The records and big winners of the Winter Transfer Window
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Data Insights
The records and big winners of the Winter Transfer Window
by Jonathan Rest
A hive of activity in the 2023 Winter Window resulted in a milestone of 3,000 deals being passed on TransferRoom. From the most lucrative to the most local, here are the highlights. 
TransferRoom gives us more transparency and direct contact to all clubs, so we can gain a stronger connection with them.
Jaka Maucec
General Secretary, NS Mura

1. Biggest fee

 

The window had a higher volume of high value deals via TransferRoom, with the average fee for paid transfers enabled by the platform reaching an all-time high of €2.7m.

 

There were a two transfers where eight-figure sums exchanged hands, led by Carlos Alcaraz's €13.65m move to Southampton from Racing Club after the Premier League side declared interest to the Argentinian's Trusted Agent Insua & Rol Sports Group

 

AFC Bournemouth were alerted to the availability of Antoine Semenyo following a Super Pitch from Bristol City, and the striker was eager to make the switch to the Premier League with a €10.2m transfer quickly completed.

 

And Evander became the most expensive signing in the history of Portland Timbers with a €9.5m switch to MLS from FC Midtjylland.

 

2. Longest-distance move

 

While Stipe Biuk's €6.5m move from HNK Hajduk Split to Los Angeles FC was not quite enough to get him on the biggest fee leaderboard, it was the transfer that racked up the biggest travel distance: 10,245km.

 

That was just far enough to beat the 9,541km Mateo Klimowicz travelled to get from VfB Stuttgart to his new club Atlético de San Luis in Mexico.

 

Daniel Luna's move from Deportivo Cali to RCD Mallorca (8,869km) was the third longest-distance transfer done on TransferRoom in the window.

 

3. Shortest-distance move

 

Noah Naujoks (pictured) didn't even need to move house, let alone city as he left Feyenoord for Rotterdam rivals Excelsior after they became aware of his availability on the platform. The journey between the two clubs' stadiums is just 5.5km.

 

All Norwegian clubs are on TransferRoom thanks to a league-wide agreement and that access to real-time market intelligence led to Viking FK's Fredrik Torsteinbö making the 13.9km move from Stavanger to Sandnes.

 

Meanwhile, Jon Russell took a 22.7km trip across Yorkshire to join Barnsley from Huddersfield Town following a Super Pitch from the latter.

 

4. Fastest deal

 

FC Toulouse were keen to give first-team experience to Naatan Skyttä in the second half of the season, and Odense BK were equally keen to do just that. It took just 26 minutes for the Danish club to declare interest in the Ligue 1 side's pitch, which got the ball rolling on a loan deal.

 

The next two quickest deals (from pitching to declaring interest) involved clubs in the same countries: Iyad Mohamed joining Le Mans from FC Caen on loan (60 minutes); and Lago Júnior making a permanent move from RCD Mallorca to Malaga CF (75 minutes).

 

5. Most active club

 

FC Groningen just pip Huddersfield Town to the award. While both clubs finalised five transfers powered by TransferRoom during the Winter Window, for Groningen that represented 56% of their window business, with all five transfers in. That compared to 36% of Huddersfield's work in the transfer market, with four players moved out through the platform.

 

As well as doing lucrative and long-distance business, Bristol City and San Luis were also very active, recording four deals each helped by TransferRoom.

 

6. Most active league

 

Driven by the likes of Huddersfield and Bristol City, it is no surprise that the English Championship was the league with the most deals for its clubs assisted by football's digital marketplace.

 

In total there were 19 transfers done by the 24 Championship clubs combined, four more than Premier League clubs and five more than in Norway's Eliteserien, where the league-wide agreement continues to pay dividends.

7. Most active agency

 

Jim Solbakken is one of Scandinavia's top agents, and he was the top agent deal-maker on TransferRoom in the Winter Window. His Player Solution agency completed permanent moves for three of its clients, including long distance moves for the likes of Marius Høibråten from FK Bodø/Glimt to Urawa Red Diamonds.

 

A number of Trusted Agents did two deals in the Window, including Elite Consulting and Insua & Rol Sports Group.

 

8. Quickest deal after joining TransferRoom (club)

 

NS Mura officially joined TransferRoom at the beginning of December 2022, with the Slovenian club's stated aim to "connect directly with decision makers worldwide to do business quickly and more efficiently."

 

Just 32 days later they were seeing an immediate return on investment, as they sold 19-year-old midfielder Tio Cipot to Serie A's Spezia Calcio for a club-record fee, believed to be in the region of €700,000.

 

9. Quickest deal after joining TransferRoom (agency)

 

Another new member at TransferRoom in December was the Finnish agent, Ark Ratkaisut. In his first available transfer window - some 41 days later - he secured a new opportunity for defender Arttu Hoskonen, who left HJK Helsinki in his home country for a new adventure in Poland with Cracovia, another club that is benefitting from their league's wider agreement with TransferRoom.

 

10. A Transfer Market first

 

In the Winter Window, one man made a move powered by TransferRoom that opened up the first player pathway between two leagues.

 

Step forward Clément Bayiha

 

The Canadian winger made the move to York United FC after a Plus Pitch on the platform by HamKam finalised in a transfer. It marks the first time that a player has moved from Norway's top division to the Canadian Premier League.

 

Detailed analysis of the Winter Transfer Window in markets around the world can be found in TransferRoom's inaugural Transfer Window Report available here. 

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