The austerity that has reigned in this winter market in the Spanish La Liga, the Italian Serie A, the German Bundesliga and the French Ligue 1 contrasts with the extravagance in the Premier League and especially in one club, the Chelsea of ??billionaire Todd Boehly. The London club has spent a total of 329 million, a record in a month of January.
The blue team closed its biggest operation in this window at the last minute and with the largest draft in all of Europe: it paid Benfica the 121 million of the termination clause of Enzo Fernández, one of the great protagonists in the last World Cup with the Argentine champion . The midfielder is one of Chelsea’s eight signings in winter along with Mykhaylo Mudryk (70 million fixed plus 30 in variables), Benoît Badiashile (38 million), Noni Madueke (35 million), Malo Gusto (30 million), Andrey Santos ( 12.50 million), David Datro Fofana (12 million) and João Félix (11 million for his transfer).
The large investment of Londoners in this market joins the 282 million spent last summer, making a total of 611 million throughout the season. This figure exceeds 380 million in Barça transfers for the 2017-18 season, which was the previous record. On the other side of the scale, the blues have only sold this course for a value of 67 million, practically 10% of the investment made. However, the large number of players who have come to put themselves under the orders of Graham Potter have not given the expected performance to a Chelsea that is tenth in the Premier League, ten points behind the Champions League places.
The 329 million invested in January by those of Stamford Bridge represent almost half of the money disbursed by all the clubs of a Premier League clearly dominant in the economic section over the rest of the leagues of the old continent. The 20 teams in the British competition have reinforced their squads with 92 players and have spent a total of 829 million euros.
The numbers of the Premier League do not find comparison in any of the other major European leagues, where practically no relevant operations have been carried out. The next competition that has spent the most is Ligue 1 in France with 133 million. Curiously, it has not been PSG, a club that usually invests large amounts, the one that has taken out the checkbook. The Parisians have not invested a single euro, while Olympique de Marseille has signed for a value of 40 million. He took over Vitinha for 23 million and hired the Moroccan Ounahi, one of the World Cup sensations, for 8 million.
The numbers from the French tournament are still relevant compared to those of its competitors on the continent. The 18 teams in the German Bundesliga spent 68 million and that amount is reduced to more than half when we talk about the Spanish and Italian domestic competition. The Serie A teams have spent a little more than 31 million and those of LaLiga 32 million, with Espanyol being the one that has scratched the most with 13 million. The numbers of the two leagues are similar to the 27 million invested between Burnley and Watford, who play in the Championship, the English Second Division.
