Manchester City’s record £180m outlay saw Premier League clubs rack up their third biggest January transfer window spend ever.
English top-flight clubs spent a total of £370m during the winter transfer window, which closed on Monday night after a flurry of late activity.
The biggest deal saw struggling champions Manchester City make Spanish midfielder Nico Gonzalez, 23, their fourth signing of the month.
His £50m arrival from Porto added to the signings of £63m Omar Marmoush from Eintracht Frankfurt, £34m Abdukodir Khusanov from Lens and £30m Vitor Reis from Palmeiras.
It took the club’s spending to almost £180m, almost treble their previous biggest January outlay of £63m in 2018, as Pep Guardiola attempts to save their season.
Manchester City are all but out of the title race and face a battle even to qualify for the Champions League following Sunday’s 5-1 thrashing at Arsenal.
How much did Premier League clubs spend in January?
The total spent by Premier League clubs in the January transfer window was around £370m, behind only the £815m lavished in 2023 and £430m in 2018.
But taken with last summer’s investment, overall spending this season fell for a second year in a row to £2.35bn as profitability and sustainability regulations (PSR) have bitten.
Other notable moves on deadline day saw Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United opt for high-profile loan deals.
Villa added to the loaning of England forward Marcus Rashford from Manchester United with midfielder Marco Asensio from Paris Saint-Germain and defender Axel Disasi from Chelsea.
Tottenham won the race to sign teenage forward Mathys Tel on loan from Bayern Munich, while West Ham took Evan Ferguson from Brighton and Hove Albion until the end of the season.
Brighton spent £21m on forward Stefanos Tzimas from Nuremburg but he will stay at the German on loan until the summer.