There tend to be two kinds of teams that sign new players in the January transfer window: (1) Teams that are desperate, and (2) teams that are getting lots of money from one of those desperate teams.
Take Aston Villa, for example. They've brought in five players in this winter window. They're four points out of the expected five Champions League places in the Premier League. And after earning a bye to the round of 16 in the Champions League, they have an outside shot at winning the European Cup.
Take all of those factors together, add in the fact that three of those deals were expensive loans, and it certainly looks like Villa are scrambling to both try to get back into the Champions League and to take advantage of what might be their last Champions League appearance until at least 2026.
Except, Villa only made those moves after bringing in €110.7 million from desperate clubs in both the Premier League's relegation battle and in Saudi Arabia. Only one other club in the world made more money from transfer fees this month, and truly desperate clubs don't make money in January.
So, if Aston Villa aren't on the list, which clubs were truly desperate in the winter transfer window that just closed? Let's identify the biggest culprits and then rank them by their levels of desperation.
All transfer fees cited come from Transfermarkt.
