2013 winter transfer window: the value of purchases increases 24%, market led by struggling clubs

The 98 clubs of the five major championships in Europe spent €367.4m during the winter transfer market of 2013 to recruit new players to their squads. This equates to an increase of 24% compared to the winter transfer window of 2012 (€296.4m).

For the European Top 5 clubs, the winter transfer window offers the opportunity to supplement and adjust squads: the total amount of transfer payments completed in the month of January 2013 was 16.8% of the total amount of those granted during the summer market (€2.19b in the offseason 2013-14).

With the exception of Paris Saint-Germain, the club with the highest expenditure in the 2013 winter transfer window with €40m invested, clubs that spent the most this January were those struggling in the table at the end of the first half of the season, and who are attempting to reverse the trend during the second half of the season.

In winter spending, just behind Paris Saint-German are AC Milan (€31.5m, 7^th place in Serie A), Queen's Park Rangers (€25.5m, 20^th in the Premier League), Liverpool (€25m, 10^th in the Premier League) and Newcastle United…