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Carloz Tevez, Oscar and other top 10 signings of January transfer window
Carlos Tevez, Oscar, Julian Draxler are the three most costliest transfers in the January transfer window. Chinese clubs have emerged as the biggest spenders.
The deadline of the winter transfer window for the top five European leagues was January 31, 2017.
The last few hours of deadline day are usually chaotic but yield few high profile transfers since most top teams wrap up their big moves well in advance.
According to The Guardian, clubs of the top five European leagues have been involved in 544 transfers in the January window with a total spend of £651,210,639.
Here is a list of the 10 most expensive transfers of the January 2017 window:
Carlos Tevez
From: Boca Juniors (Argentine Primera Division)
To: Shanghai Shenhua (Chinese Super League)
Transfer fee: £71.6 million
Just like the January 2016 window, a Chinese Super League club tops the spending charts of the winter transfer market in 2017. Gus Poyet’s Shanghai Shenhua has made Tevez the sixth most expensive transfer in football history. Additionally, Tevez is officially the highest paid footballer in the world with a £615,000-per-week wage structure.
Oscar
From: Chelsea (English Premier League)
To: Shanghai SIPG (Chinese Super League)
Transfer fee: £60 million
Oscar was the Chinese league’s first big money singing of the transfer window. According to reports, he was offered to be made the highest paid player in the world but was surpassed days later when Tevez joined Shanghai SIPG’s city rivals. Oscar is the second-highest paid footballer in the world with a salary of £400,000 per week, surpassing Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, both of whom are believed to earn £365,000 a week.
Julian Draxler
From: Wolfsburg (German Bundesliga)
To: Paris Saint-Germain (French Ligue 1)
Transfer fee: £34 million
French big spenders PSG snapped up Draxler early in the transfer window to fend of interest from English giants Arsenal. The 23-year-old Draxler signed a four-and-half-year contract with PSG and started on the front foot having scored two goals in his first four appearances, including a goal on his debut for the club.
Gabriel Jesus
From: Palmeiras (Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A)
To: Manchester City (English Premier League)
Transfer fee: £27 million
Touted to be the next Neymar, Olympic-winner Jesus was tied down by Man City during the summer transfer window but opted to stay with Palmeiras until the end of the Brazilian season. Having led Palmeiras to the 2016 Serie A title, Jesus joined City and now plays under Pep Guardiola who has already heaped praise on the 19-year-old.
Goncalo Guedes
From: Benfica (Portuguese Primeira Liga)
To: Paris Saint-Germain (French Ligue 1)
Transfer fee: £25.5 million
Ending a 12-year association from youth to senior team, Guedes left Benfica for PSG. The 20-year-old, who has made two appearances for the Portuguese national team, signed a contract until 2021. He is known to be a winger but was moved to a striker’s role by Benfica this season. He is expected to be a backup option for Edinson Cavani at PSG.
Dimitri Payet
From: West Ham (English Premier League)
To: Marseille (French Ligue 1)
Transfer fee: £25 million
The most controversial transfer of the window saw Payet refuse to play for West Ham or partake in team bonding sessions. Towards the end of his term with the London club, he was shunned by his teammates and banished from training sessions by manager Slaven Bilic. Payet eventually singed with Marseille, the same club he left 18 months prior to join West Ham.
Morgan Schneiderlin
From: Manchester United (English Premier League)
To: Everton (English Premier League)
Transfer fee: £20 million
Schneiderlin was one of Louis van Gaal’s acquisitions during his time at Manchester United but failed to sustain himself in the first team under Jose Mourinho. Wanting to play week-in and week-out, the 27-year-old joined Ronald Koeman’s Everton side under condition that he would be a first team regular for the Toffees.
Memphis Depay
From: Manchester United (English Premier League)
To: Lyon (French Ligue 1)
Transfer fee: £17 million
Another of Van Gaal’s transfers, Depay also found himself excluded from Mourinho’s starting XI on numerous occasions. At just 22 years of age, Depay has been labelled future star by several managers and players including United captain Wayne Rooney. Reportedly, United sold him to Lyon with the inclusion of buy-back clauses and sell-on clauses as part of the contract.
Alexandre Pato
From: Villarreal (Spanish La Liga)
To: Tianjin Quanjian (Chinese Super League)
Transfer fee: £15.4 million
Pato’s career had been blighted by injuries early on. At 27, he has now cashed in by joining Chinese side Tianjin Quanjian for a reported salary of £100,000 a week where he joins Axel Witsel who also transferred in this window. The team is coached by former World Cup winner Fabio Cannavaro.
Wilfred Ndidi
From: Genk (Belgian Pro League)
To: Leicester City (English Premier League)
Transfer fee: £15 million
Leicester have struggled in the Premier League this season and many experts have identified the departure of N’Golo Kante for Chelsea in the last transfer window as the shortcoming in the side. Manager Claudio Ranieri identified Ndidi as the perfect replacement, singing him in an initial deal of £15 million that could rise to £18 million with add-ons.
Unknown quantities
The transfer of Axel Witsel to Tianjin Quanjian earlier in January was reported sans transfer fee but is believed to be a high-profile deal. Here are the particulars of the transfer that are known:
Axel Witsel
From: Zenit St Petersburg (Russian Premier League)
To: Tianjin Quanjian (Chinese Super League)
Transfer fee: Undisclosed
Witsel announced in November 2016 that he would join Italian giants Juventus in the near future. However, he backtracked on that decision to join Tianjin Quanjian because of a sizeable financial offer from the Chinese club. The Belgian will now be the seventh-highest paid player in the world, earning £300,000-a-week.
