Liverpool's January activity pushes window to record
What you need to know:
- English clubs still outstripped the Spanish, though, as Liverpool paid £75 million (Sh10.2 billion, $102 million, 84 million euros) for central defender Van Dijk.
- English clubs spent $482.8 million (Sh48 billion) , a 181 percent increase on last year.
PARIS
Liverpool's record sale of Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona and acquisition of Virgil Van Dijk from Southampton pushed January transfer window spending to new heights, a Fifareport published on Friday revealed.
La Liga giants Barca led the way with the 160 million euros ($192 million, Sh19.2 billion) signature of Brazilian attacking midfielder Coutinho as Spanish clubs spent more money than in the previous seven January windows put together — their $361.3 million (Sh36 billion) represented a massive 560.4 percent increase on 2017.
English clubs still outstripped the Spanish, though, as Liverpool paid £75 million (Sh10.2 billion, $102 million, 84 million euros) for central defender Van Dijk.
Manchester City also forked out for a defender with Aymeric Laporte costing £57 million from Athletic Bilbao while Arsenal splashed £56 million on Gabon striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Borussia Dortmund.
English clubs spent $482.8 million (Sh48 billion), a 181 percent increase on last year.
The FifaTMS platform that tracks international transfers said a total of $1.28 billion was spent despite only 15 percent of the 3,317 transfers around the world commanding a fee.
Teams from the 'big five' leagues of England, Spain, Germany, Italy and France spent 784 million euros ($979m) in January, up 70.5 percent on the equivalent period in 2017, although outlay in the latter three actually went down.
