The January transfer window has passed the halfway point – and it’s already been a busy one at the top of the Premier League.
Mykhaylo Mudryk was unveiled as a Chelsea player at Stamford Bridge on Sunday before their 1-0 win over Crystal Palace. The 22-year-old winger has joined the Blues in a £87million transfer from Shakhtar Donetsk after they moved fast to gazump Arsenal in negotiations.
Mudryk is Chelsea ’s fifth signing of the January transfer window already, with owner Todd Boehly splashing the cash in an effort to revive Graham Potter’s struggling side. He joins Joao Felix, Andrey Santos, Benoit Badiashile and David Datro Fofana at the club, with more players possibly in the pipeline.
Chelsea are no strangers to mid-season transfers. Indeed, they feature heavily in the list of the most expensive January deals of all time, with Liverpool also prominently involved – as both buyers and sellers. Here Mirror Football takes a look at the top 20.
20. Leandro Paredes (Zenit St Petersburg to PSG, 2019 – £36m)
The Argentina international joined the star-studded PSG side in January 2019 after a few decent seasons in Russia. Despite the arrivals of Idrissa Gueye and Ander Herrera in the following window, Paredes made 117 appearances for the French side.
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He was loaned to Juventus in the summer, with an option to buy, before becoming a World Cup winner with Argentina in December.
19. Cody Gakpo (PSV Eindhoven to Liverpool, 2023 – £37m)
Cody Gakpo joined Liverpool from PSV Eindhoven (Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)Another new addition to the list. Gakpo was strongly linked with Manchester United before Liverpool swooped and signed the Dutch international from PSV right at the start of the current window.
The versatile forward scored three times at the World Cup but has made a slow start at Liverpool, who drew 2-2 with Wolves on his debut in the FA Cup before being thrashed 3-0 by Brighton in the Premier League on the weekend.
18. Juan Mata (Chelsea to Manchester United, 2014 – £37.1m)
Mata made 285 appearances for United, scoring 51 goals and providing 47 assists. And while he didn’t do enough to establish himself as a club legend, he left in the summer as a well-liked and respected player.
The Spaniard was signed by David Moyes during a difficult time but made good contributions to the reigns of Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Now 34, he is playing for Galatasaray.
15. Lucas Moura (Sao Paulo to Paris Saint-Germain, 2013 – £38m)
Lucas Moura joined PSG in January 2013 (John Berry/Getty Images)Moura was once a typical Brazilian wonderkid who had a whole host of European clubs fighting for his signature. He won a truckload of trophies at PSG, where he made 229 appearances in all competitions, before moving to Tottenham in 2018.
15. Alex Teixeira (Shakhtar Donetsk to Jiangsu Suning, 2016 – £38m)
The least famous name on this list. Texeira made his name at Shakhtar, who have proven to be a platform for many exciting Brazilian players over the years.
After six years in Ukraine, he was sold to the highest bidder, which in 2016, was often a club in the Chinese Super League. The Chinese football bubble burst and Jiangsu was dissolved in 2021, but Texeira is still playing, now back at boyhood club Vasco da Gama in Brazil.
15. Paulinho (Barcelona to Guangzhou Evergrande, 2019 – £38m)
Paulinho spent two years with Guangzhou Evergrande (Getty Images)Another Brazilian star heading off to earn millions in China. Paulinho performed well at Spurs to get a move to Barcelona before cashing in to join Guangzhou Evergrande. He stayed in China for two years before moving back to Brazil with Corinthians, via a stint in Saudi Arabia with Al-Alhi.
14. Bruno Guimaraes (Lyon to Newcastle, 2022 – £40m)
Last January was Newcastle ’s first under the ownership of the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund. Their statement purchase proved to be a very good one, with Guimaraes showing his talent off in the Premier League over the last year.
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The Brazilian midfielder has been an excellent addition to Eddie Howe’s side – and is probably worth a great deal more than £40m now.
13. Luis Diaz (Porto to Liverpool, 2022 – £49.9m)
Liverpool beat Tottenham to sign Luis Diaz (Andrew Powell/Getty Images)Another transfer battle which Liverpool won. Tottenham had been deep in negotiations with Porto for the Colombian winger when the Reds hijacked the deal.
Diaz made an immediate impact at Anfield, but has struggled with injuries recently. He has 10 goals and eight assists in 38 games across all competitions so far.
12. Fernando Torres (Liverpool to Chelsea, 2011– £50m)
One of the most infamous Premier League transfers. Torres had been exceptional for Liverpool and his move to a direct rival when seemingly at the top of his game was controversial.
Chelsea did not get value for their investment. After scoring 81 goals in 142 games for Liverpool, Torres managed just 45 in 172 for Chelsea. He did, however, win the Champions League and Europa League with the Blues and nothing with the Reds.
