The January transfer window saw Manchester City spend the most money

The Spanish midfielder Nico Gonzalez was signed by Manchester City on Deadline Day, capping a hectic January transfer window that saw the struggling Premier League winners easily top the expenditure lists.

With their prospects of winning a record-tying fifth consecutive domestic championship in ruins, City currently sits fifth in the Premier League rankings after enduring a trying spell on the field.

With Pep Guardiola’s team spending over 180 million pounds ($223.58 million), however, the renovation seems to have begun in earnest. This sum is greater than the total sum of the 19 English top-flight teams during a rather quiet window.

After Chelsea’s 274 million pounds in 2023, City’s January transfer window expenditure was the second-largest club outlay globally, according to Transfer Market.

For their fourth big acquisition of the window, City paid Porto 60 million euros ($62.06 million) for Gonzalez, a 23-year-old.

Omar Marmoush, an Egyptian attacker, came from Eintracht Frankfurt for 59 million pounds, defender Vitor Reis from Palmeiras for 29 million pounds, and defender Abdukodir Khusanov from Lens for 33 million pounds.

The move is a significant shift for City, who often don’t feel the need to make major midseason acquisitions. When they acquired defender Aymeric Laporte from Athletic Bilbao in 2018, it was their final big January acquisition.

Guardiola will be happy with the additions to his team for the second half of the season, which includes a Champions League playoff matchup with Real Madrid for a last-16 berth, even if fullback Kyle Walker left to go on loan to AC Milan.

Premier League leaders Liverpool did not make any additions, while second-place Arsenal did not strengthen their front line in spite of Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka’s injuries, while City lavished money.

Al-Nassr spent 64 million pounds for Colombian striker Jhon Duran, who Aston Villa cashed in on. However, manager Unai Emery will be happy that Marcus Rashford, a forward for Manchester United, signed on loan last week.

Also joining Villa Park on loan from Paris St. Germain is three-time Champions League champion Marco Asensio, who signed a contract on Deadline Day.

SIGNINGS IN SPURS

Hurried by injuries After spending 12 million pounds to acquire Czech goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky from Slavia Prague at the start of the transfer season, Tottenham Hotspur agreed to take winger Mathys Tel on loan from Bayern Munich at the end of the month.

The fact that Anthony is also leaving on loan to Real Betis and that no strikers are joining might make Manchester United supporters question if they were weakened throughout the transfer window.

Prospects for qualifying for the Champions League Although Nottingham Forest has been busy in previous January windows, they spent almost nothing this time. But some of their competitors in the race to get into Europe did get stronger.

Brighton & Hove Albion paid 20 million pounds on Greek defender Stefanos Tzimas, who will remain at Nuremberg for the remainder of the season, and bought Paraguayan midfielder Diego Gomez from Inter Miami for 12 million pounds.

Because they were concerned about adhering to the Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR), former big spenders Chelsea and Newcastle United both stayed quiet in January.

Wolverhampton Wanderers, one of the clubs fighting for relegation in the Premier League, bolstered their defense on Deadline Day when Burkina Faso international Nasser Djiga joined from Red Star Belgrade and Emmanuel Agbadou joined from Reims.

Despite the fact that Paris St. Germain paid 70 million euros ($72.25 million) to get the young Georgia winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia from Napoli and gave him the number seven shirt that Kylian Mbappe had left, other European markets saw little activity throughout the month.

For 50 million euros, Dutch playmaker Xavi Simons left PSG to join RB Leipzig of the Bundesliga.