The biggest transfer deals of the January window

David Lynch

• Updated: 19 May 2021 09:43 CDT
• 5 min read

The biggest deals of the January window have been revealed by a new FIFA report.

World football’s governing body have released their ‘International Transfer Market Snapshot’ for January 2021, a study of the most recent mid-season window.

And, alongside assessing the impact of Covid-19 on fees, the report highlights the most expensive moves completed last month.

Here, we take a look at the top nine transfers.

Joakim Maehle (Genk to Atalanta – £8.6m)

Joakim Maehle had already once acted as a replacement for Timothy Castagne in 2017 when he joined Genk following the departure of his fellow right-back.

And that move was effectively repeated this January when the Dane headed to Atalanta, who had lost Castagne to Leicester City just three months earlier.

With Hans Hateboer injured, the 23-year-old has had plenty of early opportunities to impress.

Arkadiusz Milik (Napoli to Marseille – £10.4m)

Arkadiusz Milik’s Napoli career had already been effectively ended by his decision not to sign a new contract over the summer.

The Poland international was left out of the Italian club’s squads for the Europa League and Serie A before a mid-season move to France allowed him to get his career back on track.

On loan with an obligation to buy, Milik will hope to bring his goalscoring talents to a fifth different country after successful stints in Poland, Germany, the Netherlands and Italy.

Jeremie Frimpong (Celtic to Bayer Leverkusen – £11.5m)

Jeremie Frimpong was givne the opportunity to test himself in one of Europe’s leading divisions when he made the move to Leverkusen.

The Dutch full-back, who joined the Scottish champions from Manchester City’s academy in 2019, won all three trophies available to him in his one full season in Glasgow.

Celtic boss Neil Lennon said of his departure: “The club received a really robust offer and we felt it was good business. He made it clear to me and to the board that he wanted to leave.”

Dennis Man (FCSB to Parma – £13m)

Parma secured the Romanian top-flight’s leading goalscorer when they got their Man last month.

The 22-year-old had scored 17 goals in just 20 games for league leaders FCSB prior to completing his move to Italy in the final days of January.

He has since appeared once in Serie A.

Krepin Diatta (Club Brugge to Monaco – £15m)

Krepin Diatta was in the midst of his best goalscoring season in senior football when he made a mid-season move to Monaco.

The 21-year-old had found the back of the net on 10 occasions in just 19 outings in the Belgian top-flight for Club Brugge, who he first joined from Norwegian side Sarpsborg 08 in 2018.

The Senegal international has since appeared twice for Monaco.

Dominik Szoboszlai (Red Bull Salzburg to Red Bull Leipzig – £18m)

Despite rumoured interest from the likes of Arsenal and Real Madrid, Dominik Szoboszlai chose to walk the well-worn path from Salzburg to Leipzig instead in January.

The 20-year-old’s prolific form from midfield earned him his move to a top European league, though he has been denied the opportunity to make an immediate impact.

Szoboszlai has been out injured since joining the club and is still waiting for his first appearance.

Sebastien Haller (West Ham United to Ajax – £20m)

Sebastien Haller only emerged as a shock target for Ajax late in the transfer window but the Dutch club were able to get a big-money deal over the line before the deadline.

The Frenchman had struggled in his two seasons in London, scoring just 14 goals in 54 appearances, but managed 51 goals in 98 outings during his last stint in the Netherlands with Utrecht.

Ajax will hope to help him rediscover that form, though the Amsterdam club will be without their star signing in the Europa League for the remainder of the campaign after an administrative error saw him accidentally left out of the squad.

Diego Rosa (Gremio to Manchester City – £23m)

Manchester City saw off reported competition from Juventus to sign Diego Rosa from Brazilian side Gremio in the January transfer window.

The 18-year-old had still to make a competitive appearances back in his homeland but made a name for himself as Brazil won the U17 World Cup in 2017.

After completing his move to City, the talented midfielder was immediately loaned out to Belgian second-tier outfit Lommel SK, where he is expected to spend the remainder of the season.

Amad Diallo (Atalanta to Manchester United – £37.2m)

Manchester United actually agreed their deal with Atalanta for Amad Diallo on deadline day of the summer transfer window, but they were forced to wait until January to get their man.

The 18-year-old had made just three first-team appearances for the Italian club by that point and went on to make only two more before his move to Old Trafford was completed.

However, the Red Devils have high hopes for a player who has gone straight into training with the first-team squad and scored twice on his debut for the club’s U23s side against Liverpool.