The Premier League recorded its quietest winter deadline day, with only seven signings completed on Monday.
No arrival was confirmed until 19:04 GMT — four minutes after the English window shut — when Crystal Palace announced the signing of striker Jorgen Strand Larsen from Wolves in a deal worth up to £48m. Clubs can complete paperwork up to two hours after the deadline if they submitted a deal sheet before 19:00, which explains several late confirmations.
Five further moves were confirmed after the deadline. Sunderland signed Ecuador winger Nilson Angulo from Anderlecht for £17.5m. Wolves took midfielder Angel Gomes on loan from Marseille and later signed Adam Armstrong from Southampton for £7m to replace Strand Larsen. Those late deals contributed to Premier League winter spending of roughly £390–397m. Liverpool agreed a deal to sign defender Jeremy Jacquet from Rennes, but that transfer — and the reported £60m payment — is set to take place in the summer.
Other notable deadline-day developments
Two of the main headlines focused on Crystal Palace: the arrival of Strand Larsen and the collapse of Jean-Philippe Mateta’s proposed move to AC Milan because of medical issues. Otherwise there was little late drama: none of the traditional top-six clubs did business on deadline day.
A prominent exit saw former England midfielder Kalvin Phillips move from Manchester City to Championship side Sheffield United on loan for the rest of the season — four years after City signed him from Leeds for about £45m. Additional late confirmations included Nottingham Forest signing Borussia Mönchengladbach defender Luca Netz, Chelsea winger Tyrique George moving on loan to Everton for the season, and both Tottenham and Arsenal announcing academy signings.
Why the deadline day was so subdued
The summer window was enormous — Premier League clubs spent a record £3.1bn — which dwarfed winter activity. Though the winter outlay (near £397m) is not dramatically lower than some past Januaries, January is traditionally tougher for recruitment and the final day especially hard to complete large deals.
Two factors appeared to make clubs cautious this winter: the heavy spending in the previous summer and the looming Financial Fair Play changes. From 2026–27 the Squad Cost Ratio (SCR) will replace the Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR), obliging Premier League clubs to keep overall squad costs below 85% of revenue. Observers said clubs were anxious about compliance and reluctant to leave themselves constrained under the new regime.
Biggest winter spenders
Manchester City were the biggest movers, signing forward Antoine Semenyo from Bournemouth for £64m on 9 January and defender Marc Guehi from Crystal Palace for £20m on 16 January — additions aimed at strengthening their title challenge.
Crystal Palace’s deadline signing of Strand Larsen pushed their winter spending to about £83m, which also included the earlier £35m purchase of Brennan Johnson from Tottenham. Aston Villa — third in the table — were the only other top-six side to pay fees in January, bringing back striker Tammy Abraham from Besiktas for £18.25m and signing winger Alysson from Gremio for roughly £10.5m.
At the lower end of the table, West Ham reportedly paid around £21.8m for Brazilian striker Pablo Felipe from Gil Vicente and about £25m for Taty Castellanos from Lazio. Tottenham spent roughly £35m on Conor Gallagher from Atletico Madrid. Bournemouth reinvested funds from the Semenyo sale to sign teenage striker Rayan from Vasco da Gama for £24.7m and Hungary midfielder Alex Toth from Ferencvaros for about £10.4m. Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool were largely inactive in the winter window.
How the Premier League compared with the rest of Europe
Even with a quiet deadline day, Premier League clubs still outspent their counterparts in the winter window. Serie A was the next biggest spender at about £205m; Sassuolo were notably active, paying around £22m combined for Marseille’s Ismael Kone and Darryl Bakola. La Liga activity was subdued as well — the Spanish window closed at 22:59 GMT — with Atletico Madrid’s £30m signing of Ademola Lookman accounting for more than the rest of the division combined (about £20.3m).
