The 20 biggest transfers in the world in the 2025 January transfer window
The January window is not renowned for being full of excitement; last year the biggest mover was a kid joining Barcelona who is now on loan at Real Betis. Not one 2024 transfer made the list of 20 biggest January deals ever!
But there has been some more money spent in 2025, particularly by Manchester City.
Here are the biggest transfers in the world in January 2025:
1) Jhon Duran (Aston Villa to Al Nassr) – £64.4m rising to £75.3m
Considering Chelsea and several European giants have been linked with Duran, it’s pretty disappointing that the 21-year-old has opted for the Saudi big-bucks. This deal also scuppers Arsenal’s plans.
2) Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Napoli to Paris Saint-Germain) – £59.1m
We would be surprised if this figure is beaten. PSG have finally got their man, but who will replace him? Alejandro Garnacho? Marcus Rashford? Karim Adeyemi?
3) Omar Marmoush (Eintracht Frankfurt to Manchester City) – £59m rising to £63.2m
That’s a big old splash for City on a forward who scored 15 goals in 17 matches for the Bundesliga side before making the switch.
4) Nico Gonzalez (Porto to Manchester City) – £49.9m
Man City took their January window spend past £180m with the deadline day addition of Gonzalez, whose arrival eases Pep Guardiola’s centre-midfield headache.
5) Xavi Simons (PSG to RB Leipzig) – £41.2m rising to £67.9m
That’s a whole lot of add-ons and a massive signing for a club not renowned for spending large sums. Leipzig sporting director Marcel Schäfer said: “We’ve been working for a long time to make this transfer, which is a great one both in a sporting and financial sense, a reality. In the past few days, a door suddenly opened, and we were able to seize this opportunity. The deal is in line with our budgetary and transfer-related guidelines.”
6) Galeno (Porto to Al-Ahli) – £41.7m
The last big-money deal of the transfer window in Saudi Arabia saw Al-Ahli invest over £40m to sign Porto forward Galeno, who could threaten former Liverpool star Roberto Firmino.
7) Abdukodir Khusanov (RC Lens to Manchester City) – £33.7m
The first of at least three January signings for the Premier League champions, 20-year-old centre-back Khusanov will become the first Uzbek to play in the Premier League.
8) Vitor Reis (Palmeiras to Manchester City) – £29.6m
Perhaps one day the Khusanov-Reis central-defensive partnership will lead Manchester City to another stretch of trophy-based domination. The Premier League champions insisted he join in the winter as the most expensive teenage signing in club history.
9) Luiz Henrique (Botafogo to Zenit St Petersburg) – £27.9m
The new Brazilian international winger has taken the rubles and moved to Russia, ignoring interest from Fiorentina and Newcastle United among others, with Artur moving in the opposite direction and Wendel to follow.
10) Santiago Gimenez (Feyenoord to AC Milan) – £26.6m rising to £29m
After 65 goals in 105 games for Feyenoord, the Mexican has headed to Italy as a replacement for Alvaro Morata.
11) Patrick Dorgu (Lecce to Manchester United) – £25m rising to £29.1m
They needed a left wing-back and they opted for the young Dane, making him the first signing of the Ruben Amorim era.
12) Elye Wahi (Marseille to Eintracht Frankfurt) – £21.9m
Frankfurt have already replaced Marmoush, bringing in French forward Wahi from Roberto De Zerbi’s side.
13) Donyell Malen (Borussia Dortmund to Aston Villa) – £21.1m
After not getting a chance at Arsenal, Malen is back in England with a point to prove. The Dutch winger has scored five goals in 21 matches so far this season and brings even more pace to an already speedy Aston Villa attack.
14) Stefanos Tzimas (FC Nuremburg to Brighton) – £20.8m
Scored 10 goals in the German second flight and will spend the rest of the season on loan back in Nuremburg after about 10 minutes of being contracted permanently to the German club following a £15m move from PAOK Salonika.
15) Jaden Philogene (Aston Villa to Ipswich) – £20m
There are some strong PSR summer vibes from Villa, who welcome one forward while waving goodbye to another for basically the same fee. Philogene only returned to his boyhood club a matter of months ago for £18m but has been shipped back out with a Champions League start against Bayern Munich in between.
16) Emmanuel Latte Lath (Middlesbrough to Atlanta) – £17.74m
The MLS transfer record has been broken for the Ivorian striker who scored 27 goals in 59 Championship games for Boro, who also pocketed a club record transfer fee received.
17) Claudinho (Zenit Saint Petersburg to Al-Sadd) – £16.91m
Just a few (goalless) months after signing a new long-term contract with the Russian club, the Brazilian is off to Qatar to replaced by another Brazilian further up this list.
18) Emmanuel Agbadou (Reims to Wolves) – £16.76m
There is no doubt that Wolves needed a central defender and they have acted quickly to bring in the Ivory Coast international. “We analyse a lot of players, and he has the profile that I like. He likes to play with the ball, he has quality to build the play, he’s fast and physically strong,” said Vitor Pereira.
19) Seko Fofana (Al Nassr to Rennes) – £16.6m
A year on loan with Steven Gerrard at Al-Ettifaq from Al Nassr was more than enough for the Ivorian midfielder, who jumped at the chance to return to France with the Ligue Un mid-tablers. Had he not heard highest-paid footballer in the world Ronaldo declare the Saudi league to be stronger than the PSG parade?
20) Amine Gouiri (Rennes to Marseille) – £15.8m
Just three goals for Rennes this season means that they were happy to recoup much of their outlay on the Algerian winger.
20) Stefanos Tzimas (PAOK Salonika to FC Nuremburg) – £15m
The German club triggered their right to a permanent deal just a few hours before they sold him to Brighton for £20.8m. Nice work if you can get it…especially as they keep Tzimas for the rest of the season as part of the deal.