January Transfer Window Recap: Chelsea Cash In, Cancelo shock, CR7 to Saudi & Canadian Migration

With Premier League clubs spending a record €815m during the ’23 winter transfer window, there is plenty to discuss, from shocking and expensive transfers and Spanish La Liga president Javier Tebas referring to the English spending boom as “a doped market”, to Canadian talent en route to new clubs. The window’s 10 highest valued players on the move combine for a ridiculous €472m in market value according to transfermarkt, including the likes of João Cancelo (€70m), Cody Gakpo (€60m), Enzo Fernández (€55m) and João Felix (€50m).

Here are the highest transfer fees agreed upon from January:

Chelsea Flex the Wallet

As you can see from the table above, Chelsea dominated the window, spending an unfathomable €294m in just the top 10, and securing half of the world’s 10 highest transfers in January. On top of these 5, Chelsea also agreed to deals with Brazilian club Vasco de Gama on a €12.5m fee for 18-year-old central midfielder Andrey Santos, Norwegian club Molde’s 20-year-old centre forward David Datro Fofana for €12m, and an €11m loan fee for Benfica’s talented, yet disgruntled young star, João Felix. This totals the Blues out at €329.5m this window alone.

Currently sitting 10th in the table, and picking up just 1 point from their last 3 league matches, it’s clear the new ownership is keen to make an immediate impression on the team that won the Champions League final just 2 years ago.

Cancelo Surprise Transfer Request

Around this time last year João Cancelo signed a 5-year contract extension with Manchester City, claiming that the blue side of Manchester has everything players need to reach their full potential. Fast-forward to a year later, and the Portuguese full back is sporting Bavarian red, blue, and white for Bayern Munich after requesting a transfer out of Pep Guardiola’s competitive Premier League side and securing himself a loan.

Reports claim Cancelo and Guardiola began falling out months ago, yet since the FIFA World Cup and especially in recent weeks Cancelo has found himself backing up City academy graduate, 18-year-old Rico Lewis. Pep clearly hasn’t been impressed with Cancelo’s defensive play, failing to make the starting 11 in each of Man City’s last 3 matches, and starting in just 3 since returning from Qatar. In his last two starts, City lost to Southampton and Manchester United, leaving him out of remaining contests to date with defending seeming to be the main culprit.

In Cancelo’s first game with Bayern he played as a right midfielder in a 3-1-4-2 formation. He added an assist on 62 touches with 14 possessions lost, 33/42 (79%) passes completed, and 3/3 long balls in the 4-0 win over Mainz. Having the flexibility to play higher up with Bayern’s stacked defensive unit may reignite João’s hunger to be more of an attacking threat than at Manchester City.

Ronaldo to Saudi Arabia on Free Transfer

Following a difficult World Cup for Cristiano Ronaldo, starting in Portugal’s first 3 matches, then being left out of the XI for the final 2, the GOAT contestant returned to Manchester hoping to fight his way back into his club side. United boss Erik ten Hag had different plans for CR7, putting him on the transfer block and not looking back.

Quickly, Cristiano agreed to a insanely lucrative contract, estimated to be worth more than €200m over 2.5 years with Saudi club Al-Nassr.

Budget-less United Respond

Despite shallow pockets after a large expenditure in the summer transfer window (Antony €95m, Casemiro €70.65m, Lisandro Martínez €57m, Tyrell Malacia €15m), after the departure of Ronaldo, and a potential 3-month long injury to key centre midfielder Christian Eriksen, Manchester United found themselves down a prominent attacker and a defensive minded midfield partner for Casemiro with a tight budget to work with. Luckily, gaffer Erik ten Hag knows what he wants and demonstrates flexibility in acquiring money-ball type solutions. ten Hag went on a loan hunt, acquiring a free loan deal for Marcel Sabitzer, a high motor, two-way central midfielder from Bayern Munich, and 6’6″ Dutch centre forward Wout Weghorst on a €2.96m loan from Burnley. Each player being a more than respectable replacement for Eriksen and Ronaldo respectively playing the same roles, while offering cheaper contracts and a low transfer fee total.

Canadian Faces in New Places

The window also saw a few familiar Canadian faces en route to new destinations. Below is a list of the top transfer fees for Canadian citizens in January:

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