient | Transfer fee: €10 million
© imago images
Nicolás Ibáñez | Pachuca to Tigres | Transfer fee: €10.1 million
© Eduardo Hernandez / Transfermarkt
Antoine Semenyo | Bristol City to Bournemouth | Transfer fee: €10.25 million
© imago images
Amine Sarr | Heerenveen to Olympique Lyon | Transfer fee: €11 million
© IMAGO
Lyle Foster | KVC Westerlo to Burnley | Transfer fee: €11 million
© IMAGO
Mario Lemina | Nice to Wolverhampton | Transfer fee: €11 million
© IMAGO
Maximo Perrone | Velez Sarsfield to Man City | Transfer fee: €11 million
© fotobaires.com
João Felix | Atlético to Chelsea | Rental fee: €11 million
© imago images
Youssouf Ndayishimiye | Basaksehir to Nice | Transfer fee: €11.5 million
© IMAGO
David Datro Fofana | Molde to Chelsea | Transfer fee: €12 million
© IMAGO
Maximilian Woeber | Salzburg to Leeds | Transfer fee: €12 million
© imago images
Danny Ings | Aston Villa to West Ham | Transfer fee: €12 million
© imago images
Fernando Gorriaran | Santos Laguna to Tigres | Transfer fee: €12.2 million
© imago images
Andrey Santos | Vasco da Gama to Chelsea | Transfer fee: €12.5 million
© IMAGO
Alex Moreno | Betis to Aston Villa | Transfer fee: €13.5 million
© IMAGO
Carlos Alcaráz | Racing Club to Southampton | Transfer fee: €13.65 million
© fotobaires.com
Victor Kristiansen | Copenhagen to Leicester | Transfer fee: €14 million
© imago images
Andreas Schjelderup | Nordsjaelland to Benfica | Transfer fee: €14 million
© IMAGO
Gerson | Ol. Marseille to Flamengo | Transfer fee: €15 million
© IMAGO
Jhon Duran | Chicago to Aston Villa | Transfer fee: €16.64 million
© IMAGO
João Gomes | Flamengo to Wolverhampton | Transfer fee: €18.7 million
© imago images
Danilo | Palmeiras to Nottingham | Transfer fee: €20 million
© imago images
Dango Ouattara | Lorient to Bournemouth | Transfer fee: €22.5 million
© TM/IMAGO
Leandro Trossard | Brighton to Arsenal | Transfer fee: €24 million
© IMAGO
Jakub Kiwior | Special to Arsenal | Transfer fee: €25 million
© IMAGO
Georginio Rutter | Hoffenheim to Leeds | Transfer fee: €28 million
© IMAGO
Malo Gusto | Lyon to Chelsea | Transfer fee: €30 million
© IMAGO
Noni Madueke | PSV to Chelsea | Transfer fee: €35 million
© imago images
Benoît Badiashile | Monaco to Chelsea | Transfer fee: €38 million
© TM/imago images
Cody Gakpo | PSV to Liverpool | Transfer fee: €42 million
© imago images
Anthony Gordon | Everton to Newcastle | Transfer fee: €45.6 million
© imago images
Unsurprisingly, the ranking has so far led the English upper house: in 2017/18, 561.4 million euros were spent on newcomers in January. At that time, for example, Chelsea brought in Olivier Giroud, Manchester City grabbed Aymeric Laporte and Liverpool FC made Virgil van Dijk the most expensive defender in football history at the time.
The Premier League can be found seven times among the ten January transfer windows with the highest investment volume in a league, and in 2021/22, 2019/20, 2016/17, 2015/16 and 2011/12 more than €250m were invested by English clubs issued. The Chinese Super League also made it into the top five twice, with clubs spending €347.9m and €403.5m on the transfer market in 2016 and 2017, respectively. In China, however, the winter is comparable to the summer transfer window of the major European leagues, which is why higher investments are then much more common there, or during the short-term boom during this period.
In comparison: These players moved to the Premier League in winter 2022/23 / LaLiga in 2017/18 / Bundesliga in 2019/20
Also in the top 10 of expenses in January: LaLiga 2017/18, when 288.7 million euros flowed for 62 players, 135 million euros alone for Philippe Coutinho’s transfer from Anfield Road to FC Barcelona. The most expensive Bundesliga year in terms of winter transfers was 2019/20, i.e. January before the pandemic. 208.4 million for 38 players like Erling Haaland, Dani Olmo or Edmond Tapsoba make 13th place in an international comparison.
Draxler to Coutinho: Most expensive winter transfers in history
28 – Julian Draxler to PSG
© imago images
2016/17 for €36m from Wolfsburg
27 – Edin Dzeko to Man City
© Getty Images
2010/11 for €37m from Wolfsburg
26 – Benoît Badiashile to Chelsea
© TM/imago images
2022/23 for €38m from AS Monaco
25 – Lucas Paquetá to Milan
© imago images
2018/19 for €38.4m from Flamengo
© imago images
2012/13 for €40m from Sao Paulo
22 – Leandro Paredes to PSG
© imago images
2018/19 for €40m from Zenit St Petersburg
22 – Cédric Bakambu to BJ Gouan
© imago images
2017/18 for €40m from Villarreal
21 – Andy Carroll to Liverpool
© imago images
2010/11 for €41m from Newcastle
18 – Cody Gakpo to Liverpool FC
© IMAGO
2022/23 for €42m from PSV Eindhoven
18 – Jackson Martínez to Guangzhou
© Guangzhou Evergrande
2015/16 for €42m from Atlético
18 – Paulinho to Guangzhou
© imago images
2018/19 for €42m from Barcelona
17 – Bruno Guimaraes to Newcastle United
© imago images
2021/22 for €42.1m from Olympique Lyon
16 – Juan Mata to Man United
© imago images
2013/14 for €44.7m from Chelsea
15 – Luis Diaz to Liverpool
© imago images
2021/22 for €45m from FC Porto
14 – Anthony Gordon to Newcastle United
© imago images
2022/23 for €45.6m from Everton
13 – Alex Teixeira to Jiangsu Suning
© imago images
2015/16 for €50m from Shakhtar
12 – Ferran Torres to FC Barcelona
© imago images
2021/12 for €55m from Manchester City
11 – Fernando Torres to Chelsea
© imago images
2010/11 for €58.5m from Liverpool
9 – Oscar to Shanghai SIPG
© imago images
2016/17 for €60m from Chelsea
9 – Diego Costa to Atlético
© imago images
2017/18 for €60m from Chelsea
8 – Bruno Fernandes to Man United
© imago images
2019/20 for €63m from Sporting
7 – Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to Arsenal
© imago images
2017/18 for €63.8m from Bor. Dortmund
6 – Christian Pulisic to Chelsea
© Imago/TM
2018/19 for €64m from Bor. Dortmund
5 – Aymeric Laporte to Man City
© imago images
2017/18 for €65m from Bilbao
4 – Mykhaylo Mudryk to Chelsea
© IMAGO
2022/23 for €70m from Shakhtar Donetsk
3 – Dusan Vlahovic to Juventus
© imago images
2021/22 for €81.6m from Fiorentina
2 – Virgil van Dijk to Liverpool
© TM/imago images
2017/18 for €84.7m from Southampton
1 – Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona
© imago images
2017/18 for €135m from Liverpool
*Number of additions, each with free loan returns
To home page