The biggest spenders of the 2024 January Transfer Window

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by Jack Hyom

A big drop in Premier League transfer fees leads to €698m decrease in total spend, but which leagues and clubs are on the up. We crunch the numbers.

The Premier League’s lowest January spend in 14 years has been key in a significant drop in spending during the 2024 Winter Transfer Window. But a host of other leagues have increased their spend as they compete with England’s top flight.

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Premier League impact on January transfer business

The Premier League’s lowest January spend in 14 years, since spending €35m on signings in January 2010, has been key in a significant drop in spending during the 2024 Winter Transfer Window. But a host of other leagues have increased their spend as they compete with England’s top flight.

Here we crunch the numbers and see who the big spenders and winners were in the January Transfer Window.

Total spend dropped €698million from the 2023 January window, from €1.79billion to €1.1bn, with Premier League spend decreasing by €740m to €80m.

Transfer expenditure went up most significantly in Italy’s Serie A (up €62m to €91m), Brazil’s Serie A (up €41m to €127m) and Ligue 1 in France (up €29m to €160m), while the Saudi Pro League spend increased from €7m in 2023 to €23m in 2024.

Coinciding with the decrease in transfer fees, the number of deals dropping from 21.7k to 9.7k worldwide.

Of the deals that have been done in 2024, 71% were free transfers and 23% were loans, down from 72% and 25% respectively, meaning that more clubs decided to invest in permanent signings with a fee.

Brazil among biggest spenders

The top flight in Brazil, Serie A, rivalled the biggest leagues in Europe for transfer spend, with only France’s Ligue 1 topping their €127m on transfers.

Italy’s Serie A, the Premier League and Spain’s La Liga complete the top five, with the PL down from first to fourth.

Interestingly, the two leagues with the biggest transfer profits were the top tiers in Argentina, the Superliga, and Brazil, showing the significant increase in investment both in and out of Brazilian football in 2024.

Article - Biggest spend and income

The joint-biggest spenders in January were the champions of France and Spain, Paris Saint-Germain and FC Barcelona, and their big signings all came from Brazil. PSG signed two €20m players, São Paulo FC centre-back Lucas Beraldo and Corinthians defensive midfielder Gabriel Moscardo, while Barcelona’s €40m investment was all on 18-year-old Club Athletico Paranaense sensation Vitor Roque.

Roque’s move was the biggest transfer in January, followed by Sacha Boey's €30m switch from Galatasaray to FC Bayern. In third, Tottenham Hotspur's €25m Radu Dragusin (pictured, top) signing accounted for nearly a third of the Premier League's total spend.

Biggest-spending Clubs in 2024 January Transfer Window