Leandro Trossard, central striker for Arsenal
Leandro Trossard, central striker for Arsenal

January transfer window: Ghanaian players move as premier league clubs shatter spending records (final)

Transfer Deadline Day: Chelsea signings could be difficult for Graham Potter

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It has been an extraordinary couple of transfer windows for Chelsea since the club's £4.25bn sale to a consortium led by American investor Todd Boehly last May.

And it looked that way even before an eye-watering amount was finally agreed with Benfica for Fernandez late into deadline day.

It is the latest bold statement of intent in the still early days of Chelsea's new era under Boehly, which has seen more than £550m spent on new signings.

Their spending in January alone exceeded £300m on eight new players, with Mudryk, Malo Gusto (£30.7m), Benoit Badiashile (£35m), Noni Madueke (£30.7m), Andrey Santos (£18m) and David Datro Fofana (£8m-£10m) all also added on permanent deals.

Meanwhile, talented 23-year-old Portugal forward Joao Felix moved to Stamford Bridge on loan from Atletico Madrid at a cost of 11 million euros (£9.7m).

That came after a summer that saw them spend a Premier League record £270m - the second-highest summer spend by any club in the world after Real Madrid (£292m) in 2019.

In total, Chelsea accounted for 37 per cent of the total amount spent by Premier League clubs in January.

European Super League has arrived - it is in England'

Chelsea's spending is impressive, isn't it? Something that says the European Super League has arrived and it's based in England. This is where managers want to be and where players want to be.

What has happened with the Mykhailo Mudryk case, where Chelsea have doubled the wages Arsenal were offering, that kind of thing can only happen in England.

There is no turning back. La Liga is making a big effort to maximise the potential of the competition, but it is still miles away from the Premier League.

It's something people have to accept and adapt to. If the fact that every time you bring through a player with a little bit of quality he goes to the Premier League, keep at it.

There is a limited number of players you can sign, despite what Chelsea are doing, so, yes, the other European leagues need to sell themselves in a different way.

The January deals that never were

Despite all the money spent, not everyone got what they wanted.

Morocco forward Hakim Ziyech's proposed deadline day move from Chelsea to PSG appeared to collapse as the player waited in Paris because the documentation to complete the transfer was not submitted in time.

Arsenal had a £60m bid rejected by Brighton in their pursuit of midfielder Moises Caicedo, despite the midfielder confirming his desire to leave the club in an open letter on his Instagram. That came after the Gunners were beaten to the signing of Mudryk by Chelsea.

England midfielder Conor Gallagher decided to stay at Stamford Bridge despite interest from Premier League strugglers Everton.

Indeed, despite appointing former Burnley boss Sean Dyche as the club's new manager on Monday, the 19th-placed Toffees did not do any business on deadline day.

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