The race for the Premier League crown could go down to the wire as Liverpool and Arsenal battle it out for glory. Yet incredibly, the title rivals failed to spend a single penny in the winter window – with fallen champions Manchester City blowing everyone else out of the water.
Arne Slot could be on the cusp of history in his debut season at Anfield as the table-toppers continue their quest for a record-equalling 20th top-flight title. But Mikel Arteta has other plans as the Gunners refuse to give up on their dream of being crowned champions for the first time since 2003/04.
Barring a miracle, Pep Guardiola’s ambition of leading City to five-in-a-row is dead and buried after their campaign spectacularly hit the buffers – leaving them a staggering 15 points adrift of top spot. Yet while most managers’ jobs would be on the line after overseeing a dramatic slump, the Citizens have bankrolled their serial-winning boss’ rebuild to the tune of £184.6million – dwarfing the rest of England’s business.
It’s an eye-watering amount as the Blues pushed the boat out to land Omar Marmoush from Frankfurt in a deal worth £59m, the league’s most expensive transfer of the window. Brighton have also splashed the cash in January, splurging more than £40m on new signings, while the £30m capture of Patrick Dorgu sees crisis-hit Manchester United third on the highest-spending list.
Aston Villa have been more strategic with their money, completing ambitious loan deals for Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio, albeit both stars will command huge salaries. Unai Emery also pulled off a major coup by landing Donyell Malen for £20m and the Midlands club will set their sights on making a late charge for the top four.
The final figure doesn’t come close to surpassing the astronomical 2023 record of £815m, but all 20 clubs combined have still shelled out a whopping £387.4m* this month – more than any other European league. Here, Record Sport brings you every in and out of January 2025.
*Exclusive of undisclosed fees.
Arsenal – £0
Ins
N/A
Outs
Ayden Heaven — Manchester United, £1m; Josh Robinson – Wigan, undisclosed; Marquinhos – Cruzeiro, loan; Maldini Kacurri – Bromley, loan.
Aston Villa – £26m+
Ins
Donyell Malen – Borussia Dortmund, £20m; Andres Garcia – Levante, £6m; Marcus Rashford – Man Utd, loan; Marco Asensio – Paris Saint-Germain, loan.
Outs
Jhon Duran – Al Nassr, £64m; Lewis Dobbin – Norwich, loan; Jaden Philogene, Ipswich, £20m; Diego Carlos – Fenerbahce, £10m; Louie Barry – Hull, loan; Emiliano Buendia – Bayer Leverkusen, loan; Kosta Nedeljkovic – RB Leipzig, loan; Samuel Iling-Junior – Middlesbrough, loan; Sil Swinkels – Bristol Rovers, loan; Travis Patterson – MK Dons, loan.
Bournemouth – £8.1m+
Ins
Matai Akinmboni – DC United, £1.5m; Kai Crampton – Chelsea, undisclosed; Julio Soler – Lanus, £6.6m; Daniel Jebbison – Watford, recalled from loan; Zain Silcott-Duberry – Chelsea, undisclosed.
Outs
Lewis Brown – Salisbury, loan; Finn Tonks – Farnborough, loan; Philip Billing – Napoli, loan; Max Aarons – Valencia, loan; Mark Travers – Middlesbrough, loan.
Brentford – £13.5m?
Ins
Michael Kayode – Fiorentina, loan (£13.5m option to buy).
Outs
Ashley Hay – Cheltenham, loan; Val Adedokun – Cheltenham, loan; Jayden Meghoma – Preston, loan; Ellery Balcombe – Motherwell, loan; Mads Roerslev – Wolfsburg, loan; Matthew Cox – Crawley, loan.
Brighton – £42m
Ins
Stefanos Tzimas – Nuremberg, £22m; Eiran Cashin – Derby, £9m; Diego Gomez – Inter Miami, £11m.
Outs
Evan Ferguson – West Ham, loan; Ruairi McConville – Norwich, undisclosed; Benicio Baker-Boaitey – Millwall, undisclosed; Louis Flower – Gateshead, loan; Jakub Moder – Feyenoord, £3.2m; Imari Samuels – Dundee Utd, undisclosed; Ben Jackson – Queen’s Park, loan; Julio Enciso – Ipswich, loan; Kamari Doyle – Crawley, loan.
Chelsea – £12.5m
Ins
Mathis Amougou – St Etienne, £12.5m.
Outs
Renato Veiga – Juventus, loan; Alex Matos – Oxford United, loan; Kai Crampton – Bournemouth, undisclosed; Zain Silcott-Duberry – Bournemouth, undisclosed; Jimmy-Jay Morgan – Gillingham, loan; Cesare Casadei – Torino, £12.5m; Caleb Wiley – Watford, loan.
