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Sam Wallace's transfer window lowdown: January 2019 used by leading clubs to trim back and cut wage bills

Jonny Otto poses having signed for Wolves
Jonny Otto's permanent move to Wolves was one of relatively few to go through this month Credit: Getty images

The January 2018 transfer window began before January 2018 itself, with agreement reached by Liverpool and Southampton in late December for Virgil van Dijk, a £75 million club record signing that set the tone for an unprecedented mid-season spend by those thriving and those dying in the Premier League.

The Van Dijk purchase was Liverpool’s biggest spend by some distance and in that same month four more clubs in the league broke their transfer record. Arsenal with £56million for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang; the £57million purchase by Manchester City of Aymeric Laporte, Southampton’s spend of £19million on Guido Carillo and Swansea’s £18million on Andre Ayew from West Ham. It was a frenzy, with mixed results.

Manchester United made Alexis Sanchez their highest earner, Arsenal did the same with Mesut Ozil. Lucas Moura at £25 million was the sixth most expensive signing in Tottenham’s history. Alex Pritchard at £14 million was Huddersfield’s second most expensive signing, at that point. Everton spent in excess of £50 million on Theo Walcott and Cenk Tosun. The overall results were extraordinary, a total £430 million spend, eclipsing the previous record from January 2011 of £225 million and twice that spent in January 2017.

This January window has shown a much more conservative attitude to player investment, estimated to level out at around £130 million spent across the 20 Premier League clubs. In the Championship, relatively conservative last January too, only seven clubs made a net investment. Brentford gathered sales of around £25 million. The overall balance of spending was around £7million.

New financial fair play rules introduced by the Football League in the summer may also have had an effect, but what accounts for such a sharp fall in Premier League spending? It is worth noting that last January many of those big transfers were long-term targets that happened to be delivered mid-season.

Liverpool's new signing Virgil van Dijk pictured at Anfield 
Virgil van Dijk was one of a host of big-money signings last January Credit: Getty images

The Premier League has relative stability, with a new television rights deal in place beginning this summer. Whatever challenges lie ahead, the game can at least plan for the next three-year cycle. This window, however, has been used by many of the leading clubs to make their squads leaner and trim the wage bill. Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Spurs are among the big clubs to come out with a trading profit and no new arrivals for the first-team squad.

Many within the game see the fall in spending as a consequence of more sophisticated trading models, especially at the top. There is a reality that a general Europe-wide baseline asking price of £20 million for any players considered Premier League-ready was unrealistic. Also having an effect is the rise of managers who want to coach smaller squads. Some squads this month have been repurposed to bring those who have shown promise in from the fringe and thin out their path to the first team.

The loan-to-buy obligation has become a more popular alternative for clubs wishing to defer payments into the next financial year. Even that does not explain the curious case of Wolves winger Jonny Otto, who was signed from Celta Vigo by Atletico Madrid in the summer and immediately loaned to Molineux. His permanent transfer was completed for £15 million on Thursday having never played or trained at Atletico. One might say that a special arrangement with a partnering club in that instance would give Wolves, and the player himself, the time to see whether they were likely to survive in the top flight before committing.

The question of Brexit hangs over the clubs, less from a financial point of view but more from one of access. Depending on what deal is struck between leading clubs and the Football Association, the question of who it becomes possible to sign could change after March 29. Although most leading non-European Union players easily meet Home Office work permit requirements, there is the chance that a new market opens beyond Europe for those who do not reach those benchmarks.

The FA is proposing a fully open global market where all players share the current status of EU nationals, and in return it wants a quota of 13 homegrown players in every squad. Agreement is yet to be reached but, by the summer, the trading landscape could look very different.

Bournemouth have signed two young Britons, Dominic Solanke and Chris Mepham, at a premium of around £31 million but in accordance with their model. Chelsea have spent £58 million, their third highest fee, on Christian Pulisic to arrive in the summer. Newcastle have broken a 13-year club transfer record to acquire Miguel Almiron. None of them felt like signings hastily conceived, even at Newcastle, for whom January has been at times in the past a month to panic.

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