The Premier League had its quietest ever winter transfer deadline day as just seven deals were completed on Monday.
Not a single arrival was confirmed until 19:04 GMT – four minutes after the window in the English top flight closed – with Crystal Palace announcing the signing of striker Jorgen Strand Larsen from Wolves in a deal worth up to £48m.
Clubs can make signings for up to two hours after the official deadline, as long as a deal sheet is submitted before 19:00 to provide extra time for the necessary paperwork to be completed.
There were five further deals confirmed after the deadline – among them, Sunderland brought in Ecuador winger Nilson Angulo from Anderlecht in a deal worth £17.5m, while Wolves signed midfielder Angel Gomes from Marseille on loan and replaced Strand Larsen with Adam Armstrong from Southampton for £7m.
That took the overall spending in the Premier League during the winter window to more than £390m.
Liverpool did agree a deal on deadline day to sign defender Jeremy Jacquet from Rennes, but that move – and the payment of the £60m fee – won’t happen until the summer.
What else happened on deadline day?
The day’s two big talking points involved Crystal Palace – Strand Larsen’s arrival from Wolves and the calling off of fellow striker Jean-Philippe Mateta’s move to AC Milan because of issues with his medical.
Otherwise, it was a day largely devoid of transfer drama as none of the top-six clubs did any business.
One of the more interesting moves was a Premier League exit, as former England midfielder Kalvin Phillips moved from Manchester City to Championship side Sheffield United on loan for the rest of the season.
That move comes four years after City signed Phillips from Leeds in a deal worth £45m.
Other deals confirmed late on included Nottingham Forest’s signing of Borussia Monchengladbach defender Luca Netz, Chelsea winger Tyrique George’s move on loan to Everton for the rest of the season, while Tottenham and Arsenal both announced an academy signing.
| Team | Total spend |
|---|---|
| Arsenal | 0 |
| Man City | £84m |
| Liverpool | 0 |
| Chelsea | 0 |
| Man Utd | 0 |
| Tottenham | £47.8m |
Source: FootballTransfers.com • *Liverpool agreed deal to pay Rennes £60m for Jeremy Jacquet in summer
Why was deadline day so quiet?
A record £3.1bn was spent by Premier League clubs in the summer – significantly more than in the winter window.
The figure of £397m for this window isn’t hugely down on previous winters, with January always more low key than the summer as it is a notoriously difficult time for clubs to recruit effectively.
It is even harder to do that on deadline day, but this one was particularly quiet, for a variety of reasons.
The big outlay last summer will be one, while another could relate to a new system of Financial Fair Play (FFP) that will come in from next season.
Squad Cost Ratio (SCR) will replace Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR), meaning overall squad costs in the Premier League from 2026-27 will have to be limited to 85% of a club’s revenue.
“There’s always going to be a degree of anxiety as to keeping your financial house in order ahead of a far more active market [the summer window],” Paul Macdonald of FootballTransfers.com said.
“Clubs wanted to ensure they were in a compliant position rather than having an additional headache of being hamstrung under the new rules.”
| Rest of Premier League | Total spend |
|---|---|
| Aston Villa | £28.7m |
| Bournemouth | £36.5m |
| Brentford | £8.5m |
| Brighton | £1.8m |
| Burnley | £0 |
| Crystal Palace | £83m |
| Everton | £0 |
| Fulham | £27m |
| Leeds | £0 |
| Newcastle | £0 |
| Nottm Forest | £2.1m |
| Sunderland | £23.6m |
| West Ham | £47m |
| Wolves | £7m |
Source: FootballTransfers.com
Who were the biggest spenders in the winter window?
Manchester City made the biggest moves in this window as they looked to give themselves the best chance of challenging Arsenal for the Premier League title.
They signed forward Antoine Semenyo from Bournemouth for £64m on 9 January, while defender Marc Guehi joined from Crystal Palace for £20m on 16 January.
“The scenario now is Manchester City are chasing down Arsenal and the points gap is getting a little bit bigger, so you need those players who are ready to go and know what the intensity of this Premier League is like,” former England and Manchester City defender Steph Houghton told BBC Radio 5 live.
“It’s been a smart move from the club in terms of getting Marc Guehi and Antoine Semenyo. They’ve slotted in really well, which is testament to them.”
Crystal Palace’s deadline day move for Strand Larsen meant they spent £83m in the winter window, having signed Brennan Johnson for £35m from Tottenham.
Aston Villa – who are third – were the only other top-six side to pay out transfer fees during the winter window. They spent £18.25m on bringing back striker Tammy Abraham from Besiktas and £10.5m on winger Alysson from Gremio.
Premier League leaders Arsenal did no business during the winter window, with Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool – fourth, fifth and sixth respectively – also quiet.
While Manchester City spent money to bolster their squad for a title fight, at the other end of the table West Ham splashed out in a bid to avoid relegation to the Championship.
The Hammers, who are third from bottom and six points adrift of safety, spent a reported £21.8m on Brazilian striker Pablo Felipe from Portuguese club Gil Vicente and around £25m on striker Taty Castellanos from Lazio.
Tottenham, who are 14th, spent £35m on signing midfielder Conor Gallagher from Atletico Madrid, while Bournemouth used some of their money from the Semenyo sale to sign teenage striker Rayan from Vasco da Gama for £24.7m and Hungary midfielder Alex Toth for £10.4m from Ferencvaros.
How Premier League spending compared to rest of Europe
Despite a quiet deadline day, Premier League clubs still spent more overall in the winter window than sides in other major European leagues.
The next-biggest spending league was Serie A, with their clubs paying out a combined £205m in transfer fees.
Sassuolo were one of the most active Italian clubs, paying £22m for Marseille duo Ismael Kone and Darryl Bakola.
In Spain, the transfer window closed at 22:59 GMT, but La Liga business was quiet, with Atletico Madrid’s £30m deal for Ademola Lookman more than was spent be the rest of the division’s clubs combined (£20.3m).
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