January transfer window: The standout winners and losers from the Premier League including Man City, Liverpool and Chelsea

The January transfer window has now closed and the Premier League experienced its quietest ever winter deadline day after only seven deals were completed.

Nevertheless, English top-flight teams collectively spent around £400m on new players across the entire window, making it one of the highest January/February totals on record.

2026 spending slightly surpassed the £372m forked out by Premier League clubs last year, though it was still far below the £815m recorded in January 2023.

While some teams will be delighted with their transfer business, both incomings and outgoings, others will be left pondering how their transfer strategy could have delivered more.

Here, Sports Mole takes a closer look at the standout winners and losers in the Premier League from the January transfer window.

WINNERS - MANCHESTER CITY

Arguably the biggest winners of the January transfer window are Man City, who astutely completed their business early and made two statement signings in the form of Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guehi - two Premier League-proven additions.

The Citizens fought off competition from Premier League rivals to win the race for Semenyo, signing the prolific attacker from Bournemouth for £64m, before snapping up England international defender Guehi for a cut-price £20m from Crystal Palace.

Pep Guardiola has also bolstered his squad with the return of Max Alleyne and Sverre Nypan following loan spells at Watford and Middlesbrough respectively, with the former having already made a notable impression in the first team.

As for outgoings, Man City earned £27m from the sale of Oscar Bobb to Fulham, and Claudio Echeverri has been sent on loan to sister club Girona in search of regular game time following an unsuccessful spell at Bayer Leverkusen. Meanwhile, Divine Mukasa (Leicester City), Stephen Mfuni (Watford) and Jaden Heskey (Sheffield Wednesday) are among the academy starlets who have left on loan to gain valuable first-team experience in the Championship.

Man City were also successful in offloading outcasts Stefan Ortega and Kalvin Phillips who have joined Nottingham Forest and Sheffield United respectively, the latter of whom has only left on loan but will hope to reignite his career away from the Etihad in a move that suits all parties.

WINNERS - ASTON VILLA

Aston Villa have taken a measured approach to transfers dealings in recent windows to comply with PSR rules, and considering those limitations, Unai Emery’s side have experienced a relatively successful January overall.

Emery had been looking for a striker to support Ollie Watkins and many will argue that Tammy Abraham - an £18m signing from Besiktas - suits the Spaniard’s system more than Donyell Malen, who has joined Roma on a initial loan deal with a £21.5m option to buy, while Leon Bailey has returned from his loan at the Serie A club.

Injuries to John McGinn, Boubacar Kamara and Youri Tielemans forced Villa into the market for a new centre-midfielder, and like Abraham, the return of another fan favourite in Douglas Luiz - who played more than 200 times for the club between 2019 and 2024 - represents shrewd business, with the Brazilian joining on loan from Juventus with an option to buy.

Brazilian starlet Alysson has arrived from Gremio for around £10m and is considered one for the future, while Evann Guessand will hope to prove his Premier League worth on loan at Crystal Palace for the rest of the season before Villa reassess his future in the summer. Bailey replacing him as an attacking option at Villa is arguably an upgrade for Emery.

WINNERS - BOURNEMOUTH

Bournemouth accepted that they were powerless to keep hold of in-demand Antoine Semenyo because of his release clause, but the Cherries deserve credit for how they responded to the departure of such an important player.

Andoni Iraola’s side wasted little time to bring in highly-rated Brazilian winger Rayan - a £24.7m arrival from Vasco da Gama who was linked with a number of top European teams before deciding to move to the Vitality Stadium.

The 19-year-old still has a long way to go to reach the same heights as Semenyo, but has already shown glimpses of why Bournemouth inserted a £100m release clause into his contract, after providing an assist on his Premier League debut in last weekend’s win over Wolves.

Bournemouth also brought in versatile Hungarian midfielder Alex Toth for £10.5m from Ferencvaros and this deal represents a savvy piece of long-term planning given that Alex Scott, who shares similar qualities to Toth, is expected to attract interest from top clubs in the summer.

Meanwhile, Greek goalkeeper Christos Mandas has joined on loan from Lazio with a £16m option of buy and he is set to provide much-needed competition for first-choice shot-stopper Djordje Petrovic, who has the worst goals prevented (-3.93) record of any starting Premier League goalkeeper this season. The addition of 37-year-old Fraser Forster on a free transfer has also added valuable experience to Iraola’s team.

