Arsenal fans have become accustomed to a lack of excitement about January incomings – and with very good reason, after research from bwin showed the Gunners have been outspent on average by the likes of Hull and Crystal Palace since the winter window's inception in 2002/03.
Arsene Wenger's men have clocked an average net spend – that being the total amount spent and received – of just £4.3 million per window before this season, compared with the Tigers' £7.4m and Palace's £4.9m, counting only top-flight campaigns.
QPR, meanwhile, have been revealed as the January transfer window’s biggest spenders, eclipsing even west London rivals Chelsea.
The R’s have posted an average annual net spend of £16.1m for the two seasons they've spent in the top flight since 2002/03. Former boss Mark Hughes has been named as the biggest-spending Premier League boss in that time alongside Liverpool's Brendan Rodgers, having paid out £7.6m per January.
Chelsea are second with an average net spend of £10.7m, though the £75.3m spent by Carlo Ancelotti in January 2011 – which included the then-British record purchase of Liverpool’s Fernando Torres – accounts for much of that as the highest splurge in a single mid-season window.
Does money buy points?
Disgruntled Arsenal supporters who want more action might not take kindly to the statistics that suggest January spending tends to improve performance in the latter half of the season.
Tottenham, under Harry Redknapp, dished out £45m in January 2009 to remedy a disastrous first half of the season, and saw a dramatic points per-game improvement of 0.93. A £7.5m profit in January 2012, meanwhile, resulted in a considerable dip in form: their 2.13 points-per-game average before the New Year dropped to 1.33 for the rest of the campaign.
In contrast, Everton, West Brom, Swansea and Newcastle – whose recently-departed manager Alan Pardew proved to be the most frugal manager by profiting an average of £2.7 million in the window – were the only clubs that managed to turn a small profit on average.
