Deadline day transfers: Winter window spending up on last year

Premier League clubs' total expenditure in the winter transfer window was approximately £370 million, a significant increase compared to last year's £100 million. Notably, Manchester City's spending nearly equaled the combined total of the other 19 top-flight teams, demonstrating their strong financial power and determination in player acquisitions.

Despite the increase in spending, it still represents a considerable gap compared to the record £815 million spent in 2023. The level of activity in this year's winter transfer market still has room for improvement compared to its historical peak.

Manchester City signed Porto midfielder Nico Gonzalez for £50 million before the 23:00 GMT deadline on Monday. According to Football Transfers, this brings Manchester City's total expenditure to approximately £180 million, reflecting the club's support for manager Pep Guardiola and aiming to enhance the existing squad of the defending champions. Manchester City's spending is the second-highest in winter transfer window history, only surpassed by Chelsea's £275 million in 2023.

Manchester City's performance this season has not met expectations. The team experienced a slump in form during November and December, losing six out of eight Premier League matches, almost ending their hopes of defending their title again. Furthermore, the club is also facing 115 charges alleging breaches of the Premier League's financial rules, undoubtedly casting a shadow over the team.

Despite facing numerous challenges, Manchester City still took significant action in the winter transfer window, signing Omar Marmoush from Eintracht Frankfurt for £59 million, Vitor Reis from Palmeiras for £29.6 million, Abdulkodir Khusanov from Lens for £33.6 million, and completing the signing of Gonzalez for £50 million before Monday's deadline. They also signed Argentine U17 midfielder Claudio Echeverri for £12.5 million but immediately loaned him back to River Plate.

Despite spending approximately £180 million, Manchester City's net expenditure for the 2024-25 season to date is £67 million, due to Julian Alvarez's £64.4 million transfer to Atletico Madrid and defender Joao Cancelo's £21.2 million transfer to Saudi Pro League club Al-Hilal last summer. Manchester City rarely spends heavily in the winter transfer window, but this is their biggest outlay since the £225 million spent in the summer window of 2017.

Football finance expert Kieran Maguire said on BBC Radio 5 Live: "From a financial point of view, Manchester City are in a very strong position. Under these profitability and sustainability rules, you are allowed to lose £105 million over a rolling three-year period. Manchester City have probably generated profits of around £160 million to £170 million, because they've had a lot of players leave the club, plus the sponsors and broadcasters' bonuses that come with qualifying for European competitions every year, winning all these trophies."

Regarding the charges facing Manchester City, Maguire added: "These 115 charges relate to the period between 2009 and 2018, so in some respects, that's a long time ago. When we eventually get a verdict, I think we have to have a wholesale reset in terms of their future spending."

As is often the case with many transfer deadlines in recent times, things only became active towards the very end. At 18:00 GMT, five hours before the window closed, only two deals had been completed in the Premier League, and both involved Brighton. The first was forward Evan Ferguson joining West Ham United on loan from the Seagulls for the remainder of the season, before Brighton signed 19-year-old striker Stefanos Tzimkas from Nurnberg for £20.8 million.

A quiet transfer deadline needs a saga full of twists and turns, and that's exactly what Axel Disasi provided. The Chelsea defender initially wanted to stay and fight for his place but was told it would be best to leave. Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur both emerged as suitors, but Spurs quickly cooled their interest after sensing he didn't want to join. His agent then seemingly convinced Disasi out of nowhere that Spurs would be better, but they ended up losing out to Villa, with the clubs agreeing on a loan deal, although the deal was not confirmed before the 23:00 GMT deadline.

Villa also loaned Spanish midfielder Marco Asensio from Paris Saint-Germain in the final hours before the window closed. Other notable transfers as the deadline approached included Tottenham Hotspur loaning French U21 forward Mathis Tel from Bayern Munich, while Crystal Palace loaned full-back Ben Chilwell from Chelsea.

It was a quiet window for Manchester United, with only two players joining and no arrivals on deadline day. Patrick Dorgu was their major signing, with the defender joining from Lecce for £25 million. The other arrival was 18-year-old defender Aiden Hven from Arsenal. However, there were also some significant departures, with Antony, who joined Manchester United from Ajax for £81.3 million in August 2022, joining Real Betis on loan, while Marcus Rashford joined Villa on loan.

BBC Sport's chief football writer Simon Stone: Ultimately, another element of manager Ruben Amorim's assessment of Manchester United's transfer business has dominated - don't repeat mistakes, even though he said the club would try to bring in new players on deadline day. Manchester United did explore the loan market, and discussions were held around Tel. However, according to Manchester United sources, the deal structure on offer didn't make sense. They actually felt they were taking a risk on a young player, knowing that if he performed well, Bayern Munich would benefit from the increase in his value. But there was also a wider view, according to officials at Old Trafford, of avoiding what they considered to be "reckless and expensive risks," which is essentially why Manchester United ended up in the mess that Sir Jim Ratcliffe is trying to sort out.

The reality is that after years of huge losses, Manchester United don't have the capacity to buy anyone unless they sell someone for a profit. Amortization isn't a word football supporters tend to use when they're talking about games. But essentially, it's the value of a specific player in terms of what he cost and how long he's got left on his contract. If a player is sold for more than his "value," that's a profit and is useful in terms of PSR. If they sell at a loss, it reduces the scope for spending. That's essentially why Premier League clubs sell "homegrown" players. For Manchester United, that would mean academy graduates Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo - even though Garnacho was signed from Atletico Madrid. The problem is that Amorim wants to keep both players.

Spending is down this month, with the majority of Rashford and Antony's wages being paid by Villa and Real Betis respectively. But that's presumably how they managed to bring in Dorgu and Hven. Senior players Victor Lindelof and Christian Eriksen are likely to leave Old Trafford when their contracts expire in the summer. Casemiro's value will also decrease. It won't be perfect, but Manchester United will be in a better position than they are now. That's the thinking. The problem is that the players they have don't seem capable of lifting them massively from their current position of 13th. Amorim is the one who has to contend with that.

Of the Premier League signings involving fees in the winter window, the average age of the players signed was just 20.5 years. Bournemouth signed 19-year-old left-back Julio Soler and 18-year-old center-back Mate Ajimboni, while Brighton's three signings - Tzimkas, Diego Gomez, and Elan Kashin - were 19, 21, and 23 years old respectively. Manchester United's main signing of the winter window was 20-year-old Dorgu, while defender Aiden Hven is 18 years old. Meanwhile, Manchester City's four new additions have an average age of 20.5 years.

So far this season, 54 homegrown players have made their top-flight debuts, which, according to the Premier League, is on course to be the highest level since the introduction of the Elite Player Performance Plan. There have been very few transfers between Premier League clubs in the winter window. On deadline day, Chilwell moved from Chelsea to Crystal Palace, Ferguson joined West Ham United from Brighton, and 18-year-old defender Somto Boniface joined Ipswich Town from Chelsea. Prior to that, there had only been three transfers between Premier League clubs throughout January - Rashford's move to Villa, Ipswich signing Jaden Philogene from Villa for around £20 million, and Brighton loaning Julio Enciso.

Paul Macdonald from FootballTransfers.com said: "The income levels are so high for Premier League teams now that they know they can get massive fees from teams near the top. There's no real need to sell or do business at a discount unless Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) truly dictate it. Alexander Isak is a perfect example. Newcastle United are struggling to spend because of PSR, but they're under absolutely no obligation to sell. Arsenal probably had little chance of getting that deal done. Finally, the Champions League race is so competitive this year; teams don't want to sell assets when there's such a valuable prize potentially within touching distance."