The biggest spenders of January window

Suraj Radia

• Updated: 24 Jan 2023 15:02 CST
• 3 min read

The January transfer window tends to be more low profile than the summer, with clubs often demanding higher fees for their stars, making mid-season moves difficult to pull off.

However, the additional World Cup premium hasn’t stopped teams from splashing the cash and making big money moves to bolster their squads for the second half of the season.

With the winter transfer window well underway, teams have already started to make moves and FootballTransfers has collated a regularly-updated list of the biggest spenders in January 2023 using the approximate figures available.

Premier League sides make up the vast majority of the biggest spenders, continuing the trend of English teams spending more than most the other European leagues combined.

Chelsea spent more than €180 million in the summer after the arrival of new owner Todd Boehly, bringing in the likes of Raheem Sterling, Marc Cucurella and Kalidou Koulibaly.

However, despite breaking the world record for most money spent in a single window, the Blues were unfazed by the outlay and continued to splash the cash in January.

Molde forward Datro David Fofana arrived for a fee of around €12m before Monaco’s Benoit Badiashile was signed for €38m to add to Chelsea’s defensive options.

Brazilian wonderkid Andrey Santos also signed from Vasco de Gama for around €12 as well as Atletico Madrid forward Joao Felix, who Chelsea paid €11m to loan until the end of the season.

But the most jawdropping deal of the lot was the capture of Mykhaylo Mudryk, with Chelsea paying €100m - €70m up front with €30m to follow in add-one - to steal the Shakhtar forward from under the noses of Arsenal and take the Blues’ total January outlay to more than €180m.

Compared to Chelsea, every other side’s dealings seem tame, with Arsenal the next biggest spenders following their recent acquisitions of Leandro Trossard from Brigthon and Jakub Kiwior from Spezia.

Although they have only signed one player, Liverpool are the third highest spenders in January with their capture of PSV’s Cody Gakpo, who arrived for around €42m.

Only three non-Premier League sides make the top 10, in Tigres, Flamengo and Benfica. Mexican side Tigres are the highest-spending of them with a €22.3m outlay, spent on Mexican pair Fernando Gorriaran and Nicolas Ibanez.

Nottingham Forest signed a staggering 23 players in the summer and they have added two more in January. raiding Palmeiras for Gustavo Scarpa on a free as well as midfielder Danilo for €20m.

Wolves loaned Atletico striker Matheus Cunha but there is an obligation to buy the Brazilian for €50m in the summer, while their €11m signing of Mario Lemina from Nice is their only permanent buy of the window.