How much Premier League clubs spent compared to previous seasons

The 2024 January transfer window won’t go down in the history books.

While Premier League clubs seldom pass up the opportunity to splash the cash on shiny new signings, the majority of the English top flight spent the winter window pinching their purse strings.

There weren’t many new recruits in January, with even fewer high-profile additions to the Premier League, bucking the trend of recent seasons.

But just how little did Premier League sides spend and how does it compare to past campaigns?

Due to the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules, clubs have been a lot more cautious than usual in the winter market. In fact, the 20 clubs in the English first division parted with a total of just £112m – over a quarter of which was spent by Crystal Palace alone.

11 Premier League sides didn’t spend a single penny, while only three teams (Palace, Tottenham and Aston Villa) forked out more than £15m. The Eagles parted with the most cash of any side, bringing Adam Wharton and Daniel Munoz to Selhurst Park for a combined £30m.

The significant resources exhausted by the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool last summer meant that none of those clubs decided to sign any new faces.

Everton, rather understandably given their recent troubles with financial fair play, weren’t active in the market, while strugglers Sheffield United and Luton Town recruited on a budget, each spending under £3m.

While the January transfer window is never as busy as the summer, clubs are often willing to spend big to remedy problems that have emerged in their squads over the first half of the season. This winter was a little different and was the lowest amount spent by Premier League clubs – excluding the coronavirus-hit 2020/21 season – since 2011/12.

The £112m spent this year pales in comparison to the fees splashed by sides at this time last season, with a staggering £815m moved around in 2022/23. Chelsea spent £106m on Enzo Fernandez and £88.5m on Mykhailo Mudryk, while the likes of Liverpool and Newcastle United also parted with significant fees for Cody Gakpo and Anthony Gordon respectively.

The 2022/23 winter window was a record in terms of cumulative total transfer fees, with the next closest coming in 2017/18 when £430m was spent. Bar those two windows, there has never been more than £300m spent in January, although there have been three occasions where Premier League sides have shelled out over £200m.

The 2009/10 window was particularly restrained, clubs only spending a combined £30m, but since then there have only been two windows in which under £100m was splashed (2011/12 and 2020/21).