The Premier League transfer window opened on Wednesday, giving clubs the opportunity to improve their squads for the remainder of the 2024-25 season and beyond.
Teams will be able to sign players until the window closes at 11 p.m. GMT (6 p.m. ET) on Feb. 3, 2025.
The transfer window also applies to the other divisions in England’s football league system and is replicated in France and Germany. However, the winter window opens on Jan. 2 in Spain and Italy.
LaLiga’s window closes at midnight local time in Spain (11 p.m. GMT, 6 p.m. ET) on Feb. 3. Ligue 1 clubs will have one less hour to make their signings when the window closes on Feb. 3 (10 p.m. GMT, 5 p.m. ET). Business in the Bundesliga has to be completed by 6 p.m. CET (5 p.m. GMT) and Serie A’s window closes two hours later.
Last year, Premier League clubs’ gross spend of £100 million ($127.7m) on transfers in January was £715m lower than the record amount (£815m) that changed hands during the window one year earlier in 2023, data released by Deloitte showed.
Apart from in January 2021 when spending was restricted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the only time clubs spent less on new players in a single window was in January 2012 (£60m).
The relatively quiet window meant the most expensive signing was Tottenham Hotspur’s acquisition of defender Radu Dragusin from Genoa in a deal worth around €25 million ($27.3m) plus a further €5m in add-ons.
However spending by clubs in Europe’s “top five” leagues increased from €255m in January 2023 to €455m in January 2024.
This time round, there are a number of Premier League players subject to speculation over a change of club.
Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford has suggested he could be open to leaving the club he joined at the age of seven. He said he is “ready for a new challenge” after admitting it was “disheartening” to be dropped from manager Ruben Amorim’s squad for the team’s derby win over Manchester City on Dec. 15.
He is yet to make an appearance for United since missing the derby but did return to the bench for the team’s home defeat at the hands of Newcastle United on Monday.
The respective futures of Liverpool trio Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk are also the subject of speculation as all three players’ contracts are due to expire at the end of the season.
In the absence of an extension, they are now free to speak to non-English clubs about the possibility of agreeing a pre-contract agreement that would see them sign as a free agent on July 1.
Man City are in an identical predicament with star midfielder Kevin De Bruyne whose contract is also set to expire in the summer.
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