Chelsea in top spot: Clubs to spend most in one January transfer window

Chelsea in top ten twice 

It’s been an incredibly quiet start to the January window but there’s been increasingly signs of business heating up. The winter window is notoriously quieter than the summer with clubs’ budgets often stretched and loan deals are often more common. Some clubs are forced into panic-buys, while others decide to push the boat out to entice targets in order to meet their objectives for the season.

The biggest deal of the window so far is Antoine Semenyo’s €72 million move to Manchester City. Pep Guardiola’s men invested heavily to win the race for the Bournemouth star ahead of several Premier League rivals. The fee falls some way short of the record January deal, which remains Barcelona’s €135m acquisition of Phillipe Coutinho in 2018. But which club has spent the most in a single January transfer window? Let’s find out!

Which club has spent more in one January window?

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Chelsea’s outlay of €330m in January 2023 is the record any club has spent in one single winter window. It was a crazy month for the Stamford Bridge club as seven players on permanent transfers and João Félix on loan. The biggest signing was Enzo Fernández’s €121m arrival from Benfica and Mykhalo Mudryk cost €70m from Shakhtar. As the graphic below illustrates, Man City rank second after spending €218m last January.

Guardiola’s men invested heavily to salvage a terrible start to the season with Omar Marmoush and Nico Gonzalez the most expensive additions. Barcelona complete the top three after their €147m spend in January 2018, which included that Coutinho deal. Unsurprisingly, English clubs dominate the top ten but Jiangsu Suning also feature - the Chinese club have subsequently folded.