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PL clubs spend just £70m in winter window

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The Premier League spent £5 million less during the 2021 January transfer window than the  £75 million Liverpool paid for Virgil Van Dijk three years ago.

It will be an unpalatable fact for some fans that the clubs have been so quiet but any who claim that the current pandemic has been used as an excuse not to spend this winter are being shown to be 100 per cent wrong.

Right across the board clubs have kept whatever cash they have available very much in the bank with no income arriving into the clubs during the course of the pandemic.

Dreams that football would somehow remain immune to the global health crisis and the lack of income would pass them by were proved  false.

When a club such as Liverpool – with a major injury crisis in their terms – spends just £2 million on a permanent deal whilst completing a second loan deal as their only business – it’s time for a reality check across the game by fans at every club.

Said Benrahma became a permanent signing

Talksport reports that the biggest interest on deadline day came in the shape of Josh King’s move to Everton whilst Southampton snapped up Liverpool forward Takumi Minamino on a temporary deal.

Liverpool bought Preston’s Ben Davies for £2m and did a loan  deal for Schalke’s Ozan Kabak to ease their centre-back crisis after Joel Matip was ruled out for the rest of the season.

King and Davies were two of just three permanent moves on Deadline Day, the other being Moises Caicedo to Brighton for £4m, while six loan deals took place.

In addition to Kobak and Minamino, Arsenal duo Joe Willock and Ainsley Maitland-Niles were sent on loan to Newcastle and West Brom respectively, Okay Yokuslu also joined the Baggies on a temporary move from Celta Vigo, while Fulham secured a short-term deal for striker Josh Maja from Bordeaux.

Loans dominated a window in which the only big purchases were Man United buying Amad Diallo for £18.7m (which a further potential £18m in add-ons) and West Ham turning their temporary deal for Said Benrahma into a £25m permanent signing which will be payable over four years.

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Hugh Southon is a lifelong Iron and the founding editor of ClaretandHugh. He is a national newspaper journalist of many years experience and was Bobby Moore's 'ghost' writer during the great man's lifetime. He describes ClaretandHugh as "the Hammers daily newspaper!"

Follow on Twitter @hughsouthon