The 10 biggest spenders of the January transfer window

Tom Weber

• Updated: 14 Feb 2024 13:15 GMT
• 4 min read

The 2024 January transfer window is over and there is a surprising name at the top of the spending charts.

The Saudi Pro League, which upset the European apple cart in the summer, refrained from spending big in January as many clubs had already used up their budget allocations in the previous window.

Al-Hilal, who were the world's second-biggest spenders in the summer after Chelsea, were the only Saudi Arabian side to have completed a major incoming transfer, signing Renan Lodi from Marseille for €23 million.

It has been a similar story in the Premier League, with none of the league's biggest hitters completing a prominent signing. Instead, Crystal Palace spent the most money of any Premier League club in January.

The 10 biggest spenders of the 2024 January transfer window

Taking the above into account, it is unsurprising to see some rather unusual names among January's ten biggest spenders.

Ligue 1 side Lyon spent the most money of any club during the 2024 January window after bringing in several reinforcements to rectify a historically bad start to the season.

The fallen French giants, who are facing a relegation battle, spent €50.1m on Malick Fofana, Gift Orban, Orel Mangala (loan) Adryelson, Lucas Perri and Nemanja Matic.

Barcelona spend the second largest amount in January, as the cash-strapped Catalans broke the bank to sign Brazilian wonderkid Vitor Roque for €40m.

Paris Saint-Germain also spent €40m during the January window, purchasing Brazilian wonderkids Lucas Beraldo and Gabriel Moscardo for €20m each.

The club with the fourth-biggest expenditure were Bayern Munich. Thomas Tuchel's side spent €30m on French right-back Sacha Boey, €4.5m on Jonah Kusi-Asare and €4m to sign Bryan Zaragoza on loan until the end of the season.

The Spain international will then join the club on a permanent deal.

Zenit St Petersburg were fifth. Despite being banned from the Champions League, they have bolstered their squad big-time with the additions of Artur, Pedro and Nino, as well as Russian international Ilzat Akhmetov, who were signed for a combined €29.9m.

Crystal Palace spent the sixth largest amount in January - purchasing Adam Wharton from Blckburn Rovers and Daniel Munoz from Genk in the final days of the window.

In seventh place is Benfica, while Rennes spent the eight most of any club. The former splashed €27m in January, and the latter spent €26.5m.

Tottenham's €25m purchase of Radu Dragusin sees them included in this list in ninth place, as Timo Werner only arrived on loan from RB Leipzig.

Leipzig complete the top 10 due to the €24m signing of Eljif Elmas from Napoli.