January transfer window wrap
The final moments of deadline day, the 2022/23 mid-season window had it all. Now that it is over and sides throughout Europe are preparing to finish the season in the best possible fashion, Soccer Laduma international football journalist Kamogelo Motecwan
January has come and gone, and with it, yet another blockbuster European transfer window has passed. New owners splurging on new recruits, icons bidding farewell and record transfers taking place right at Big-spending Blues
The January transfer window was a historic one for several reasons. Among Europe’s top five leagues – Premier League, LaLiga, Serie A, Bundesliga & Ligue 1 – an astonishing £1 billion (R21 billion) was splurged, but even more remarkably, a whopping 78% of that figure was spent by Premier League teams alone! The reason? Chelsea. While many would have been under the impression that the west Londoners would slow down after the acrimonious departure of Russian-Israeli billionaire Roman Abramovich, Chelsea’s new administration set out to prove that idea wrong. The two-time European champions splashed a total of £280 million (R5.9 billion) this past January as eight new players were welcomed to Stamford Bridge. While Todd Boehly and his board of directors have continued the tradition of the Blues’ incredible spending power, unlike Abramovich, the American has interestingly opted to recruit a different profile of player. In the past, the club had generally tried to court the biggest players in the world. However, under Boehly and Clearlake Capital, Chelsea have signed players who have the potential to be superstars of the Beautiful Game. This January, the likes of Joao Felix (£8.8m loan fee), Mykhailo Mudryk (£88m), Benoit Badiashile (£35m) made the move to the English capital and their transfer window was headlined by the deadline-day signing of Argentina international Enzo Fernandez for a British record transfer fee of £106.8 million (R2.2bn). The 22-year-old was one of La Albiceleste’s star performers at the 2022 FIFA World Cup as his displays in the Gulf earned plaudits around the world, as well as many admirers in the form of Europe’s top clubs. Many sides were rumoured to be interested in the services of the San Martin native, but it was the Blues who showed the most persistence when it came to negotiating with Benfica and finally, on the final day of the window, in the final hours, the Premier League giants made a breakthrough and a fee for the talented midfielder was agreed upon.
Just a mere six months after Fernandez first made his way to Europe, the South American commanded the largest-ever transfer fee a club from the United Kingdom has had to pay for a player and perhaps the reason for that is Benfica. The Primeira Liga side were insistent on the fact that they would only allow the playmaker to leave the club in January if his release clause was met, so, to avoid competition from other clubs in the off-season transfer window, Chelsea decided to go all in on Fernandez in January, much to the displeasure of Benfica president Rui Costa. With Chelsea spending the exorbitant amounts of money that they have been during the mid-season transfer window, many have posed the question of whether the London outfit are breaching UEFA’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) policy. In summary, the policy stipulates that no club is allowed to spend more money in the transfer window than they are able to generate revenue in a season and while it seems unlikely that the six-time Premier League winners have amassed £280 million in revenue this season alone, the club’s American ownership appear to have found a loophole. For all the lucrative deals that the Blues successfully negotiated these past two windows, apart from the signings of Joao Felix and PierreEmerick Aubameyang, every other signing that Chelsea have made the club will be amortized over a fiveyear period or longer, meaning the Stamford Bridge-based side will be able to pay off contracts in smaller annual amounts, which allows for bigger spending in the short-term.
Ronaldo says goodbye to Europe
As the Premier League welcomed Fernandez as its latest star, the English topflight bid farewell to an icon of the Premier League in Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese marksman called time on his career in Europe as he made the unconventional decision of signing with Saudi Pro League side Al Nassr on a two-year deal at the beginning of the transfer window. Having returned to Manchester United in late 2021 and lauded as the man that would catapult the team to potential league glory, the reality of the forward’s second stint at Old Trafford was less than triumphant. Following his notorious interview with British broadcaster Piers Morgan, where he lambasted United for its inadequacies, both Ronaldo and the Red Devils saw that the best resolution for both parties was for them to mutually terminate their highest-earner’s contract as the five-time Ballon d’Or winner went to the World Cup without a club. While many may have been interested in the forward’s services, it seems none of the European sides who availed themselves to Ronaldo were competing at a standard which the legendary forward saw fit. The Madeira native, as a result, began exploring his options outside of Europe and shortly after his exit from the Theatre of Dreams news broke that international football’s all-time leading goalscorer would be calling Saudi Arabia his new home. His two-year deal with the Riyadh-based outfit is reportedly worth an astonishing £177 million (R3.7 billion), making it the biggest deal in the history of football.
Best of the rest
While the transfers of both Ronaldo and Fernandez to their respective clubs headlined the 2023 mid-season window, many other top players switched allegiances during the month of January. The additions of Wout Weghorst and Marcel Sabitzer on loan from Burnley and Bayern Munich respectively could help Erik ten Hag and the Red Devils mount an unlikely title challenge, with both the striker and midfielder having already turned out for United since arriving in the Premier League. The current log leaders, Arsenal, were also busy this
January as they welcomed Jorginho from Chelsea for £12 million (R252 million) on deadline day, Leandro Trossard from Brighton & Hove Albion for £21 million (R442 million) as well as the signing of Jakub Kiwior from Italian outfit Spezia Calcio also for £21 million. Of the moves that happened outside of the Premier League, Joao Cancelo’s loan to Bayern Munich was arguably biggest deadline-day surprise. The 28-year-old was believed to be annoyed at his recent lack of game-time under Pep Guardiola at City and decided to grasp at the opportunity to join the German giants, a club that had previously shown an interest in landing his signature. The Portuguese defender can make the move to the Allianz Arena permanent at the end of the campaign should the Bavarian giants oblige to pay the £62.8 million (R1.3 billion) option included in the deal. Africa also had some stellar names make big-money moves to start the new year as Morocco’s FIFA World Cup star Azzedine Ounahi made the switch from Angers to French giants Marseille for a reported £7.1 million (R151 million), while Ghanaian youngster Kamaldeen Sulemana traded Stade Rennes and Ligue 1 for England’s south coast as Southampton paid the French outfit £22 million (R463 million) for the winger’s services on the final day of the window.