January transfer window 2015: How did the Premier League’s activity compare to previous years?
Was this year’s January transfer window the most boring yet? That was the sentiment in the press today as fans and journalists alike bemoaned the “dudline day” that saw little in the way of shock moves of big name signings.
Over £144m was spent by Premier League clubs across the month, who appeared unable or unwilling to continue the spending spree of the summer when almost £1bn was splurged on new players.
Not once in the last five years have fewer players been signed by Premier League clubs, who made a total of 37 signings during the window. Last year, 50 players were signed by Premier League clubs and not since 2011 has there been fewer than 40 signings made during the window.
However in 2011 clubs spent a record £235m and set pulses racing as stars such as Fernando Torres and Andy Carroll traded tribes for blockbuster fees. On average each player moved for £6.7m while this year that average was way down at just £3.9m.
The final day of the window always sees the most activity as clubs scurry to bolster their squads before it is too late. For example, in 2011 Premier League clubs had bought just 19 players as the window ticked into deadline day, before the toal rocketed up to 37 in the final 24 hours.
Yet as the above graph demonstrates, activity in this year’s deadline day was far less pronounced. Just 13 players were signed on Monday, in stark contrast to 2012 and 2014 when 18 and 22 players respectively were captured.
were markedly more coy in the January window.
Almost £1bn was spent on players in the summer, yet collectively the top flight couldn’t even muster £150m over the past four weeks.
Just four teams paid more than £10m for a player, while three teams didn’t spend any money at all.
Nevertheless, there were still a total of 147 deals involving Premier League clubs this summer, and our interactive guide allows you
to dig into the data for yourself.
- Total amount spent:
- Total amount made:
- Biggest deal:
- Total signings:
- Busiest clubs:
- Biggest Spenders:
- Biggest Earners:
- £144,700,000
- £100,970,000
- Wilfried Bony
- 37
- Crystal Palace (7)
- Manchester City
- Chelsea FC
investments in the past month, with Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal collectively responsible for 54 per cent of all the the money spent.
It was all a far cry from the historic window of 2011, when a record £235m was spent by clubs in the top flight. Chelsea and Liverpool collectively
spent almost as much on the final day of that transfer window alone (£134.64m) than all 20 current Premier League clubs put together across the entirety of this window.
£49.8m traded hands on the final day, yet there was little in the way of last-gasp shocks. The big move of the day, Juan Cuadrado to Chelsea for
£29.4m, had been on the cards for a few days prior.
West Ham were the next to break ranks from the rest of their frugal competitors a full five days later with the £1.7m signing of Doneil Henry (yeah,
we’d already forgotten too). In fact, not until the financial juggernaut of Manchester City finally got their way with Wilfried Bony on 14
January did the cumulative spend of the league finally break the £10m mark.
Deadline day was unsurprisingly the busiest day of the window as 30 players grabbed their last chance to switch clubs.
Nine players arrived as temporary adjustments on the loan market, while a number of clubs looked to snap up a bargain with an out of contract
player. The only two goalkeepers signed this January – Victor Valdes by Manchester United and Mark Schwarzer by Leicester City – both arrived
on free transfers.
new Premier League club.
Although just eight out-and-out strikers were purchased, clubs still had a focus on boosting their firepower in the final months of
the season. Transfermarkt.co.uk define 10 of those 15 midfielders as either wingers or “attacking midfielders”.
With little time to scour the globe for an uncovered gem, clubs looked to stick to the familiar and the easily available.
A dash down the M1 on deadline day is a lot easier than flying through four different time zones.
Just over 44 per cent of all signings were bought from other Premier League clubs, while the Championship was the next
most popular hunting ground.
League is lacking in comparison to its European rivals. But if there is one sector in which it continually crushes its competition,
it’s the capacity to spend, spend, spend.
Even in a year lacking in bombast, the Premier League still spent more than double that of its closest competitor Serie A, whose
clubs spent a collective £66m.
Chelsea and Manchester City both spent more this January than the whole of Ligue 1 put together.
