Managers are fond of saying the January transfer window is a ‘difficult market’ but it has rarely stopped Premier League clubs from spending big.
Many New Year purchases over the years have been tremendous successes but others haven’t turned out to be value for money.
Sportsmail takes a look at the record January buys for each of the current top-flight clubs and how they’ve worked out.
LIVERPOOL – VIRGIL VAN DIJK
£75million – Signed 2018
The final piece in Jurgen Klopp’s jigsaw, van Dijk made an immediate impact at Anfield and has since won every major trophy with the club.
After an abortive attempt to sign the Dutchman in the summer of 2017, Liverpool broke the bank in January but it proved to be hugely worthwhile.
They won the Champions League in Van Dijk’s first full season at the club and he was runner-up in the 2019 Ballon d’Or behind Lionel Messi.
Virgil van Dijk may have cost Liverpool £75m but he has been excellent for them ever since
Bringing a calmness and assurance to Liverpool’s defence, he won the Premier League in 2020 and the domestic cup double last season.
Remarkably, he was personally unbeaten in 70 Premier League matches at Anfield until Leeds won 2-1 there in October.
Success rating: 10/10
CHELSEA – CHRISTIAN PULISIC
£58million – Signed 2019
Chelsea officially bought the US international in January to get round a transfer embargo that was due for the following summer.
Pulisic went back to Borussia Dortmund for the first six months of his Chelsea career and in a sense has been playing catch-up ever since.
While proving capable of some outstanding displays – including a dazzling hat-trick at Burnley in his first season – he’s never held down a regular first-team place at Stamford Bridge as successive managers Frank Lampard, Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter juggled things around to try and find the right formula.
Even in the 2021 Champions League final success against Manchester City, Pulisic’s contribution was restricted to being a second-half substitute.
After impressing for the United States at the World Cup, he is at the crossroads of his club career. ‘I am just pushing myself in training at Chelsea, because that’s where I am right now,’ was a recent non-committal statement.
Success rating: 6/10
The jury remains out on Christian Pulisic at Chelsea nearly four years after they signed him
MANCHESTER CITY – AYMERIC LAPORTE
£57million – Signed 2018
The French-born Spanish international centre-half has…