The January transfer window may not always carry the razzle-dazzle of its summer counterpart, but it has still produced seismic moments in football history.
Perhaps the most exhilarating window of them all came back in 2011 when Fernando Torres – Liverpool’s talisman and goal machine at the time – traded Anfield for Stamford Bridge in a huge move that would ultimately culminate in leading Chelsea to the UEFA Champions League 18 months later.
On that very same deadline day, the Reds moved quickly to replace their outgoing Spaniard, by bringing in Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll in two huge deals.
Fast forward to 2025 and much of the news so far this month has been written about Manchester City. The popular Bodog News site recently declared The Blues’ treble-winning team of 2023 as the greatest of all time – and it’s no mean feat to get that kind of recognition from the likes of Bodog News.
However, a year and a half later, the Etihad outfit is languishing in sixth place in the Premier League following a season-ending injury to midfield dynamo Rodri.
Many thought that the reigning champions would replace the Balon d’Or holder during the window and they certainly need to.
They are a whopping 12 points off of runaway league leaders Liverpool at the season’s halfway point, prompting bookies to push Pep Guardiola’s side out to +2500 to claim a fifth straight title.
If they do indeed bring in a new midfielder to replace the crocked Rodri, they will have to fork out some outlay to match these five huge deals.
Mykhailo Mudryk
Ukrainian winger Mykhailo Mudryk’s blockbuster move to Chelsea in January 2023 set tongues wagging across Europe. The Blues secured the dynamic Shakhtar Donetsk star for a staggering $70 million, making headlines as one of the priciest young talents in the game.
However, while it was the deal itself that captured the attention, it was also the audacious move from the Stamford Bridge outfit to steal the pacey winger from under the nose of rivals Arsenal.
The Gunners thought that they had a deal for the Ukrainian star snapped up. They had agreed on a deal with his parent club and all that awaited was for Mudryk himself to sign the contract.
Ultimately, however, once in London, he famously took a detour to the Bridge rather than heading to the Emirates, signing for the Blues instead.
Dusan Vlahovic
When Juventus splashed $83.5 million in January 2022 to snatch Dusan Vlahovic from Fiorentina, they placed their faith in one of Europe’s most prolific young strikers.
At just 22 years old, the Serbian striker had already built a reputation as a goalscoring machine, netting 20 goals in all competitions during the first half of the 2021-22 season for the Viola and putting the rest of the world on notice.
With Juventus enduring an inconsistent campaign and their reliance on aging forwards glaringly apparent, Vlahovic’s arrival marked a statement of intent. Ultimately, the striker made an immediate impact.
Wearing the famed number seven of the recently departed Cristiano Ronaldo, the former Partizan Belgrade star scored on his debut against Hellas Verona, as well as bagging just 33 seconds into his Champions League debut against Villareal just days later.
Virgil van Dijk
Virgil van Dijk’s switch from Southampton to Liverpool for $85 million in January 2018 will forever be hailed as one of the most transformative transfers in Premier League history.
At the time, the Dutchman became the most expensive defender in the world, and he would go on to become one of the continent’s very best. But few could have predicted the monumental impact he would have on Jurgen Klopp’s side.
Plenty of eyebrows were raised at the huge price tag that the Reds parted with to secure the former Celtic star’s signature, but ultimately the deal proved to be a masterstroke. Van Dijk immediately shored up Liverpool’s shaky backline. In his first six months at Anfield, he led the Reds to the Champions League final, and that was just the beginning.
A year later, Klopp’s side became European Champions and in 2020, they went on to win the Premier League for the first time in three decades. They have picked up a plethora of silverware since then and they look to have one hand on the title this season as well, a campaign which could be van Dijk’s last on Merseyside.
Enzo Fernandez
Chelsea’s spending under Todd Boehly has been wild. The American business mogul forked out well over $1 billion on players throughout his first two years in charge, with the biggest of them being a $121m deal for Argentinian World Cup winner Enzo Fernandez.
On the final day of the 2023 transfer window, the Blues smashed the British transfer record to bring in the Benfica star off the back of his country’s stellar campaign in Qatar.
At just 21 years of age, however, many wondered if Boehly had overpaid once more. Fast forward to 2025 and it looks like he may well have, but Enzo is currently his club’s captain and he looks set to lead them back to the UEFA Champions League this season.
Philippe Coutinho
Perhaps one of the most dramatic January transfers was Philippe Coutinho’s switch from Liverpool to Barcelona for a jaw-dropping $135 million in January 2018. The Brazilian was arguably the best attacking midfielder on the planet at the time and he had been coveted by the Blaugrana for the better part of two years.
The deal finally got penned following the departure of Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain, but ultimately it turned out to be a disaster.
Coutinho said he was leaving Anfield to win the Champions League, but it was the Reds that would have the last laugh. They reached back-to-back finals following the departure of their mercurial Brazilian, even defeating Barcelona the second time around en route to lifting the trophy for the sixth time in their history.
The Catalonians remain without a European Cup since the transfer, while Coutinho now finds himself ousted to his homeland, plying his trade for Vasco De Gama.