- Gabriel Paulista (Villarreal CF)
£17,600,000 - Krystian Bielik (Legia Warszawa)
£2,740,000
- Benik Afobe (Wolverhampton Wanderers)
£0 - Joel Campbell (Villarreal CF)
Loan - Yaya Sanogo (Crystal Palace)
Loan - Matt Macey (Accrington Stanley)
Loan - Lukas Podolski (Inter Milan)
Loan (fee: £528,000)
- Carles Gil (Valencia CF)
£3,700,000 - Scott Sinclair (Manchester City)
Loans
- Daniel Johnson (Preston North End)
£0 - Michael Drennan (Shamrock Rovers)
£0 - Callum Robinson (Preston North End)
Loan - Antonio Luna (Spezia Calcio)
Loan - Gary Gardner (Nottingham Forest)
Loan - Jordan Graham (Wolves)
£0
- Michael Keane (Manchester United)
£2,250,000
- n/a
- Juan Cuadrado (AC Fiorentina)
£29,390,000
- André Schürrle (VfL Wolfsburg)
£28,160,000 - Ryan Bertrand (Southampton FC)
£10,000,000 - Fernando Torres (AC Milan)
£2,640,000 - Mohamed Salah (AC Fiorentina)
Loan - Marko Marin (RSC Anderlecht)
Loan - Stipe Perica (Udinese Calcio)
Loan - Ulises Dávila (Vitória Setúbal FC)
Loan - Nathaniel Chalobah (Reading FC)
Loan - Tomás Kalas (Middlesbrough FC)
Loan - Todd Kane (Nottingham Forest)
Loan - Lewis Baker (Sheffield Wednesday)
Loan - Mark Schwarzer (Leicester City)
£0 - Alex Kiwomya (Barnsley )
Loan
- Jordon Mutch (Queens Park Rangers)
£5,580,000 - Pape Souaré (LOSC Lille)
£4,690,000 - Wilfried Zaha (Manchester United)
£3,370,000 - Chung-Yong Lee (Bolton Wanderers)
£0 - Keshi Anderson (Barton Rovers)
£0 - Yaya Sanogo (Arsenal FC)
Loan
- Stuart O’Keefe (Cardiff City)
£942,000 - Andy Johnson (Released)
£0 - Alex Wynter (Colchester United)
£0 - Barry Bannan (Bolton Wanderers)
Loan - Jack Hunt (Rotherham United)
Loan - Jake Gray (Cheltenham Town)
Loan - Jimmy Kébé (Unattached)
Released
- Aaron Lennon (Tottenham Hotspur)
Loan
- Samuel Eto’o (UC Sampdoria)
£0 - Christopher Long (Brentford FC)
Loan - John Lundstram (Leyton Orient)
Loan - Ben McLaughlin (Telford United)
Loan - Hallam Hope (Bury)
£0
- n/a
- Calaum Jahraldo-Martin (Alloa Athletic FC)
Loan
- Andrej Kramaric (HNK Rijeka)
£7,920,000 - Mark Schwarzer (Chelsea)
£0 - Robert Huth (Stoke City)
Loan
- Adam Dawson (Bristol Rovers)
Loan - Adam Smith (Mansfield Town)
Loan - Jack Barmby (Rotherham United)
Loan - Tom Hopper (Scunthorpe United)
Loan - Callum Elder (Mansfield Town)
Loan
- n/a
- Oussama Assaidi (Al-Ahli Club)
£0 - Oluwaseyi Ojo (Wigan Athletic)
Loan - Jack Dunn (Cheltenham Town)
Loan - Kevin Stewart (Cheltenham Town)
Loan - Lloyd Jones (Cheltenham Town)
Loan
- Wilfried Bony (Swansea City)
£31,810,000
- Scott Sinclair (Aston Villa)
Loan - Bruno Zuculini (Córdoba CF)
Loan - Chidiebere Nwakali (FC Málaga)
Loan - George Evans (Scunthorpe United)
Loan - Kelechi Iheanacho (Atlético Malagueño)
Loan - Devante Cole (Milton Keynes Dons)
Loan - Matija Nastasic (FC Schalke 04)
Loan
- Victor Valdés (Unattached)
£0 - Sadiq El Fitouri (Salford City)
£0 - Andy Kellett (Bolton Wanderers)
Loan
- Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace)
£3,370,000 - Michael Keane (Burnley)
£2,250,000 - Darren Fletcher (West Bromwich Albion)
£0 - Anderson (Sport Club Internacional)
£0 - Jesse Lingard (Derby County)
Loan - Saidy Janko (Bolton Wanderers)
Loan - Ben Amos (Bolton Wanderers)
Loan - Joe Rothwell (Blackpool FC)
Loan - Will Keane (Sheffield Wednesday)
Loan - Sam Johnstone (Preston North End)
Loan - Ben Pearson (Barnsley)
Loan
- n/a
- Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa (AS Roma)
£6,470,000 - Davide Santon (Inter Milan)
Loan - Adam Campbell (FC Gateshead)
Loan - Callum Roberts (FC Gateshead)