LOSERS - CRYSTAL PALACE

It is fair to say that January was a chaotic month, and ultimately a disappointing one, for Crystal Palace both on and off the pitch.

Captain Marc Guehi was retained by the skin of their teeth last summer, but with his contract ticking into the final six months, a winter-window exit became unavoidable, and receiving just £20m for one of their top performers is bleak to say the least.

Head coach Oliver Glasner announced Guehi’s departure at the same press conference that he confirmed his own exit at the end of the season, and that shortly followed reports of top scorer Jean-Philippe Mateta wanting to leave as he eyed up a fresh challenge in Italy.

A £35m move to AC Milan looked on the cards for Mateta, but the deal fell through after his medical brought up issues with his knee - which may require surgery ahead of the World Cup - so the Frenchman is forced to remain at Selhurst Park before a seemingly inevitable summer exit.

Despite that, Palace splashed out a club-record £48m on Jorgen Strand Larsen, who has scored just one Premier League goal in 22 games for a struggling Wolves outfit this term. This deal surpassed the club’s previous transfer record of £33.5m spent on Brennan Johnsson from Tottenham at the beginning of January.

Meanwhile, Evann Guessand has arrived on loan following an unconvincing stint at Aston Villa, but a late move for Everton’s Dwight McNeil fell through at the eleventh hour, leaving the winger ‘distressed’ and upset following Palace’s failure to complete the necessary paperwork in time.

All three of Palace’s new arrivals have the potential to succeed at Selhurst Park, but a cloud of negativity hangs over the Eagles at present and their failure to sign a defensive replacement for Guehi could prove costly in their quest to climb the Premier League table.

LOSERS - LIVERPOOL

After spending a mouthwatering £450m on new signings last summer, Liverpool were not expected to spend big in January, but the club’s supporters were hoping for defensive reinforcements, with Arne Slot’s side light in the centre-back and right-back departments.

Marc Guehi was their number one centre-back target from the summer and they somewhat bizarrely opted again reigniting their interest in January, allowing their rivals Man City to swoop in and finalise a cut-price deal, meaning Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate - out of contract in the summer - and injury-prone Joe Gomez are the only three centre-back options available to Slot.

Liverpool did at least beat Chelsea in the race to sign promising 20-year-old Jeremy Jacquet from Rennes for £60m, but they will have to wait until the summer to integrate him into their first-team squad, as Rennes insisted on keeping the defender for the rest of this season.

The Reds also retained the services of experienced left-back Andrew Robertson, but they tried and failed to bring in a new right-back at a time when both Conor Bradley and Jeremie Frimpong are sidelined with injuries, pulling out of a complicated deal to sign Lutsharel Geertruida who is currently on loan at Sunderland rom RB Leipzig.

Liverpool are capable of naming one of strongest starting lineups, on paper, when everyone is fit and available, but their squad depth is a concern for a Reds outfit still competing in multiple competitions, and injuries have the potential to derail their season.

LOSERS - CHELSEA

Chelsea co-owners Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital have spent a significant amount of money on new first-team players in recent years, and although they may have acquired some talented young players in midfield and attack, the lack of proven quality and experience at the back is still evident.

The West Londoners looked as if they had won the race for long-term target Jeremy Jacquet in the final few days of the January window, but the defender allegedly ‘changed his mind’ and opted to join Liverpool due to concerns about his game time and centre-back competition at Stamford Bridge.

Liam Rosenior’s side subsequently recalled 20-year-old Mamadou Sarr from his loan at sister-club Strasbourg. However, his return offers little reassurance regarding Chelsea’s problems in the heart of defence, while his own personal development may now suffer as regular first-team football is far from guaranteed.

A host of youngsters have left Chelsea on loan, while Axel Disasi and Raheem Sterling - two members of the ‘bomb squad’ - have also departed. The Blues were unable to sell either player, though, with Disasi joining West Ham on a straight loan deal and Sterling leaving on a free transfer by mutual consent.

Chelsea’s January window was far from a disaster, but failure to strengthen in a vulnerable position and losing out in the race for leading targets because of their Bohley-inspired squad structure could have short-term consequences for the Blues.