Christmas comes late for Premier League clubs looking to bolster their squad in the January transfer window. Lots of spending is expected this year, but the winter World Cup makes the January window a bit different from most years.
The general trend has been for spending in January to increase. But there are plenty of exceptions. The biggest January spending spree came in 2018 as Liverpool splurged on Virgil Van Djik, Arsenal brought in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and Manchester City added Aymeric Laporte. The pandemic and the resulting empty stadiums meant spending in 2021 was the lowest in nine years, but last year saw January spending bounce back