Top Five January Signings By The EPL Clubs Including Chelsea And Arsenal Transfers

Despite it being a ‘dull’ transfer window, Premier League clubs ended up spending £130 million on transfers in the January transfer window, twice that of Serie A clubs and more than the combined total of La Liga and Bundesliga clubs.

League leaders Chelsea, second placed Manchester City and 5th placed Arsenal were the biggest spenders with more than 50% of the total Premier League spend. If you include the summer transfer window, a record breaking £950m was spent on transfers. We take a look at the top five transfers that will have the biggest impact for their respective clubs.

5) Jermain Defoe – FC Toronto to Sunderland

The former Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham striker returns to England after a short spell in the United States with Toronto with Sunderland’s Jozy Altidore moving in the opposite direction.

His wages of £60,000 a week does raise eyebrows, especially for a 32-year-old but Defoe guarantees goals. He is a poacher in the box well capable of shooting from outside the box and he will definitely help his side improve on their dismal record of less than a goal per game; they have just 21 from 23 so far in the league.

He has already bagged his first goal for the Black Cats in a vital 2-0 win over Burnley as the win gave them a four point cushion over two teams in the relegation zone.

Even before joining Sunderland, Defoe was in good form for the MLS side scoring 11 times in 16 games. He is the 14th highest scorer in the Premier League with 125 goals and looks set to overtake the likes of Nicolas Anelka, Robbie Keane and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink into 11th place by the end of the season if he scores a further three goals, behind 10th placed Robin van Persie.

Defoe brings with his vital experience which has seen him score 19 goals for England in 55 appearances, and every goal he scores for his new side will be worth its weight in gold.

Poyet said: “I know all about his attributes and his qualities first-hand and his exceptional goal-scoring record speaks for itself. He has something different, something special

We know each other very well – he was very young when we played together and I was coming to the end of my career, so I know him from inside the pitch.

“When I returned to Spurs as a coach it was a great experience for me to work with him, so I am really looking forward to having him as my player now and for him to be part of our team.

4) Andrej Kramaric – HNK Rijeka to Leicester City

Rooted at the foot of the table, Leicester City have made a desperate club record signing of £9 million to bring in Croatian international Andrej Kramaric with the foxes in desperate need of goals as they have scored the same number of goals as Sunderland.

Having scored 28 goals in just 31 appearances of Rijeka in Croatia’s first division, the long term Chelsea target will add firepower to Leicester’s attack that has the likes of David Nugent, Jamie Vardy and the previous club record signing Leonardo Ulloa.

He signs on a three-and-a-half year deal and the move is beneficial for both the parties. If the 23-year-old adapts to the Premier League well, the Foxes stand a strong chance of surviving with just three points separating them from Burnley in the 17th place. He can then be sold for a profit if a bigger club comes, having ensured survival for his current side.

Manager Nigel Pearson was pleased that the Croat signed for them despite their struggles, “The fact we have made our intentions pretty clear and worked hard to secure his signature is important.”

“It speaks volumes of the lad that he’s prepared to come to us in the situation it is at the moment.

“It’s really important for us to strengthen. Providing everything goes the way we’d like it to I think we have a pretty strong case, with his international status and form, internationally and at club level.”

“He has represented Croatia at every level. Hopefully the very fact we have been prepared to go about securing the deal the way we have will be favourable to us.”

3) Gabriel Paulista – Villarreal to Arsenal

Due to an unfortunate amount of injuries to their defenders as well as the patchy form of Per Mertesacker, Arsenal looked really short at the back and Arsene Wenger has splashed out £11.2 million on the Brazilian who could prove to be a solid addition at the back.

However, the Brazilian will need time in adapting to the rigours of the Premier League and it will be a difficult couple of months initially since he is incapable of communicating in English presently.

Arsene Wenger is realistic of the expectations being put on the defender as he said, “You always need time to adapt, especially in a defensive position, because you need to know your partners. At the moment he does not speak a word of English and that can cost you goals.”

Paulista will however, prove to be a capable defender in times of need as he was highly rated back in Spain and with Arsenal fighting on three fronts; the 24-year-old will get plenty of opportunities to prove his worth. The deal to get him to the Emirates involved Joel Campbell moving in the opposite direction to Villarreal on loan.

2) Wilfried Bony – Swansea City to Manchester City

At an initial fee of £28 million, Wilfried Bony is the most expensive transfer in the Premier League window this season and it is a fairly logical one. The Ivorian guarantees goals; he was the highest scorer in the last calendar year in the entire league with 20 goals.

The out of form Edin Dzeko has just two goals this season while the injury prone Stevan Jovetic has scored just three times since his brace against Liverpool at the start of the season, completing the full 90 minutes just once so far.

Bony meanwhile scored 34 goals in 70 appearances during his time at the Liberty Stadium and will be an ideal partner for City’s main man, Sergio Aguero.

Bony has already scored more than the combined total of the two strikers apart from the Argentinean, and will be a big boost to Manuel Pellegrini’s squad when he returns back from the Africa Cup of Nations along with compatriot Yaya Toure.

1) Juan Cuadrado – Fiorentina to Chelsea

Even though his move to Chelsea was an open secret, the paperwork got finalised on the deadline day for the Colombian to complete his initial £23.3 million transfer from Fiorentina which will rise to £27million.

Having enjoyed a stellar last season at Fiorentina, Cuadrado’s reputation reached greater heights during last year’s FIFA World Cup where he helped his country to reach the quarterfinals registering the most assists in the tournament.

The four and a half year deal will bring to Stamford Bridge a tremendous player who is excellent going forward from the wings while also helping out his fullbacks defensively, a trait Jose Mourinho cherishes more than most managers. Moreover, Cuadrado has played 10 games for Fiorentina as the number ten from where he has registered four goals and two assists.

The league leaders have lost some of their irritable form of late, and Cuadrado will refresh things up big time. On the way out to fund the move were Andre Schurrle, who signed for Wolfsburg while Mohamed Salah went on loan to Fiorentina.

Mourinho will be hoping that the 26-year-old provides them with the perfect balance they require to maintain their five point lead at the top of the table.