Transfer window spending frenzy
• A record £450m changed hands for players, double amount paid in 2011
England’s Premier League clubs have spent more money than ever in a January transfer window, with initial estimates suggesting they had reached the £450m mark on deadline day.
England’s Premier League clubs have spent more money than in any previous January transfer window, with initial estimates suggesting they had reached the £450m mark on deadline day.
Gabon’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang joined Arsenal from Borussia Dortmund for a club record of £56m on Wednesday’s concluding day of business, with Olivier Giroud moving to Chelsea as part of a complicated transfer jigsaw.
The previous record was £225m in January 2011.
Prior to Wednesday’s deadline in England, Tottenham Hotspur announced the signing of Lucas Moura from Paris SaintGermain (PSG) but Manchester City pulled out of signing Leicester’s Riyad Mahrez.
Top premiership clubs have splashed the cash in the January transfer window, desperate to qualify for the top four, which guarantees entry into the lucrative Champions League.
Aubameyang, 28, signed a contract with the Gunners until 2021, becoming Arsenal’s second big-name signing of the transfer window after Henrikh Mkhitaryan joined from Manchester United.
His arrival will boost Arsene Wenger’s forward options after the departure of Alexis Sanchez to United in a swap deal with Mkhitaryan but raises questions about Alexandre Lacazette’s future with the Gunners.
The prolific Aubameyang compared himself to club legend Thierry Henry, telling Arsenal Player that he was attracted by the “big history” of the club, who lost ground in the Premier League with a 3-1 defeat by Swansea on Tuesday. He will be reunited at the Emirates Stadium with former Dortmund teammate Mkhitaryan.
Chelsea later announced the arrival of Giroud on an 18-month contract for £18m and Michy Batshuayi’s departure for Borussia Dortmund in a loan deal until the end of the season.
Frenchman Giroud, 31, who has struggled to hold down a regular starting spot since joining Arsenal in 2012, said he was delighted to be joining their London rivals. Belgian forward Batshuayi, 24, arrived in Dortmund as a direct replacement for Aubameyang, to complete the three-way puzzle.
Brazil winger Lucas challenged his new Spurs teammates to win the Champions League after arriving from PSG for a reported £25m.
Manchester City may have got nowhere with their interest in Mahrez, but the premiership leaders on Tuesday paid a club record fee of £57m for French centre-back Aymeric Laporte from Athletic Bilbao.
Swansea, battling for survival, brought Ghanaian forward Andre Ayew back to Wales from West Ham late on Wednesday — 18 months after he joined the Hammers for £20.5m.
The Swans said they had resigned the 28-year-old for a club record but undisclosed fee on a three-and-a-half-year contract, reuniting Ayew with brother Jordan at the Liberty Stadium.
Newcastle sealed a similar season-long loan move for Islam Slimani, the Leicester striker. Slimani has struggled to live up to his £30m price tag as Leicester’s most expensive signing, with 13 goals in 46 appearances since his arrival in 2016.
But Newcastle manager Rafael Benitez, speaking after his side’s 1-1 draw with Burnley on Wednesday, said: “He is a player who can fight with defenders, challenge and score goals.”
Everton, who saw Theo Walcott, a £20m window signing from Arsenal, score twice in a 2-1 win over Leicester on Wednesday, also made a loan signing Manchester City defender Eliaquim Mangala.
Earlier in the window, Liverpool signed Virgil van Dijk from Southampton for £75m — a world record for a defender.
German World Cup winner Mesut Ozil gave Arsenal a big boost by finally agreeing to a new contract that will see him become the highest-paid player in the club’s history, at about £350,000 a week, according to the BBC.
There was no official confirmation from Arsenal but Ozil posted a tweet with a picture of him signing photos with the message: “Had a busy day signing things.”