This year’s January transfer window was the third biggest on record for the English Premier League, with top-flight clubs spending around £400 million total.
Despite the heavy spending, Monday marked a very quiet Deadline Day. Just seven deals were completed, the fewest ever for a winter deadline.
Man City made the biggest splash, snagging star winger Antoine Semenyo from Bournemouth for £64m.
However, City weren’t the only heavy investors, so let’s dive into the five biggest Premier League moves from the January transfer window.
Antoine Semenyo: Bournemouth to Man City (£64m)
Antoine Semenyo’s time at Bournemouth saw him blossom into one of the league’s marquee players, and his 23 goals across the last season and a half earned him his big-money move.
He becomes the latest addition to the list of high-profile departures from the Cherries over the last two years.
Dominic Solanke, Ilya Zabarnyi, Dean Huijsen, and Milos Kerkez have all traded the South Coast for some of the world’s elite teams and cemented Bournemouth as ‘the new Brighton’ with their elite development pathway.
The £64 million deal relieves some of the scoring pressure from 20-goal Erling Haaland.
Semenyo’s two Premier League goals since joining City are good enough for joint fifth in the club already.
Six points behind title rivals Arsenal after 24 games doesn’t make for great reading for City fans. A squad with many fresh faces has struggled to click with just one win in their last five.
The addition of the Ghanaian will undoubtedly help the Cityzens to push Arsenal all the way, and his hot start will have the Gunners looking over their shoulder.
Marc Guehi: Crystal Palace to Man City (£20m)
One of the biggest transfer sagas in recent memory finally concluded with Marc Guehi joining Semenyo at Man City.
The former Palace captain looked destined to be a Liverpool player on multiple occasions.
His discontent with the club meant his contract was running out, and with it the window for Palace to make any money from him.
The rest of the league slipped up again, allowing him to fall into City’s hands.
Paying just £20m for a player who has only improved since having a £70m bid from Tottenham rejected for him just a year ago is incredibly savvy business, a tale seen before from a club who have a habit of snatching special talents for a heavily reduced fee.
As for Crystal Palace, life beyond Guehi looks bleak.
The midst of a nine-game winless run in the league is a less-than-ideal time to lose your captain and best player, and a humiliating loss to non-league Macclesfield in the cup won’t help matters.
Their bold transfer strategy has had them back in the headlines, but it will take a huge effort to stop the rot.
Jorgen Strand Larsen: Wolves to Crystal Palace (£48m)
Palace’s attempts to steady the ship have seen them spend over £80m on two new attackers.
Brennan Johnson broke the club record with his £35m move from Nottingham Forest early in the window.
Jørgen Strand Larsen followed suit, breaking the record again with a £48m transfer on Monday.
The whole front line was due for a revamp until a loan move for Everton’s Dwight McNeil was aborted due to late paperwork.
Their new Norwegian has been out of sorts this season, scoring just once in 22 league outings.
It was his stellar 14-goal campaign last time out, however, that makes the mammoth fee feel slightly less ludicrous.
For a historically bad Wolves side preparing for the Championship, it’s a great bit of business to eke as much out of him as they can before his value plummets in the second division.
The arrival of Adam Armstrong from Southampton also has a distinct Championship feel to it.
Angel Gomes’ loan from Marseille includes an option to buy, but their foregone conclusion of a season needs a lot more of a boost than these two to spare their embarrassment.
Oscar Bobb: Man City to Fulham (£27m)
Man City are yet again involved, this time as sellers.
The second Norwegian on the list, Oscar Bobb, leaves Man City after seven years with the club.
He looked to have a future with the former champions after starting their opening three games, but a broken leg in 2024 seemed to stop him from really breaking into the squad.
In Bobb, Fulham are getting a talented 22-year-old with plenty of top-level experience.
City have been willing to offer him first-team reps rather than sending him out on loan, which is a testament to his talent, something we have seen before with the likes of Cole Palmer.
He will join up with an excellent Fulham unit led by in-form Harry Wilson.
The Welshman boasts eight goals and four assists this season already, and Bobb will help to take some of the attention away from him.
The fee of £27m feels fair for someone of his caliber as of now. It could prove to be a bargain if he lives up to his potential.
Conor Gallagher: Atletico Madrid to Tottenham (£34.7m)
Gallagher’s move to North London means he will be playing for his fourth different team in the capital.
After a decent stint with Spanish side Atletico Madrid, he was subject to a transfer battle between Spurs and Aston Villa, with Villa unwilling to pay the eventual fee.
A hard-earned draw with Man City on Sunday papered over the cracks slightly, but the truth is Spurs are in dire straits yet again.
They have won just seven of 24 games this season, more than only Leeds, West Ham, Burnley, and Wolves.
His wealth of Premier League experience will be a breath of fresh air for Spurs fans as it’s something their recent signings have often lacked.
Gallagher will need to utilise what he learned at Atletico, who currently sit third in La Liga, if he is to turn this thing around and save his new club from further embarrassment.