Crystal Palace – £14.5m
Ins
Romain Esse – Millwall, £14.5m.
Outs
Chris Francis – Dagenham & Redbridge, loan; Jemiah Umolu – Port Vale, loan; Asher Agbinone – Gillingham, loan; Trevoh Chalobah – Chelsea, recalled from loan; Jeffrey Schlupp – Celtic, loan.
Everton – £0
Ins
N/A
Outs
Charlie Whitaker – Notts County, free; Stanley Mills – Oxford Utd, undisclosed.
Fulham – £0
Ins
Willian – free.
Outs
Olly Sanderson – Harrogate, loan
Ipswich Town – £20m
Ins
Ben Godfrey – Atalanta, loan; Jaden Philogene – Aston Villa, £20m; Julio Enciso – Brighton, loan.
Outs
Ali Al-Hamadi – Stoke, loan; Harry Clarke – Sheffield United, loan.
Leicester City – £1.9m
Ins
Woyo Coulibaly – Parma, £1.9m.
Outs
Tom Cannon – Sheffield United, £10m; Hamza Choudhury – Sheffield United, loan; Tom Wilson-Brown – Kilmarnock, loan.
Liverpool – £0
Ins
N/A
Outs
Rhys Williams – Morecambe, loan; Marcelo Pitaluga – Fluminense, undisclosed; Calvin Ramsay – Kilmarnock, loan; Tom Hill – Harrogate, undisclosed; Stefan Bajcetic – Las Palmas, loan; Kaide Gordon – Portsmouth, loan.
Manchester City – £184.6m
Ins
Claudio Echeverri – River Plate, £12.5m (deal agreed in January 2024); Abdukodir Khusanov – Lens, £33.5m; Vitor Reis – Palmeiras, £29.6m; Omar Marmoush – Eintracht Frankfurt, £59m; Nico Gonzalez – Porto, £50m.
Outs
Kyle Walker – AC Milan, loan; Issa Kabore – Werder Bremen, loan; Josh Wilson-Esbrand – Stoke, loan.
Manchester United – £31m
Ins
Ayden Heaven – Arsenal, £1m; Patrick Dorgu – Lecce, £30m.
Outs
Antony – Real Betis, loan; Ethan Ennis – Doncaster, loan; Ethan Williams – Cheltenham, loan; Dan Gore – Rotherham, loan; Marcus Rashford – Aston Villa, loan.
Newcastle United – £0
Ins
N/A
Outs
Isaac Hayden – Portsmouth, loan; Charlie McArthur – Carlisle, loan; Alex Murphy – Bolton, loan; Lloyd Kelly – Juventus, loan (with obligation to buy).
Nottingham Forest – £0
Ins
Wayne Hennessey – free; Joel Ndala – Manchester City, loan (£4m option to buy).
Outs
Aaron Donnelly – Dundee, undisclosed; Esapa Osong – Cambridge United, loan; James Ward-Prowse – West Ham; Lewis O’Brien – Swansea, loan.
Southampton – £4.2m+
Ins
Wellington- Sao Paulo, undisclosed; Joachim Kayi Sanda – Valenciennes, £4.2m; Albert Gronbaek – Rennes, loan; Zach Awe – Accrington, end of loan; Ollie Wright – Yeovil, end of loan.
Outs
Ronnie Edwards – QPR, loan; Ben Brereton Diaz – Sheffield United, loan; Maxwel Cornet – West Ham, recalled from loan; Dom Ballard – Cambridge, loan; Sam Amo-Ameyaw – RC Strasbourg, loan; Gavin Bazunu – Standard de Liege, loan.
Tottenham Hotspur – £12.5m+
Ins
Antonin Kinsky – Slavia Prague, £12.5m; Min-Hyeok Yang – Gangwon FC, undisclosed (deal agreed July 2024); Kevin Danso – Lens, loan; Mathys Tel – Bayern Munich, loan (option to buy).
Outs
Matthew Craig – Mansfield, loan; Alfie Dorrington – Aberdeen, loan; Min-Hyeok Yang – QPR, loan; Will Lankshear – West Brom, loan.
West Ham – £0
Ins
Evan Ferguson – Brighton, loan; James Ward-Prowse – Nottingham Forest, recalled from loan.
Outs
Maxwel Cornet – Genoa, loan.
Wolves – £16.6m
Ins
Emmanuel Agbadou – Reims, £16.6m.
Outs
Luke Cundle – Millwall, undisclosed