Online Reporter
THE English Premier League football had its quietest ever winter transfer deadline day as just seven deals were completed on Monday.
Not a single arrival was confirmed until 19:04 GMT — four minutes after the window in the English top-flight closed – with Crystal Palace announcing the signing of striker Jorgen Strand Larsen from Wolves in a deal worth up to £48m.
Clubs can make signings for up to two hours after the official deadline, as long as, a deal sheet is submitted before 19:00 to provide extra time for the necessary paperwork to be completed.
There were five further deals confirmed after the deadline —among them, Sunderland brought in Ecuador winger Nilson Angulo from Anderlecht in a deal worth £17.5m, while Wolves signed midfielder Angel Gomes from Marseille on loan and replaced Strand Larsen with Adam Armstrong from Southampton for £7m.
That took the overall spending in the Premier League during the winter window to more than £390m.
Liverpool did agree a deal on deadline day to sign defender Jeremy Jacquet from Rennes, but that move – and the payment of the £60m fee – won’t happen until the summer.
What else happened on deadline day?
The day’s two big talking points involved Crystal Palace — Strand Larsen’s arrival from Wolves and the calling off of fellow striker Jean-Philippe Mateta’s move to AC Milan because of issues with his medical.
Otherwise, it was a day largely devoid of transfer drama as none of the top six clubs did any business.
One of the more interesting moves was a Premier League exit, as former England midfielder Kalvin Phillips moved from Manchester City to Championship side Sheffield United on loan for the rest of the season. That move comes four years after City signed Phillips from Leeds in a deal worth £45m.
Other deals confirmed late on included Nottingham Forest’s signing of Borussia Monchengladbach defender Luca Netz, Chelsea winger Tyrique George’s move on loan to Everton for the rest of the season, while Tottenham and Arsenal both announced an academy signing.
Why was deadline day so quiet?
A record £3.1bn was spent by Premier League clubs in the summer – significantly more than in the winter window.
The figure of £397m for this window isn’t hugely down on previous winters, with January always more low key than the summer as it is a notoriously difficult time for clubs to recruit effectively.
It is even harder to do that on deadline day, but this one was particularly quiet, for a variety of reasons.
The big outlay last summer will be one, while another could relate to a new system of Financial Fair Play (FFP) that will come in from next season.
Squad Cost Ratio (SCR) will replace Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR), meaning overall squad costs in the Premier League from 2026-27 will have to be limited to 85% of a club’s revenue.
“There’s always going to be a degree of anxiety as to keeping your financial house in order ahead of a far more active market (the summer window),” Paul Macdonald of FootballTransfers.com said.
“Clubs wanted to ensure they were in a compliant position rather than having an additional headache of being hamstrung under the new rules.” — BBC Sport.
