Transfer few and far between on deadline day

As the clock ticked towards 11pm, spending in the entire January window had not yet reached €100m – in stark contrast to the €915m spent last January, headed by Chelsea’s €125m capture of Argentina’s World Cup hero Enzo Fernandez.

DEADLINE DAY: Crystal Palace paid €26m to sign young midfielder Adam Wharton from Blackburn. 

Transfer Deadline Day, January 2024, will be remembered as the moment when financial fair play finally made its mark on Premier League football and left even the biggest and richest clubs too anxious to spend.

The day, so often filled with stories of huge sums being spent on last-minute panic buys, this time passed by in relative silence, leaving football reporters stood shivering outside stadiums and training grounds still waiting for a headline to pass their way.