JANUARY deadline day isn’t known for big deals going through – but it doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened.
The winter transfer window is notoriously the harder to buy in.
Clubs are reluctant to part with their prized assets, and unless they have six months left on their contract, they will try to warn rivals off with big price tags.
Here SunSport takes a look at the top ten most expensive January deadline-day transfers.
Enzo Fernandez – Benfica to Chelsea – 2023 – £107m
Not only is this by far the biggest January deadline day transfer, it is also now a British record fee ever.
Chelsea concluded their mammoth spending under Todd Boehly for the month by triggering Fernandez’s Benfica release clause and getting the deal over the line just in time.
The move broke the £100m Manchester City spent on Jack Grealish 18 months earlier and meant the Blues coughed up £330m in a bonkers window.
10
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – Dortmund to Arsenal – 2018 – £55m
Aubameyang arrived with a goalscoring reputation and scored 92 goals in 163 appearances for the Gunners in his four-year spell at the club.
He also captained Arsenal before leaving in disgrace in February after falling out with Mikel Arteta but has two FA Cup medals to show for his time in North London.
10
Fernando Torres – Liverpool to Chelsea – 2011 – £50m
Chelsea broke the record for the most expensive signing by a British club when they stole Torres away from Anfield.
Despite helping the Blues win the Champions League in 2012 Torres never lived up to the heights he set as a Liverpool player, scoring just 45 goals in 172 games for Chelsea.
10
Pedro Porro – Sporting to Tottenham – 2023 – £37m*
One of the longest-winding and most convoluted transfers of the window went right down to the wire before Spurs eventually got it done.
The right-back joined on an initial loan deal until the end of the season but Tottenham have an obligation to sign Porro permanently in the summer for £37m.
10
Andy Carroll – Newcastle to Liverpool – 2011 – £35m
The big striker became the most expensive British player ever when he signed to replace Torres on January deadline day in 2011.
Like Torres he struggled for goals, scoring 11 in 58 games, and injury derailed his career – both at Anfield and West Ham, whom he joined from the Reds in 2013 on a permanent basis.
Carroll is now back at Reading after a brief spell with West Brom.
10
Willian – Shakhtar Donetsk to Anzhi – 2013 – £30m
In 2013 Willian made a very expensive move to former lavish spenders Anzhi Makhachkala.
But made just 22 appearances for the Russian side before joining Chelsea the following summer.
The Brazilian had a failed spell with Arsenal and returned to Corinthians but is now back in West London at Fulham.
10
Andre Schurrle – Chelsea to Wolfsburg – 2015 – £27m
The only player on the list to be sold abroad by a Prem club for big bucks, Chelsea will be chuffed they managed to bag £27m for Schurrle.
The German scored just 14 goals in 65 games for the Blues but retired suddenly aged 29 back in 2020, having followed up his 2018 World Cup win with a season at Fulham.
10
Juan Cuadrado – Fiorentina to Chelsea – 2015 – £26m
One of the weirder signings on the list since Juan Cuadrado was never really given a chance to prove himself at Stamford Bridge.
The Colombian did not come cheap and Mo Salah joined Fiorentina in exchange, with Cuadrado going on to make just 13 appearances for Chelsea before joining Juventus for £25m.
10
Hamed Traore – Sassuolo to Bournemouth – 2023 – £26m*
The Cherries swept on deadline day in 2023 with two big-money moves, spending £24m on Illia Zabarnyi and securing Traore as well.
Like Porro, the deal for Ivorian midfielder Traore was initially on loan but would be made permanent at the end of the season for a club-record £26m.
10
Lucas Moura – PSG to Spurs – 2018 – £24m
Lucas Moura still plays for Tottenham and he will always have a place in the hearts of Spurs fans after his hat-trick to secure a place in the 2019 Champions League final.
But his Tottenham career has been a bit hit and miss with only 19 goals in 139 games -and the forward is now very much a squad player under Antonio Conte.
10
