Who were the biggest Premier League spenders in every January transfer window? Usually Chelsea…
Chelsea have been the biggest January spenders five times, ahead of Manchester City and Newcastle. But does mid-season investment guarantee improvement?
January 2022 – Newcastle ∧∧∧
January spend: £85m
January signings: Kieran Trippier (£12m, Atletico Madrid), Chris Wood (£25m, Burnley), Bruno Guimaraes (£35m, Newcastle), Matt Targett (loan, Aston Villa), Dan Burn (£13m, Brighton)
January 1 position: 19th (two points from safety)
Final position: 11th (14 points above relegation zone)
January 2021 – West Ham =
January spend: £25m
January signings: Said Benrahma (£25m, Brentford)
January 1 position: 10th (three points behind Everton in 4th)
Final position: 10th (eight points behind Chelsea in 4th)
January 2020 – Man Utd ∧∧
January spend: £57.2m
January signings: Bruno Fernandes (£57.2m, Sporting), Nathan Bishop (undisclosed, Southend), Odion Ighalo (loan, Shanghai Greenland Shenhua).
January 1 position: 5th (five points behind Chelsea in 4th)
Final position: 3rd (four points above Leicester in 5th)
January 2019 – Chelsea ∧
January spend: £57m
January signings: Christian Pulisic (£57m, Borussia Dortmund), Gonzalo Higuain (loan, Juventus)
January 1 position: 4th (two points above Arsenal in 5th)
Final position: 3rd (two points above Arsenal in 5th)
January 2018 – Liverpool =
January spend: £75.2m
January signings: Virgil van Dijk (£75m, Southampton), Tony Gallacher (£200,000, Falkirk)
January 1 position: 4th (six points above Arsenal in 5th)
Final position: 4th (five points above Chelsea in 5th)
Premier League five-year net spend table: Chelsea within £100m of Manchester United
January 2017 – Crystal Palace ∧∧
January spend: £38.5m
January signings: Jeffrey Schlupp (£12m, Leicester), Patrick van Aanholt (£14m, Sunderland), Luka Milivojevic (£12.5m, Olympiakos), Mamadou Sakho (loan, Liverpool)
January 1 position: 17th (two points above relegation zone)
Final position: 14th (seven points above relegation zone)
Allardyce's #CPFC departure left a bitter taste but his January signings (granted he was afforded big budget) were superb:
Luka Milivojevic
Patrick van Aanholt
Jeffrey Schlupp
Mamadou Sakho (loan)— Tom Dutton (@TomDutty) March 4, 2019
January 2016 – Newcastle =
January spend: £29m
January signings: Jonjo Shelvey (£12m, Swansea), Andros Townsend (£12m, Spurs), Henri Saivet (£5m, Bordeaux), Seydou Doumbia (loan, Roma)
January 1 position: 18th (two points from safety)
Final position: 18th (two points from safety)
January 2015 – Manchester City =
January spend: £25m
January signings: Wilfried Bony (£25m, Swansea)
January 1 position: 2nd (level with Chelsea in 1st on points, goal difference and goals scored)
Final position: 2nd (eight points behind Chelsea in 1st)
January 2014 – Chelsea =
January spend: £44m
January signings: Bertrand Traore (undisclosed, Jeunes Espoirs), Nemanja Matic (£21m, Benfica), Mo Salah (£11m, Basel), Kurt Zouma (£12m, Saint-Etienne), Mario Pasalic (undisclosed, Hajduk Split)
January 1 position: 3rd (two points behind Arsenal in 1st)
Final position: 3rd (four points behind Manchester City in 1st)
January 2013 – Queens Park Rangers ∧∧
January spend: £22.5m
January signings: Tal Ben Haim (unattached), Loic Remy (£8m, Marseille), Yun Suk-young (undisclosed, Chunnam Dragons), Christopher Samba (£12.5m, Anzhi Makhachkala), Jermaine Jenas (£2m, Spurs)
January 1 position: 20th (eight points from safety)
Final position: 17th (one point above relegation zone)
January 2012 – Chelsea ∨
January spend: £21.9m
January signings: Kenneth Omeruo (undisclosed, Standard Liege), Gary Cahill (£7m, Bolton), Lucas Piazon (£6.7m, Sao Paulo), Patrick Bamford (£1.5m, Nottingham Forest), Kevin De Bruyne (£6.7m, Genk)
January 1 position: 5th (two points behind Arsenal in 4th)
Final position: 6th (four points behind Spurs in 4th)
January 2011 – Chelsea ∧∧∧
January spend: £71.3m
January signings: Fernando Torres (£50m, Liverpool), David Luiz (£21.3m, Benfica)
January 1 position: 5th (two points behind Spurs in 4th)
Final position: 2nd (nine points behind Man Utd in 1st)
January 2010 – Manchester City =
January spend: £7m
January signings: Patrick Vieira (free, Inter Milan), Adam Johnson (£7m, Sunderland)
January 1 position: 5th (two points behind Spurs in 4th)
Final position: 5th (three points behind Spurs in 4th)
January 2009 – Manchester City ∧∧
January spend: £40m
January signings: Wayne Bridge (£12m, Chelsea), Craig Bellamy (£14m, West Ham), Nigel De Jong (£17m, Hamburg), Shay Given (£7m, Newcastle)
January 1 position: 13th (two points above relegation zone)
Final position: 10th (16 points above relegation zone)
January 2008 – Chelsea ∧
January spend: £28.1m
January signings: Nicolas Anelka (£15m, Bolton), Branislav Ivanovic (£9.7m, Lokomotiv Moscow), Franco Di Santo (£3.4m, Audax Italiano)
January 1 position: 3rd (six points behind Arsenal in 1st)
Final position: 2nd (two points behind Man Utd in 1st)
January 2007 – West Ham ∧
January spend: £18.7m
January signings: Luis Boa Morte (£5m, Fulham), Nigel Quashie (£1.7m, West Brom), Calum Davenport (£3m, Tottenham), Lucas Neill (£1.5m Blackburn), Kepa Blanco (loan, Sevilla), Matthew Upson (£7.5m, Birmingham)
January 1 position: 18th (four points from safety)
Final position: 15th (three points above relegation zone)
January 2006 – Arsenal ∧∧
January spend: £19.5m
January signings: Abou Diaby (£2m, Auxerre), Theo Walcott (£12m, Southampton), Emmanuel Adebayor (£3m, Monaco), Mart Poom (free, Sunderland), Carlos Vela (£2.5m, Guadalajara)
January 1 position: 6th (four points behind Spurs in 4th)
Final position: 4th (two points above Spurs in 5th)
January 2005 – Newcastle ∨
January spend: £10m
January signings: Celestine Babayaro (free, Chelsea), Jean-Alain Boumsong (£8m, Rangers), Amdy Faye (£2m, Portsmouth)
January 1 position: 13th (10 points above relegation zone)
Final position: 14th (11 points above relegation zone)
January 2004 – Man Utd ∨∨∨
January spend: £16.3m
January signings: Dong Fangzhou (£3.5m, Dalian Shide), Louis Saha (£12.8m, Fulham)
January 1 position: 1st (one point above Arsenal in 2nd)
Final position: 3rd (15 points behind Arsenal in 1st)
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