Top 10 most expensive Premier League January transfers

The January sales are about to open for business but sniffing out a bargain is a tough task – transfer fees are usually inflated at this time of year and big money can change hands. Here are the top 10 most expensive Premier League January transfers…

1. Fernando Torres – £50m, Liverpool to Chelsea

Chelsea's capture of Liverpool's star striker in January 2011 looked like a guaranteed success but Fernando Torres' drop-off in performances following his move to Stamford Bridge was remarkable. After netting 65 league goals in three-and-a-half seasons with Liverpool, the Spain international managed just 20 over the same period with Chelsea. A semi-final strike against Barcelona in the Champions League final was a rare highlight.

2. Juan Mata – £37.1m, Chelsea to Manchester United

Chelsea's two-time player of the year was sold to Manchester United in January 2014, when the Spain international appeared to be surplus to Jose Mourinho's plans. While Mata took time to re-find the form that made him a hit at Stamford Bridge, he enjoyed an encouraging 2014/15 campaign which included a memorable scissor-kick goal against Liverpool.

3. Andy Carroll – £35m, Newcastle to Liverpool

One of the most remarkable deadline day signings was Carroll's switch to Liverpool in January 2011. After firing boyhood club Newcastle back into the Premier League and netting 11 goals in the first half of the following Premier League season, Carroll was signed by Kenny Dalglish. However, a mixture of injuries and style brought Carroll's Liverpool career to a close in May 2013 when he joined West Ham, where he'd spent the previous season on loan.

4. Edin Dzeko - £32.5m, Wolfsburg to Manchester City

The Bosnian striker scored 66 goals in 111 games in Germany, helping Wolfsburg win the Bundesliga in 2009 and Roberto Mancini came knocking for him in 2011. Despite being a regular scorer at City and winning the Premier League twice, Dzeko struggled to establish himself under both Mancini and Manuel Pellegrini. Last September, he signed a new contract to tie him to the club until 2018 but has been subsequently loaned out to Roma with a view to a permanent move.

5. Wilfried Bony - £28m, Swansea City to Manchester City

One of the main reasons Dzeko was ushered out the door at City was the arrival of Bony from south Wales in the 2015 winter window. In a deal that made him one of the most expensive African footballers of all-time, the former Vitesse Arnhem striker went to City having been the Premier League top scorer in 2014 with 20 goals. However, like Dzeko, Bony has struggled to really provide a sufficient replacement for first-choice Sergio Aguero, scoring just six goals in 25 games at the time of writing.

6. David Luiz - £26.5m, Benfica to Chelsea

In the same window that Chelsea broke the bank for Torres, they also snapped up the services of the Brazilian centre-back on a five-and-a-half year deal. Luiz made 143 appearances for the club and won both the Champions League and the Europa League during his time with the west Londoners. Luiz left for PSG in 2014 for £40m - a transfer record for a defender.

7. Juan Cuadrado - £26.1m, Fiorentina to Chelsea

Chelsea landed the Fiorentina winger in the 2015 window, with Mohamed Salah going the other way on loan. Cuadrado signed a four-and-a-half-year contract with the Blues but struggled to make any impact in the next five months under Jose Mourinho. Juventus put his Chelsea nightmare to an end in August 2015, taking the player on a season-long loan.

8. Darren Bent - £24m, Sunderland to Aston Villa

Villa smashed their transfer record when signing the England striker in 2011. At the time manager Gerard Houllier said: "His arrival sends out a clear message about our ambition." 

Bent, who began his career at Ipswich and also played for Charlton and Tottenham, netted 25 times in the 2009/10 season and had notched 11 goals already that campaign when Villa forked out the cash for him. Despite the bulky price tag, Bent was a disappointment at Villa, scoring 25 goals in 72 appearances before leaving for Derby when his four-year contract expired in 2015.

9. Luis Suarez - £23.5m, Ajax to Liverpool

In terms of value for money this transfer is arguably the best piece of business ever conducted in January. The striker scored 49 goals in 48 games for Ajax in the Eredivisie the previous season and became an instant hit with the Liverpool faithful in 2011 with his hard work and natural goal scoring instinct.

Suarez played a pivotal role in Liverpool's title challenge in 2013/14, winning the Premier League top scorer accolade with 31 goals and landing the PFA and Football Writers' Player of the Year awards, too. Suarez eventually left Anfield for Barcelona in 2014 for £75m - the third biggest transfer of all-time.   

10. Nemanja Matic - £21m, Benfica to Chelsea

Chelsea completed the signing of the midfielder on a five-and-a-half-year deal in 2014, three years after allowing him to leave Stamford Bridge. The Serbia international was valued at less than £5m in January 2011 when he left as a makeweight in the deal that saw defender Luiz join Chelsea from Benfica. It was an inspired purchase by Mourinho as Matic was a consistent performer in Chelsea's title winning season of 2014/15.