Premier League clubs hold fire in January arms race

Premier League clubs have until Friday to boost their squads but there has so far been little desire for a spending spree from the richest league in the world.

The slump in January spending over the past couple of years shows that the mid-season transfer window is increasingly seen as an undesirable time to do business.

Last year, the total outlay for Premier League clubs in January was USD 234 million -- nearly a third of which was what Chelsea spent on Christian Pulisic, who was loaned back to Borussia Dortmund for the rest of the season.

That was down from a record Pound 430 million splurge in the 2018 mid-season window, when there were a series of big-name moves including Virgil van Dijk, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Aymeric Laporte.

However, the success of those signings has tended to be the exception rather than the rule in a seller's market in January.

Manchester United are still counting the cost of their lavish outlay on Alexis Sanchez in the same month.

The Chilean is now on loan at Inter Milan, but United are still paying a large part of his wages on a contract with two-and-a-half years left to run.

Currently fifth in the table, United are desperately in need of reinforcements as they battle to avoid missing out on the riches of Champions League football for a second consecutive year.

- Difficult window -
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"It's very hard because the clubs don't want to lose their best players."