The transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other countries into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer window" is the unofficial term commonly used by the media for the concept of "registration period" as described in the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of a Player.
The January transfer window in England commences at midnight on the 31st December and ends on the 31st January if a working day, and again, if not, on the first working day thereafter.
Here are the biggest January transfer signing in world football history:
Luis Suárez - Ajax to Liverpool
In 2011 Liverpool were looking for a striker who could partner Fernando Torres up front and their search ended at Ajax, when Liverpool signed Luis Suarez for £22.8m from the Dutch outfit. However in an ironic twist of events Torres ended up leaving 'The Reds' on January deadline day, to join Chelsea. It would be easy to argue now that Liverpool in fact acquired the better player since signing the Uruguayan hitman, as the Spaniard's career has stuttered since his big money move to Stamford Bridge. Suarez is now considered to be one of the top strikers in the world and has scored 22 goals in 16 Premier League games so far this season.Klaas Jan Huntelaar, another Ajax man was signed by Real Madrid in 2009. The Spanish giants paid £24m to acquire Huntelaar's services. The Dutchman is one of the most prolific strikers in the world but his Real Madrid career got off to the worst possible start when a misunderstanding over UEFA's registration rules meant he could not be named in the club's Champions League squad. This and following Real's decision to look for a new crop of 'galacticos' he was forced out of the club after just seven months, despite scoring eight goals in 13 starts. He joined AC Milan for £13m in August 2009.
Willian Borges Da Silva - Shakhtar Donetsk to FC Anzhi Makhachkala
Russian Premier League club FC Anzhi Makhachkala surprised many with their money when they started splashing the cash for players. Willian was signed by Anzhi for £25m from Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk in January 2013. However following a restructuring decision by Russian owner Suleyman Kerimov, Anzhi chose to transfer list their whole squad in August 2013, including new signing Willian, and he was sold to Chelsea that same month for £30million.
David Luiz - Benfica to Chelsea
Benfica's 2011 squad was full of talented players and one of those players was David Luiz, the unpredictable Brazilian ball playing defender/defensive midfielder. Chelsea signed David Luiz on 30th January 2011 for £26.5m, where he became an instant fan favourite. The 26 year-old is currently being linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge, with interest from Barcelona, Bayern Munich and also reports of a possible return to Benfica all on the cards.
Ediz Džeko - VfL Wolfsburg to Manchester City
Edin Džeko is a 'traditional' number 9, who wassigned by Manchester City from Bundesliga club VfL Wolfsburg for £32.5m on 3rd January 2011. In their title winning season of 2011–12 season Džeko finished as the second highest Manchester City goal scorer behind Agüero scoring 19 goals in all competitions, 14 of those goals in the Premier League. The Bosnia and Herzegovina international hasn't been a regular starter for Manchester City for a couple of seasons now, due in part to the quality of the strikers they have signed in the last few years. Despite this Džeko's record in front of goal is very impressive. In August 2010 Džeko became the highest scorer in the history of VfLWolfsburg with 59 goals in 96 appearances. For Manchester City the 27 year-old has netted 53 goals in 134 appearances in all competitions, many of those as a substitute.
Andy Carroll - Newcastle to Liverpool
Andy Carroll was enjoying the season of his life at Newcastle when Liverpool came knocking, after selling Torres on the last day of transfer window. Liverpool were short of options and paid a huge fee of £35m on 31st January 2011 for the striker,(the transfer made Carroll the most expensive British born footballer of all-time) and it proved to be a costly error of judgement. An injury sustained in December 2010 delayed his Liverpool debut until March 2011. Carroll was weighed down by the burden of that outrageous transfer fee and the expectation that came with it. It took its toll on the Gateshead born player and he was soon to find himself frozen out by Reds' manager Brendan Rodgers. In August 2012 Liverpool agreed a £2 million season-long loan deal with West Ham. This move was made permanent in June 2013 for a fee of £15 million.
Christian Vieri - Lazio to Inter Milan
Christian Vieri, a prolific scorer who hit the spotlight after having an amazing season with Atletico Madrid in 1997-98, scoring 24 goals in 24 La Liga games, as well as 5 goals in 7 appearances in European competition. The following season the Bologna born striker moved to Lazio for a fee of £22m. Inter Milan boss Marcelo Lippi suggested to his chairman Massimo Moratti that the Italian striker would make an excellent addition to his team and be the perfect strike partner for the Brazilian superstar Ronaldo.So after one season at Lazio, Vieri was signed by Italian giants Inter Milan for a fee reported to be £32million, a world record at the time. Inter would be Vieri's ninth club in his ninth season of being a professional footballer. He went on to score 123 goals in 190 appearances for Inter in all competitions, before leaving in July 2005. Vieri then had spells at four other clubs before retiring in 2009.
Fernando Torres - Liverpool to Chelsea
This former Atletico Madrid striker went on to become one of the best strikers in the world at Liverpool. He became an instant favorite. However, in 2011 he left Liverpool to join Chelsea in for a record breaking fee of £50m. The news he was to leave Liverpool along with the huge transfer fee was considered 'absolutely shocking' at the time. However he has still not justified his fee and or even come anywhere near the form that he showed at Liverpool.
