Todd Boehly will remain the undisputed king of big spenders for some time, as his transfer market antics since taking over Chelsea have bordered on madness. In just three years, Chelsea has secured three spots on the list of the ten biggest spending sprees in a single transfer window. Yet, despite that, we still don’t know if they’ll even qualify for the Champions League. For the first time in years, the same uncertainty applies to Manchester City. Perhaps that explains why Pep Guardiola’s club—known for its calculated and strategic moves in the transfer market—spent this January like a drunken man. Manchester City shelled out a staggering 218 million euros this January (Omar Marmoush, Nico González, Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis, Djuma Bah). Although they remain far from Chelsea’s jaw-dropping 330 million spending spree in January 2023, City still outspent all competitors by a considerable margin.Who did Arsenal bring and why no one?In fact, City’s spending was nearly three times that of their closest challenger on the big-spenders list—Al Nassr, who handed Aston Villa 77 million just for the signature of 21-year-old Jhon Durán. Theoretically, Al Nassr’s lineup this spring could look like this: Beto – Simakan, Laporte, Saudi Player 1 – Brozović, Saudi Player 2 – Mané, Otávio, Ângelo Gabriel – Ronaldo, Durán. Quite solid, even by European standards. Al Nassr’s expenditure is just one of many signs that the football world map is shifting. The Saudi clubs are no longer an anomaly. And while we’ve come to expect English Premier League teams to splash the cash to fight relegation—or, like City, to battle for a Champions League spot and their dignity—this January showed that even French clubs can join the frenzy.Deadline day well used! Premier League side signs two African WolvesFrançois Pinault, one of the world’s richest men and Salma Hayek’s father-in-law, splurged 74.65 million to save Rennes from relegation. He also reversed the usual West-to-East transfer trend by bringing Seko Fofana back from Al Nassr. Alongside Fofana, he signed seven more players—perhaps to compensate for the questionable decision of hiring Jorge Sampaoli as manager, only to sack him after two months. Fourth on the list is Paris Saint-Germain, spending 70 million on Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. However, PSG offset most of that cost by selling Xavi Simons to RB Leipzig. In fact, we could say the Qatari owners made quite a rational investment this January—provided Khvicha delivers, of course. So far, he’s off to a promising start.LIVE BLOG Transfer market madness unfoldsFifth place belongs to another Saudi powerhouse, Al Ahli, with 50 million spent on Porto’s left-winger Galeno and 9 million on PSV’s left-back Mateus Dams. Comparing them to Al Nassr, their potential lineup looks like this: Mendy – Ibañez, Alioski, Demiral, Dams – Franck Kessié, Gabri Veiga, Dams – Mahrez, Firmino, Toney. A well-balanced squad, one could say. A slight surprise comes from sixth to tenth place, as, apart from Milan at the bottom of the list, the traditional European elite is absent. Instead, we see RB Leipzig (mainly due to Simons), Wolverhampton and the absolute January sensation—Como.##NAJAVA_MECA_8684703##Managed by Cesc Fàbregas, Como is thriving under Indonesian ownership and has been signing players in bulk. This January alone, they brought in ten new faces, the most notable being Dele Alli—though a fallen star, he had been without a club for six months. They also made three transfers exceeding 10 million, making it clear we should keep an eye on Como. Especially now that they are under the wing of Michael Bambang Hartono and Robert Budi Hartono, Indonesia’s two richest men, who made their first and many later millions in the tobacco industry. That said, even these two tycoons didn’t spend a full 50 million, which speaks volumes about clubs’ reluctance to splash cash in January. Increasingly, only Premier League and Saudi clubs have the means to do so. Elsewhere, only a handful of elite teams take the plunge—everyone else is watching their balance sheets and waiting for the summer window. Brighton is ninth on the list with 48,750,000 spent, having made Stefanos Cimas the record holder of Greece. Milan is tenth, despite undergoing the biggest changes. Álvaro Morata will no longer lead their attack; instead, Santiago Giménez will take his place, and they will also have to find room for João Félix and Kyle Walker. Warren Bondo and Riccardo Sottil are also worth mentioning.TOP 10 BIGGEST SPENDERS THIS JANUARYManchester City: Omar Marmoush (Eintracht/€75,000,000), Nico González (Porto/€60,000,000), Abdukodir Khusanov (Lens/€40,000,000), Vitor Reis (Palmeiras/€37,000,000), Juma Ba (Valladolid/€6,000,000).Total: €218,000,000.Al Nassr: Jhon Durán (Aston Villa/€77,000,000).Total: €77,000,000.Rennes: Seko Fofana (Al Nassr/€20,000,000), Brice Samba (Lens/€14,000,000), Anthony Rouault (Stuttgart/€13,000,000), Kyogo Furuhashi (Celtic/€12,000,000), Mousa Tamari (Montpellier/€8,000,000), Kazim Olaigbe (Cercle Brugge/€5,250,000), Ismael Koné (Marseille/loan), Ayansa Sishuba (Verona/€500,000).Total: €74,650,000.PSG: Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Napoli/€70,000,000).Total: €70,000,000.Al Ahli: Galeno (Porto/€50,000,000), Matteo Dams (PSV/€9,000,000).Total: €59,000,000.RB Leipzig: Xavi Simons (PSG/€50,000,000), Ridle Baku (Wolfsburg/€4,500,000), Tidiam Gomis (Caen/€1,000,000).Wolverhampton: Emmanuel Agbadou (Reims/€20,000,000), Marshall Munetsi (Reims/€18,000,000), Nasser Djiga (Red Star Belgrade/€12,000,000).Total: €50,000,000.Como: Maxence Caqueret (Lyon/€15,000,000), Anastasios Douvikas (Celta/€13,000,000), Assane Diao (Betis/€12,000,000), Mërgim Vojvoda (Torino/€2,500,000), Jean Butez (Antwerp/€2,100,000), Iván Azón (Zaragoza/€2,000,000), Ivan Smolčić (Rijeka/€1,600,000), Jonathan Ikoné (Fiorentina/loan), Álex Valle (Barcelona/loan), Dele Alli.Total: €49,200,000.Brighton: Stefanos Cimas (Nuremberg/€25,000,000), Diego Gómez (Inter Miami/€13,000,000), Eiran Cashin (Derby/€10,000,000).Total: €48,750,000.Milan: Santiago Giménez (Feyenoord/€32,000,000), Warren Bondo (Monza/€10,000,000), João Félix (Chelsea/loan worth €5,500,000), Riccardo Sottil (Fiorentina/loan worth €1,000,000), Kyle Walker (Manchester City/loan).Total: €48,500,000.
