In the just-concluded 2024 winter window, the European transfer market has encountered a real winter. In particular, the Premier League, which has always been the main player in the market, has set a record for the lowest investment in 10 years. At the same time, the freezing situation of falling volume and price even makes people wonder whether this winter window has happened.
The reporter reported coldlyThe just-concluded winter window, compared to last winter's record-breaking pomp, is like falling straight from the equatorial midsummer to the arctic cold. The total investment in the five major leagues has been cut in half, and the Premier League has plummeted by more than 8 percent! Only the Premier League reduced the amount of investment (72.1 billion euros), all of which are more than the total investment in the five major leagues in this year's winter window (60.7 billion).
The total amount of investment**, the investment of wealthy families has declined across the board. This year's investment king turned out to be the French relegation giant Lyon (56 million), and it is also the only club that has invested more than 50 million euros in the winter window. Real Madrid, Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Newcastle United, Dortmund 7 giants collectively have zero investment, and the top three in the north of Serie A have invested less than 10 million euros, which is almost insignificant.
The coldest of this year's winter window also lies in the decline in volume and price. Roque is a "pre-order" that Barcelona has traded last summer, and the real bid king in this winter window is Bayern's French fullback Boe (30 million euros). This transfer fee can only be ranked 8th last winter, less than Enzo's 1 4, which shows the lack of buyers in the five major leagues this year. The "consumption relegation" of the five major leagues, especially the Premier League in the winter window, is really shocking.
Last year's winter window was due to Chelsea's big throw, and the five major leagues invested in the winter window (11100 million) exceeded the order of 1.1 billion euros for the first time. Among them, the Premier League (84.3 billion) accounted for 76%, which is three times the total investment of the four major European leagues in the winter window. Not only did it refresh the investment record of the 2018 winter window (104.2 billion euros), which also exceeded the pre-pandemic winter window of 2020, which was the second-highest investment in history (99.4 billion). Just when fans thought that the five major leagues in the 2024 winter window would continue to climb due to the super purchasing power of the Premier League, they encountered a cliff in the winter window**.
This year, the five major leagues have invested 6 in the winter window0.7 billion euros, only 54 percent of last year6%。It's not even as good as the 2022 winter window, when the European football economy has not yet fully recovered (74.3 billion). Among them, the Premier League is the only league that has been put into the best league than last winter window, but because the decline is too large, it has led to a significant decline in the overall five major leagues. The Premier League has invested only 1 in this winter window2.1 billion, a sharp decrease of 7 from last year2.1 billion euros, the missing investment is more than the total investment of the five major leagues in the winter window this year! This year's Premier League's winter window investment is only 1 7 last year, which is the second lowest winter window since the 2013 winter window, and only slightly higher than the 2021 winter window that was unable to invest due to the heavy impact of the epidemic (11.3 billion).
Last year, the Chelsea family smashed nearly 3300 million euros, more than 4% of the entire Premier League winter window. This year, Chelsea has directly introduced zero reinforcements, and the ball market has lost the largest investor. Not only that, the 11 clubs that invested more than 30 million euros in the winter window last year were all covered by the Premier League, and this year's highest Crystal Palace is only 29 million. Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United and Newcastle United have zero reinforcements, although Tottenham and Manchester City have invested, but Manchester City's purchase of Argentine rookie Echeverry is also a "pre-purchase", which is equivalent to zero reinforcements.
In the past, the relegation teams with a large share of investment in the winter window have also tightened their money bags this year. The only clubs outside the Premier League's seven that have spent more than €10 million in the winter window are Crystal Palace, Aston Villa and Brighton. Only Crystal Palace has smashed nearly 30 million in the relegation zone, Nottingham Forest has only invested 9 million, Sheffield United at the bottom is only 2.5 million, and Everton and Burnley, both in the relegation zone, have zero investment! In addition, Bournemouth, Fulham, West Ham United and Wolves also have zero investment, which means that there are as many as 10 clubs in the Premier League that have zero investment in this winter window, more than half of the league! Among them, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United, Everton, Liverpool, Newcastle United 6 not only have zero investment, but also zero reinforcements! In last year's winter window, there was only one Everton in the Premier League with zero investment + zero reinforcements due to financial problems.
This year's winter window not only saw a sharp decline in the total investment in the Premier League, which led to a halving of the investment volume in the entire winter window, from the standard king to the heavyweight recruitment, and the transfer fee also fell by an order of magnitude. Last year's champion was Chelsea's Enzo (12.1 billion), this year Barcelona has already pre-purchased the young player Roque is only 40 million, and the French fullback Boe who is really traded in the winter window is even lower than 30 million, which is Enzo's 1 4. In last year's winter window, there were Mudryk (70 million), Gordon (45.6 million), and Hakpo (42 million) who transferred more than 40 million euros. Last year, there were as many as 8 people who paid more than 30 million euros for the winter window, and only 2 this year.
Last year, the five major leagues bought heavily in the winter window, and most of them were stars needed by the main lineup. Enzo, Mykhailo Mudryk, Gordon, Hakpo, Badiashlai, Leandro Trossard, Jorginho, Felix, Souttar and more are all ready to use and start immediately. But this year, although Roque is indeed Barcelona's hope to improve its attacking power, it is still Lewandowski's successor rather than partner. Boe is an emergency reinforcement for Bayern's two injured right-backs, with Tottenham's introduction of defender Dragusin and striker Timo Werner, Crystal Palace's 19-year-old midfielder Wharton, and RB Leipzig's signing of attacking midfielder Elmas as a necessary addition to the first team.
Including the Brazilian central defender Berardo and defender Moscardo of Paris, Atletico Madrid's 18-year-old Belgian midfielder Fermiren, and Lyon's 18-year-old left winger MWesley Fofana, along with City's 18-year-old Argentine attacker Echeverri, are both investments in the future and not a necessary workhorse in the starting line-up. If these "pre-orders" for the future are excluded, the investment figures for this year's winter window will be even more ugly.
Wallets are tightened, and naturally low prices and free rentals are in vogue. Sancho, Donny van de Beek, Phillips, Dier, Reguilon, Corel, Borja, Ekitike, Vitinha, Yunnal, DFofana, Broja, GReina, Werner, GPaulista, Bailly, BHigh-value stars such as Traore and Berotti have all completed their transfers at low prices. The investment in the entire winter window is on a cliff**, and it is difficult for them to sell ** like last winter window**. Short-term leases or rent-to-own with buy-out clauses and deferred payments have become the mainstream of the market. Although loan and free agents have always been the main force in the winter window, so many expensive stars this year can only transfer on loan, which in itself proves that the consumption of the entire winter market has been relegated.