11. Ferran Torres (Manchester City to Barcelona, 2022 – £54.7m)
Ferran Torres joined Barcelona last January (Alex Grimm/Getty Images)Torres is still only 22 years old, but has already moved for big money twice in his nascent career, first from Valencia to Manchester City and then to Barcelona.
Barca were forced to pay a premium for the young forward because of his contractual situation. They then performed their favourite trick of whacking a €1bn buyout clause in his contract. He has 12 goals and seven assists in 48 games for the club so far.
10. Bruno Fernandes (Sporting to Manchester United, 2020 – £55m)
One of the best pieces of January business going. Fernandes was almost immediately transformational upon touching down at Old Trafford. Now wearing the captain’s armband, with Harry Maguire on the bench, he is even more influential.
The Portuguese attacking midfielder has 54 goals and 44 assists in 152 appearances in all competitions – an outstanding record.
9. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Borussia Dortmund to Arsenal, 2018 – £56m)
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang left Arsenal under a cloud last year (Offside via Getty Images)This was some coup for the Gunners five years ago. Aubameyang had torn it up at Dortmund by scoring 141 goals in 213 games and commanded a fee which made him the club’s record transfer at the time. Only Nicolas Pepe’s £72m fee eclipses him now.
Aubameyang kept up his exceptional goalscoring record at Arsenal, with 92 in 163 games, before leaving under a cloud after falling out with Mikel Arteta. After a brief trip to Barcelona, he’s now at Chelsea, sitting on the bench and wondering what went wrong.
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8. Diego Costa (Chelsea to Atletico Madrid, 2018 – £57m)
Costa was a fan-favourite at Stamford Bridge for three years. He helped win two Premier League titles and riled up countless opponents with his rough-and-ready style.
He moved back to Atleti after falling out with Antonio Conte. Costa was made to wait until January to move, despite having been frozen out by Conte in the summer.
7. Aymeric Laporte (Athletic Bilbao to Manchester City, 2018 – £57.2m)
Aymeric Laporte has been a successful signing for Manchester City (Visionhaus/Getty Images)Laporte’s move represented a record for both Athletic Club and Manchester City at the time of his transfer. Although rarely in the spotlight, he has proven to be an important player for City over the last five years, winning four Premier League titles, three Carabao Cups and one FA Cup.
The two clubs then did another piece of head-turning business when Kepa Arrizabalaga moved to Stamford Bridge for £71m in August 2018.
6. Christian Pulisic (Borussia Dortmund to Chelsea, 2019 – £57.56m)
Pulisic was an exciting addition in January 2019 when Chelsea were managed by Maurizio Sarri. They have since been managed by Frank Lampard, Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter – and the American’s struggles to fit in and produce consistently has continued under all of them.
Transfer rumours are therefore swirling once more around Pulisic.
5. Oscar (Chelsea to Shanghai SIPG, 2017 – £60m)
Oscar is still at ShanghaiOscar was at the peak of his powers when he decided to trade the Premier League for the Chinese Super League. The Brazilian midfielder was just 25 years old, but the lure of a reported wage of £400,000 per week was too good to turn down.
He has clearly enjoyed his time in Shanghai because he remains there to this day.
4. Dusan Vlahovic (Fiorentina to Juventus, 2022 – £66.6m)
One of the biggest transfer sagas of last season. Arsenal were very keen to sign Vlahovic from Fiorentina but were beaten to the punch by Juventus, with their pulling power in Italy proving too strong. The 22-year-old has 16 goals in 36 games for Juve so far.
3. Virgil van Dijk (Southampton to Liverpool, 2018 – £75m)
Virgil van Dijk has been crucial to Liverpool's success (AFP via Getty Images)It took some time to get it done, with Southampton unhappy about Liverpool’s alleged tapping up of the Dutchman, but once it was done it proved to be a masterstroke.
Van Dijk has been absolutely key to Jurgen Klopp’s side over the past five years and the transfer fee, which was once questioned, is now a mere footnote in his Reds career.
2. Mykhaylo Mudryk (Shakhtar Donetsk to Chelsea, 2023 – £87m)
Chelsea have paid the second-highest transfer fee ever on a player in January. Mudryk has played just 44 times for Shakhtar, but is already commanding a gigantic transfer fee.
Arsenal were busy negotiating for the Ukrainian winger, who was their priority target, but they were unwilling to go that high. Time will tell if Chelsea’s investment proves worth the money.
1. Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool to Barcelona, 2018 – £142m)
A gigantic fee which stands head and shoulders above the others. Barcelona are arguably still paying the price for their desire to sign Coutinho.
The Brazilian midfielder contributed 25 goals and 14 assists in 106 games for the club – a return not worthy of his transfer fee. He is now at Aston Villa, who paid a much more reasonable £17m for his signature in May after a good loan stint.
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