Loan
- Mauro Zárate (West Ham United)
Loan
- Jordon Mutch (Crystal Palace)
£5,580,000 - Josh Laurent (Brentford FC)
£0
- Ryan Bertrand (Chelsea FC)
£10,000,000 - Filip Djuricic (SL Benfica)
Loan - Eljero Elia (Werder Bremen)
Loan
- Jos Hooiveld (Millwall FC)
Loan
- Philipp Wollscheid (Bayer 04 Leverkusen)
Loan
- Maurice Edu (Philadelphia Union)
£0 - Robert Huth (Leicester City)
Loan - Tomi Adeloye (Macclesfield Town)
Loan - George Waring (Barnsley)
Loan
- Jermain Defoe (Toronto FC)
£0
- Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC)
£0 - David Ferguson (Blackpool FC)
£0 - Cabral (Released)
£0 - Connor Oliver (Blackpool FC)
£0 - Charalampos Mavrias (Panathinaikos Athens)
Loan - Mikael Mandron (Shrewsbury Town)
Loan - Scott Harrison (Hartlepool United)
Loan
- Kyle Naughton (Tottenham Hotspur)
£5,810,000 - Jack Cork (Southampton FC)
£3,520,000 - Matt Grimes (Exeter City)
£1,970,000
- Wilfried Bony (Manchester City)
£31,810,000 - Ashley Richards (Fulham FC)
Loan - Alan Tate (Crewe Alexandra)
Loan
- Dele Alli (MK Dons)
£5,830,000
- Kyle Naughton (Swansea City)
£5,810,000 - Aaron Lennon (Everton)
Loan - Dele Alli (MK Dons)
Loan - Kenny McEvoy (Colchester United)
Loan - Milos Veljkovic (Charlton Athletic)
Loan - Dominic Ball (Cambridge United)
Loan - Grant Hall (Blackpool FC)
Loan - Jordan Archer (Millwall FC)
Loan - Benoît Assou-Ekotto (Released)
Loan
- Callum McManaman (Wigan Athletic)
£5,590,000 - Darren Fletcher (Manchester United)
£0
- Luke Daniels (Scunthorpe United)
Loan
- Doneil Henry (Apollon Limassol)
£1,670,000 - Stephen Hendrie (Hamilton Academical FC)
£1,170,000
- Blair Turgott (Coventry City)
£0 - Jamie Harney (Colchester United)
£0 - Stephen Hendrie (Hamilton Academical FC)
Loan - Sean Maguire (Accrington Stanley)
Loan - Mauro Zárate (QPR)
Loan - Nathan Mavila (Wealdstone FC)
Loan - Paul McCallum (Portsmouth FC)
Loan - Ricardo Vaz Tê (Akhisar Belediye Genclik ve Spor)
Loan
- Gabriel Paulista (Arsenal FC)
£13,200,000 - Ryan Bertrand (Southampton FC)
£10,000,000 - Kyle Naughton (Swansea City)
£5,810,000 - Pape Souaré (Crystal Palace)
£4,690,000 - Michael Keane (Burnley)
£2,250,000 - Doneil Henry (West Ham United)
£1,670,000 - Stephen Hendrie (West Ham United)
£1,170,000 - Sadiq El Fitouri (Manchester United)
£0 - Robert Huth (Leicester City)
Loan - Andy Kellett (Manchester United)
Loan - Philipp Wollscheid (Stoke City)
Loan
- Wilfried Bony (Manchester City)
£31,810,000 - Andrej Kramaric (Leicester City)
£7,920,000 - Dame N’Doye (Hull City)
£3,500,000 - Jermain Defoe (Sunderland AFC)
£0 - Shola Ameobi (Crystal Palace)
£0 - Keshi Anderson (Crystal Palace)
£0 - Yaya Sanogo (Crystal Palace)
Loan - Mauro Zárate (Queens Park Rangers)
Loan
- Juan Cuadrado (Chelsea FC)
£29,390,000 - Dele Alli (Tottenham Hotspur)
£5,830,000 - Callum McManaman (West Bromwich Albion)
£5,590,000 - Jordon Mutch (Crystal Palace)
£5,580,000 - Carles Gil (Aston Villa)
£3,700,000 - Jack Cork (Swansea City)
£3,520,000 - Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace)
£3,370,000 - Krystian Bielik (Arsenal FC)
£2,740,000 - Matt Grimes (Swansea City)
£1,970,000 - Darren Fletcher (West Bromwich Albion)
£0 - Chung-Yong Lee (Crystal Palace)
£0 - Aaron Lennon (Everton FC)
Loan - Filip Djuricic (Southampton FC)
Loan - Eljero Elia (Southampton FC)
Loan - Scott Sinclair (Aston Villa)
Loan
- Mark Schwarzer (Leicester City)
£0 - Victor Valdés (Manchester United)
£0
All data courtesy of transfermarkt.co.uk
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