The 11 most expensive Premier League transfers of the January window as Leeds United's bottom-half rivals spend big

A busy last few days across the top flight left the league’s gross spending at £295million, according to estimates from finance company Deloitte.

It is only the fifth time the £200m mark has been breached, with the £430m spent in January of 2018 remaining the record spend during the winter window.

The window two years ago accounted for £230m of spending, pipping 2011’s then-record £225m total, while £215m was spent in January 2017.

Dan Jones, head of Deloitte’s sports business group, said: “This transfer window indicates that the financial pressures of Covid on Premier League clubs are easing, with spending firmly back to pre-pandemic levels and remarkably among the highest we’ve ever seen in January.

“The Premier League continues to lead the way globally, retaining its status as the world’s biggest domestic football league in financial terms, once again supported by full stadia and securing strong overseas broadcast deals.

“Other large European leagues are also edging back to higher spending, but it is Premier League clubs that have notched up the largest total spend in this transfer window, spending almost £150m more than Serie A clubs, the closest competitor.”

Leeds United had a quiet window as they failed to land target Brenden Aaronson, with Red Bull Salzburg reportedly rejecting two bids for the player.

Newcastle United were responsible for the highest proportion of Premier League clubs’ overall spend and over half of the bottom five clubs’ gross transfer expenditure.

Below, are the 11 most expensive deals that went through during the January window.