Friday 17 April 2020 15:12, UK
Which Premier League clubs typically spend the most on transfers in January?
As we approach the final days of the winter transfer window, clubs are scrambling to complete deals before their squads are locked down for the remainder of this season.
But which clubs have traditionally spent heavily in January, which have typically offloaded star payers, and which profit from dealings? We checked the past five winter windows to find out...
Chelsea snapped up Gonzalo Higuain on loan last week, with an option to make the deal permanent this summer - but the Blues have been the biggest January spenders recently, splashing £105.4m over the past five windows.
Manchester City have also spent heavily with winter investments totalling £86.2m, followed by Everton (£86m), Arsenal (£80.6m), Liverpool (£80.3m), Crystal Palace (£69.3m) and Leicester (£60.3m).
Manchester United (£37.1m) and Tottenham (£27.5m) are the most spendthrift of big-six clubs, with Southampton spending more than both - primarily on the since-departed Manolo Gabbiadini (£17.1m) and Guido Carrillo (£19.1m).
After Manchester United, Newcastle have been on the longest spending freeze, having failed to spend any money on recruiting players since 2016 when the club signed Jonjo Shelvey, Andros Townsend (both £12m) and Henri Saivet (£5m).
Newcastle rank 19th in Deloitte Money League
Unsurprisingly, Cardiff, Huddersfield and Fulham rank among the bottom three for expenditure, having spent four of the previous five windows in the Championship.
Interestingly, though, Wolves surpassed the £14m-threshold in 2017 - despite playing in England's second tier at the time.
While Chelsea top the pack for expenditure on winter signings, the Blues have also seriously replenished the club's coffers - collecting a cool £197.8m from selling players over the previous five windows.
Liverpool have also reaped considerable financial reward during that time, cashing in £155.7m - almost entirely from the £146m sale of Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona last year.
That cash also helped Jurgen Klopp fund the £75m fee for Virgil van Dijk from Southampton, while Arsenal offloaded Theo Walcott (£20m), Olivier Giroud (£18m) and Francis Coquelin (£12m) last term.
Incredibly, Crystal Palace have received under £1m in player sales during winter windows since 2013/14 and the Eagles will be looking to maintain that run and keep star man Wilfried Zaha amid interest from Europe's top clubs.
Six current top-flight clubs have recorded net profits from dealings during the period: Chelsea (+£92.4m), Liverpool (+£75.4m), Southampton (+£47.6m), West Ham (+£23.2m), Manchester United (+£11.4m) and Watford (+£9.8m).
Palace have the highest net expenditure with -£68.3m, derived mostly from not selling players and a £39m transfer splurge in January 2017 on Patrick van Aanholt (£14m), Jeff Schlupp and Luka Milivojevic (both £12.5m).
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