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EPL: January transfer record soars on deadline day

Premier League clubs spent a January transfer deadline-day record of £150million to take overall outlay for the month to £430m, according to analysis by Deloitte’s Sports Business Group.

The most expensive move on the final day of the January transfer window came when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang joined Arsenal from Borussia Dortmund, for a club record £56milllion.

Elsewhere, Tottenham signed Lucas Moura for £23m, and Olivier Giroud and Andre Ayew made £18m moves – to Chelsea and Swansea respectively – as deadline-day spending passed the record set in 2011.

The top-flight clubs had already made this a record January transfer window, beating another record set in 2011 by £205m.

Manchester City signed French defender Aymeric Laporte from Athletic Bilbao for a club record fee of £57million.

Larporte’s arrival takes City Manager Pep Guardiola’s spending on defenders and a goalkeeper since the end of last season to £215.5million.

The club’s previous record fee was £55million paid for Kevin de Bruyne in 2015.

“I am looking forward to working under Manager Pep Guardiola and trying to help the club to achieve success,” Laporte said on Man City’s website.

“It means a lot that the club have shown faith in me and I am excited to get started.”

Concern about skipper Vincent Kompany’s injury record and uncertainty over the reliability of Eliaquim Mangala might have led Guardiola to believe he needs another central defender in addition to current first choices John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi.

“I understand the criticism, but we have spent £300m on six players, adding the £43m spent on midfielder Bernardo Silva to the outlay on defensive players.

“Others have done it on two. We had a lot of older players out of contract. To compete we needed to spend. A club can decide to spend on two players; we did it in a different way.

Deadline-day deals

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang           [Borussia Dortmund – Arsenal] £56million

Lucas Moura                                      [Paris St-Germain – Tottenham] £23million

Olivier Giroud                                    [Arsenal – Chelsea] £18million

Andre Ayew                                       [West Ham – Swansea] £18million

Badou Ndiaye                                    [Galatasaray – Stoke City] £14million

Jordan Hugill                                     [Preston – West Ham] £10million

The most expensive Premier League signing of the January transfer window however went through on the opening day of the month, when Liverpool signed defender Virgil van Dijk from Southampton for £75m.

Leicester City’s move for midfielder Adrien Silva also went through on the same day, while Everton paid a club record £27m to sign Besiktas forward, Cenk Tosun. Later in the window, the Toffees made a second £20m-plus signing in winger Theo Walcott.

Alexis Sanchez swapped Arsenal for Manchester United, as one of the window’s most-talked-about deals went through on 22 January, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan going the other way.

Manchester City had been heavily linked with Sanchez, but switched attention to a move for Leicester’s Riyad Mahrez, which the club walked away from on deadline day, 24 hours after paying £57m to make defender Aymeric Laporte the club record signing.

Most expensive deals in January Transfer Window

Virgil van Dijk                                    [Southampton to Liverpool] £75 million

Aymeric Laporte                               [Atletico Bilbao to Manchester] City £57 million

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang           [Borrusia Dortmund to Arsenal] £56 million

Hentikh Mkhitaryan                           [Manchester United to Arsenal] £36 million

Alexis Sanchez                                   [Arsenal to Manchester United] £36 million

Cenk Tosun                                        [Besiktas to Everton] £27 million

Lucas Moura                                      [PSG to Tottenham] £23 million

Adrien Silva                                       [Sporting CP to Leicester City] £22 million

Theo Walcott                                     [Arsenal to Everton] £20 million

Guido Carrillo                                    [Monaco to Southampton] £19 million

Premier League clubs’ spending far outweighed other European leagues, despite La Liga side, Barcelona, paying the biggest fee of the January window when it bought Brazil playmaker Philippe Coutinho from Liverpool in a deal that could be worth £142m.

According to Deloitte Sports Business Group, the Premier League clubs’ total spending for the 2017-18 season is an estimated £1.9 billion.

“While another record-breaking season catches the eye, Premier League clubs’ expenditure continues to be well within their means in the context of revenue generated,” said Dan Jones, partner in the company’s Sports Business Group.

“Estimated 2017-18 net spend of £755million represents just 17% of forecast 2017-18 Premier League revenue, in line with the average over the 15 years since the first transfer window in January 2003, as clubs increase investment in players in proportion to the overall growth of the football business.”

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