The 2024 January transfer window is fast approaching with Premier League and EFL clubs eying the final pieces of their puzzles, so here is everything you need to know.
Teams around the nation are set to be busy targeting the players who can win them a title or steer a side to safety. The January transfer window can simply make or break a club’s season depending on the deals they strike. It may be a sign of desperation or a signal of their intent.
Last January saw Premier League teams shatter the spending records, as well, as Chelsea bet big on the transfers of Enzo Fernandez and Mykhailo Mudryk. While Everton made the most after selling Anthony Gordon to Newcastle United as one of two sides to make a profit.
Another record-breaking window during January 2024 will see Premier League sides make it four in a row, too. Top-flight sides fluttered £2.1bn in the summer of 2022, £815m in January 2023 and £2.4bn in the summer of 2023. But it could take some doing to match last January.
Chelsea by large led the way among Premier League sides with their spending in the January 2023 transfer window. Blues coach Mauricio Pochettino has even already called for the club to go big again. So, here is everything you need to know about the January transfer window.
When does the 2024 January transfer window open?
The 2024 January transfer window opens for Premier League and EFL teams on January 1. It is a nice and easy start date for English sides and their rivals in the Bundesliga and Ligue 1 as New Year’s Day is on a Monday. But the Spanish and Italian windows will open on January 2.
January 1 is also the day from which European teams can begin to negotiate Bosman moves for upcoming free agents. Players who will be out of contract on June 30, 2024 can agree to pre-contracts with foreign clubs at the turn of the year. English sides do not have the luxury.
When does the 2024 January transfer window close?
Premier League sides have until 23:00 GMT on February 1 to finalise their transfer activity in 2024, with the January window closing on a Thursday night. Teams in Germany’s Bundesliga also have until February 1 to conclude their deals. But their window will shut at 17:00 GMT.
However, deadline day for the January transfer windows in Spain’s La Liga, Italy’s Serie A and France’s Ligue 1 is January 31. The markets will even slam shut in Spain at 23:00 and 19:00 GMT in Italy. Ligue 1 is still to announce the time that its January transfer window will close.
How much did Premier League teams spend in January 2023?
Premier League teams spent a record-breaking £815m in the 2023 January transfer window, per BBC Sport. The 20 clubs that made up the 2022/23 top-flight season even spent £275m on deadline day alone. They smashed the old record in a January transfer window of £150m.
The overall amount also included a British-record £107 transfer from Benfica to Chelsea for Fernandez. Chelsea’s total mid-season outlay was even more than the total spend for every team over the Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A and Ligue 1 combined in the January 2023 sales.
Only 3% (£25m) of the top-flight’s spending in the 2023 January transfer window went to EFL clubs. Additionally, figures from Sky Sports showed Brighton & Hove Albion (£23.5m) and Everton (£45m) as the only Premier League teams to register a net profit in the winter.
Sky listed Chelsea with a chart-topping net spend of £311m ahead of Southampton (£61m), Arsenal (£59m), AFC Bournemouth (£54.5m), Newcastle (£48.5m), Leeds United (£46.5m), Liverpool (£45m), Leicester City (£32.5m), Wolves (£31.6m), Nottingham Forest (£16m), Aston Villa (£13m), West Ham United (£9m), Fulham (£8m) and Manchester City (£8m).
Brentford, Crystal Palace, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur rounded out the 2023 January transfer window with a net spend of zero. They, along with Everton, were the only sides to not spend a single penny over the winter. Brighton spent the least at a mere £3.5m.
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