The biggest moves from outside the Premier League this January

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Tomorrow’s newsletter will be the Premier League-focused version of this one, but we think the stuff happening across Europe was even more interesting.

Major moves in Italy

The Italians have definitely gone all-in in this transfer window. Serie A clubs have made by far the most signings among the top European leagues, with a tally of 121 (per Transfermarkt) at the time of writing. For contrast, the Premier League is second among the big five leagues with 65. In fact, the only cross-year league with an eight-digit expenditure where more signings have been made so far in this window is Serie B with 134.

Lazio have been the busiest club among the big-hitters, as their records show both the highest expenditure and income. They have raised close to €60 million thanks to the sales of Valentín Castellanos and Mattéo Guendouzi to West Ham and Fenerbahçe respectively.

(As an aside, the Turkish big three continue to reject simple principles of economics as they’ve all loaned in two guys each while being hundreds of millions in debt.)

Lazio’s most noteworthy signing was that of Ajax midfielder Kenneth Taylor, who cost about a quarter of their income. He certainly is a very different type of player compared to Guendouzi, whose defensive intensity was integral to Maurizio Sarri’s out-of-possession scheme. How this change impacts the Eagles defensively will be interesting to see, but the Dutchman’s passing should prove useful to a side that has struggled to create chances.

Sarri will also hope to see some output from €13m striker Petar Ratkov, who comes on the back of a 12-goal half-season in Austria. He’s tall, gets in the box and can take his chances, so the service could well be the key.

Finally, Lazio also spent €4.5m on teenage Polish winger Adrian Przyborek. He’s surely one for the future, but has shown good creation in the Ekstraklasa so far this term.

Elsewhere, Napoli had to pay up the €26m obligation to buy for Patrick van Straaten favourite Lorenzo Lucca. Having duly shipped him off on loan to Nottingham Forest (with an optimistic €40m option to buy), they’ve now gone and dumped €20m on Giovane.

I will caveat this by noting that the young Brazilian forward was a bright spark in a pretty dire Hellas Verona side, but that does not justify the fee at all. He didn’t have an overly strong record in Brazil either, so all I can say is all the best to Napoli. The Azzurri also spent €3.5m to bring Sporting CP youngster Alisson Santos in on loan with an additional €16.5m option to buy in the summer.

Roma also spent a similar amount on Robinio Vaz, but he is a) younger and b) actually pretty good, as Kim has previously pointed out. They also loaned in Bayern Munich’s Bryan Zaragoza on deadline day.

Como continued their youthful revolution with an €12m signing of 18-year-old Hammarby winger Adrian Lahdo, who impressed towards the end of the last Allsvenskan season.

Not to be left out, Juventus have loaned in yet another winger in Jérémie Boga as well as defender Emil Holm, both with options to buy. João Mário was sent the other way for the latter deal, joining Bologna on loan.

Atalanta, meanwhile, saw the most noteworthy departure as they agreed a €35+5m deal with Atlético Madrid for Ademola Lookman on deadline day. Atléti, by the way, made two other signings at the death by paying Elche €16m for midfielder Rodrigo Mendoza as well as €3m for Seattle Sounders’ Obed Vargas.

Many millions spent in Brazil

Despite the restless activity in Italy, the league with the second-highest expenditure (behind the English Premier League, of course) is Brazil’s Série A. In fact, clubs of those two nationalities are the only ones that appear on multiple occasions in this window’s 10 most expensive transfers.

Lucas Paquetá’s record-breaking €42m return to boyhood club Flamengo stands out, but it is only an epitome of a wider trend. Série A clubs’ transfer spend has been skyrocketing in recent years, with last year’s record of €316.84m under threat as the €200m mark has already been crossed with about a month of the window to spare.

Flamengo’s financial capacity was boosted by their exceptional 2025 campaign, which ended with four titles as well as participations in two FIFA tournaments, but four other sides have already crossed the €15m figure on transfer fees. Brazilian clubs’ dominance in CONMEBOL competitions (they’ve won each of the last seven Copa Libertadores titles), big sales, the league’s increasing broadcasting revenue, and other revenue sources (including sponsorships and foreign ownership) are all factors behind this trend, which will certainly continue to impact the European market.

Japanese next generation

Over on the other side of the world in Japan, 2026 is going to be a big year as the J.Leagues switch from a year-round to a cross-year schedule, aligning themselves with the big European leagues. Talents from the country have now forged a consistent pathway to the continent, as national team stars such as Kaoru Mitoma, Ritsu Doan, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Zion Suzuki made moves in their early 20s, while some like Takefusa went even earlier.

As a result of the format change, European clubs weren’t quite so active in Japan in January and will likely strike more deals in the summer. However, one particularly interesting move saw Rion Ichihara leave second-tier RB Omiya Ardija (who were recently acquired by Red Bull) for Eredivisie side AZ.

The technical level in J2 is really good, but the physical jump will definitely be big. Nine other players have made such a move previously, though, so this isn’t exactly uncharted territory either.

Meanwhile, Japanese youngsters have also made some moves across Europe. Keita Kosugi’s €6.5m to Eintracht Frankfurt is the most notable as he looks like a really well-rounded full-back and has been a consistent performer for Djurgården with UEFA competition experience.

Kento Shiogai has also joined a Bundesliga club in Wolfsburg, who have seen enough in his return of 7 goals from 363 minutes in the Eredivisie this season to cough up €9.5m for the 20-year-old striker.

Other young guns on the move

Speaking of new Bundesliga strikers, Younes Ebnoutalib’s move to Eintracht Frankfurt got a lot of German football heads excited. You may join them by looking at his radar from the first half of the season:

I have good news and bad news. The good news is that Ebnoutalib scored on debut for his new club. The bad news is that he got injured in the very next match and will be out for at least another month.

If you’re looking for guys you can watch immediately, allow me to recommend Noah Nartey. The Danish youngster became a key figure for Brøndby over the last couple of years and developed quite well (benefitting from the coaching of Steve Cooper, among others), ultimately earning a €8m move to the reinvigorating Lyon.

Nartey definitely is the kind of player that entertains fans as he shows great intensity in all his actions, and is just as lively both with and without the ball. He too scored on debut in a crucial match against Lille.

Elsewhere, Rennes starlet Mohamed Kader Meïté has completed a €30m move to Saudi giants Al-Hilal. While I understand not everyone will be pleased with him leaving Europe, I respect the bag-chasing for one and also think he could continue to develop under Simone Inzaghi, though Karim Benzema's shock switch from Al-Ittihad does complicate matters. Either way, as the likes of Gabri Veiga and Cameron Puertas have already shown, there is a good chance for him to come back a few years down the line.

Fellow French youngster Saïmon Bouabré joins him in Riyadh after completing a €23m move from NEOM SC.

Rennes, for their part, have gone and signed another interesting striker in Moroccan Under-20 World Cup winner Yassir Zabiri, who starred in the tournament and has now earned €10m for Famalicão.

Over in Marseille, 18-year-old midfielder Darryl Bakola should be packing his bags as he was the subject of a €10m deadline day move to Sassuolo. He saw precious little game time under Roberto De Zerbi, but should feature more regularly in Italy.

Last but not least, Dro Fernández has made an €8m switch from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain. He only turned 18 in January, but featured for the Spanish champions earlier in the season and is a very highly-rated talent. I’d be surprised if he gets much more game time in the French capital in the short term ahead of PSG’s own exciting academy graduates, but his development should be interesting to follow.

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