5 biggest Premier League signings this January

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Updated: February 1, 2018
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The January transfer window is usually the last chance salon for managers in the Premier League to get things right. With clubs battling for the title, European places or just fighting stay in the league itself.

Whilst the Premier League have failed to dominate the European scene in recent seasons, the gigantic TV deal means that the clubs in the league are some of the richest in the world. And this means only one thing. Some of the most expensive deals in the world of football happen in the Premier League.

January, 2018 was no different as some of the most the biggest deals took place in England with over £400m being spent by the clubs for reinforcements. Here are the five biggest deals that the Premier League teams pulled off in the first month of the year.

#5 Theo Walcott (£20m, Arsenal to Eveton)

The England international finally put an end to 11 and a half years with Arsenal when he arrived at Goodison in January.

Wenger as well as the rest of the country had lofty expectations from the Southampton academy graduate who had ditched interests from Tottenham, Liverpool and Chelsea to be a Gunner. However, in the years to come, he never quite fire on all cylinders during his time with the club where he scored 108 goals in 397 appearances.

Walcott has had 47 caps for England but has not featured under new boss Gareth Southgate – having last featured in a friendly in November 2016. With the World Cup around the corner and opportunities at Arsenal at a premium, the 28-year-old will hope this move will reignite his career.

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#4 Cenk Tosun (£27m, Arsenal to Everton)

Branded as the ‘best striker in Europe at this price’ by Sam Allardyce, Cenk Tosun was one of the early arrivals this month. The 26-year-old, who arrived from Besiktas is expected to fill the void that Romelu Lukaku left after his move to Manchester United earlier this summer.

Having started his career in Eintracht Frankfurt's academy at the age of six, Tosun moved to Turkey, the country of his heritage, to join Gaziantepspor in a £355,000 deal back in 2011.

After scoring 49 goals in four seasons for the side, Tosun moved to Besiktas. The forward bagged 64 goals in 142 appearances for the Turkish giants – winning two titles in the process. The man with an instinctive touch in front of goal is capable of playing across the front line, all at Everton hope that he succeeds where Sandro Ramirez couldn’t.

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#3 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£56m, Borussia Dortmun to Arsenal)

After breaking the club record for a transfer in the summer for acquiring the services of Alexandre Lacazette, Arsenal did it again – this time for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

The 2015 African Footballer of the Year has been the brightest stars in the Borussia Dortmund ranks in the last few years – having scored 141 goals in 213 games for the Bundesliga side, including 21 in 24 matches this season.

The move will see a huge rejig in the side for the second half of the campaign after Arsenal lost both Alexis Sanchez and Olivier Giroud only to replace them with Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Aubameyang.

#2 Aymeric Laporte – (£57m, Athletic Bilbao to Manchester City)

The transfer fee can’t be complete without a big bash from Manchester City and this January saw the Blues splash the cash for one of the most touted defenders in the world. Aymeric Laporte has been linked with possibly all the major clubs in Europe and all the speculation was finally laid to rest this January as he signed on the dotted lines of a deal that saw the Frenchman become Manchester City’s biggest ever signing in club history.

Pep Guardiola was ready to spend a record fee of £57m to bring the 23-year-old to English shores from Athletic Bilbao. The club’s previous record fee paid for a player was £55m – which they spent on Kevin de Bruyne.
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#1 Virgil van Dijk (£75m to Southampto to Liverpool)

Liverpool went back to their preferred shopping centre – Southampton for their latest man in defence, Virgil van Dijk. Jurgen Klopp and the Liverpool hierarchy has long been a fan of the Dutchman and had gone in pursuit of the former Celtic man earlier this summer – albeit illegally.

Southampton had reported the Red’s rather improper approach which left Klopp and co. rather red faced and being forced into issuing an unconditional apology for their overtures. Many feared that the actions might result in the Reds’ pursuit of the defender.

However, in the late hours of 2017, it was reported that Liverpool had indeed finally reached an agreement with the Saints for the coveted transfer. The transfer made Van Dijk the most expensive defender at £75million as he finally put pen to paper on a £180,000-a-week deal.

Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea,