The most expensive winter transfers in football history

Athletistic/ Football. The winter transfer window has just opened and a high-profile transition has already taken place. Dutch striker Cody Gakpo joined Liverpool on January 3 this year from PSV Eindhoven. The cost of the transfer amounted to forty-two million euros.

However, the amount of this transfer did not become a record, consider the five most expensive winter transfers in the history of football.

1. Philippe Coutinho, 135 million euro transfer from Liverpool to Barcelona. The Brazilian midfielder’s transfer in January 2018 was one of the most disastrous in the Catalan club’s history, especially considering the cost. At the time of the transition, Coutinho was one of the best playmakers in the world, but throughout his time at Barcelona he only looked like himself at times, and his best segment came in the first six months. .

If for Liverpool in 201 matches, the Brazilian sent 54 balls into the opposition net and made 45 assists, then after playing a total of 106 matches for Barca, Coutinho scored 25 goals and provided 14 assists. This is clearly not the result on which the management and the supporters of the Catalan club expected.

In August 2019, Coutinho was loaned to Bayern Munich, where he played with some success, winning the German league and cup, as well as the Champions League.

The Brazilian returned to Barcelona in the summer of 2020, suffering more injuries than games.

In January 2022, Coutinho was loaned out to Aston Villa Birmingham, who signed the midfielder six months later for €20million.

2. Virgil van Dijk, transfer from Southampton to Liverpool for 84.6 million euros. The Merseysiders, having sold Philippe Coutinho, completed one of the best transfers in their history in January 2018. The Dutch defender cemented Liverpool’s center of defense for years to come.

2019 UEFA European Player of the Year won the Champions League (2018/2019), Premier League (2019/2020), UEFA Super Cup (2019), Club World Cup ( 2019), the FA Cup (2021/2022) with Liverpool), FA Super Cup (2022), EFL Cup (2021/2022).

3. Dusan Vlahovic, transfer from Fiorentina to Juventus for 81.6 million euros. Almost a year ago, the Turin club acquired one of Europe’s most promising strikers, who scored 49 goals in 108 games for Fiorentina aged 22.

Vlahovic’s transfer didn’t exactly turn out to be a failure, quite the contrary, given his age and game. The Serbian forward has currently scored 16 goals in 36 games for Juventus in all competitions. The performance is quite comparable to the indicators during his match for the “violets”.

4. Aymeric Laporte, Athletic to Manchester City for 65 million euros. The main player in the defensive formations of Josep Guardiola’s team. After playing 165 games for Manchester City in all competitions and scoring 12 goals, he helped his side win four Premier League titles (2017/2018, 2018/2019, 2020/2021, 2021/2022), two FA Super Cups (2018, 2019), three Football League Cups (2017/2018, 2018/2019, 2020/2021), as well as the FA Cup (2018/2019).

5. Christian Pulisic, transfer from Borussia Dortmund to Chelsea for 64 million euros. The most expensive American footballer in history played 136 games for the London club, scoring 26 goals and providing 21 assists.

In the 2022/2023 season, the Chelsea Premier League is not yet pleasing to its fans, the team is in tenth place in the championship, scoring 25 points in 17 innings. Pulisic, 24, has played 21 games, scoring one goal and providing two assists.

Eino Kabonen, Athletistic