The Premier League clubs' purchasing power was evident again in January but unusually the big money went on defenders.
Early in the window, Liverpool made Virgil van Dijk the world's most expensive defender by splashing out a world record 75 million pounds ($106 million) to sign the Dutchman from Southampton.
Liverpool badly needed more quality in their back line but the improvement in the squad was undermined by the departure of Brazil attacking midfielder Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona for a transfer fee reported at about 142 million pounds.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has also not been afraid to spend big on defenders - his signing of French centre-half Aymeric Laporte from Athletic Bilbao for a club record fee of 57 million pounds means they have spent more than 200 million pounds on defenders and a keeper since the end of last season.
City lost out on some attacking talent, though, with Chile forward Alexis Sanchez, long linked with a move to The Etihad, opting instead to join rivals Manchester United with Armenia midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan moving the opposite way.
City also failed to agree a deal with Leicester City for midfielder Riyad Mahrez.
While Arsenal fans were disappointed to see Sanchez go, the London club splashed out a club-record transfer fee to sign Gabon striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for a reported 65 million pounds from Borussia Dortmund.
They also got a pleasant surprise when Germany midfielder Mesut Ozil signed a new contract until 2021, though their France striker Olivier Giroud was shipped out to rivals Chelsea.
Tottenham Hotspur were also active on deadline day, signing Brazilian winger Lucas Moura from Paris St Germain for 25 million pounds.
Arrivals
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Borussia Dortmund for 56 million pounds ($79.4 million)
Henrikh Mkhitaryan from Manchester United - Swap deal
Konstantinos Mavropanos from PAS Giannina for 1.9 million pounds
Departures
Alexis Sanchez to Manchester United - Swap deal
Olivier Giroud to Chelsea for 17.5 million pounds
Francis Coquelin to Valencia for 12 million pounds
Theo Walcott to Everton for 20 million pounds
Mathieu Debuchy to St Etienne
Everton's Theo Walcott in action with Leicester City's Harry Maguire. Photograph: Carl Recine/Reuters.
Arrivals
Olivier Giroud from Arsenal for 17.5 million pounds
Ross Barkley from Everton for 15 million pounds
Emerson Palmieri from Roma for 17 million pounds
Departures
Michy Batshuayi on loan to Borussia Dortmund
Ike Ugbo on loan to MK Dons
Jake Clarke-Salter on loan to Sunderland
Kenedy on loan to Newcastle United
Baba Rahman on loan to Schalke 04
Charly Musonda Jr on loan to Celtic
Olivier Giroud signs his contract with Chelsea FC. Photograph: Premier League/Twitter
Arrivals
Virgil van Dijk from Southampton for 75 million pounds
Tony Gallacher from Falkirk for an undisclosed fee
Departures
Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona for 142 million pounds
Daniel Sturridge on loan to West Bromwich Albion
Marko Grujic on loan to Cardiff City
Lazar Markovic loan to Anderlecht
Southampton's centre back Virgil van Dijk was on Liverpool's radar since the summer. Photograph: Paul Childs Livepic/Action Images via Reuters
Arrivals
Aymeric Laporte from Athletic Bilbao for 57 million pounds
Jack Harrison from New York City FC for 4 million pounds
Departures
Marlos Moreno on loan to Flamengo
Jack Harrison on loan to Middlesbrough
Aymeric Laporte poses with his jersey after signing for Manchester City. Photograph: Manchester City/Twitter
Arrivals
Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal - Swap deal
Departures
James Wilson on loan to Sheffield United
Henrikh Mkhitaryan to Arsenal - Swap deal
Alex Tuanzebe on loan to Aston Villa
Photograph: Twitter
Arrivals
Leonardo Ulloa on loan from Leicester City
Jurgen Locadia from PSV Eindhoven for 14 million pounds
Departures
Jamie Murphy on loan to Rangers
Arrivals
Georges-Kevin Nkoudou on loan from Tottenham Hotspur
Aaron Lennon from Everton for an undisclosed fee
Departures
Luke Hendrie to Shrewsbury Town for an undisclosed fee
Arrivals
Erdal Rakip on loan from Benfica
Jaroslaw Jach from Zaglebie Lubin for 1.2 million pounds
Departures
Andre Coker on loan to Maidstone United
Sullay Kalkai on loan to Charlton Athletic
Arrivals
Cenk Tosun from Besiktas for 27 million pounds
Theo Walcott from Arsenal for 20 million pounds
Departures
Ross Barkley to Chelsea for 15 million pounds
Aaron Lennon to Burnley for an undisclosed fee
Kevin Mirallas on loan to Olympiakos
Sandro Ramirez on loan to Sevilla
Ademola Lookman on loan to RB Leipzig
Arrivals
Terence Kongolo on loan from Monaco
Alex Pritchard from Norwich City for 10 million pounds
Departures
Jack Payne on loan to Blackburn Rovers
Arrivals
Callum Wright from Blackburn Rovers for an undisclosed fee
Fousseni Diabate from Gazalec Ajaccio for 3.5 million pounds
Departures
Raul Uche on loan to Real Betis
Leonardo Ulloa on loan to Brighton and Hove Albion
Ahmed Musa on loan to CSKA Moscow
Arrivals
Kenedy on loan from Chelsea
Departures
Adam Armstrong on loan to Blackburn Rovers
Arrivals
Guido Carrillo from Monaco for 19.1 million pounds
Departures
Virgil van Dijk to Liverpool for 75 million pounds
Matt Targett on loan to Fulham
Ryan Seager on loan to Yeovil Town
Arrivals
Badou Ndiaye from Galatasaray for 16 million pounds
Moussa Niakate from Paris FC for an undisclosed fee
Moritz Bauer from Rubin Kazan for 5 million pounds
Kostas Stafylidis on loan from Augsburg
Departures None
Arrivals
Andre Ayew from West Ham United for 18 million pounds
Departures
None
Arrivals
Lucas Moura from Paris St Germain for 25 million pounds
Departures
Georges-Kevin Nkoudou on loan to Burnley
Arrivals
Didier Ndong on loan from Sunderland
Gerard Deulofeu on loan from Barcelona
Dodi Lukebakio on loan from Charleroi
Departures
Alex Jakubiak on loan to Falkirk
Mauro Zarate on loan to Velez Sarsfield
Isaace Success on loan to Malaga
Arrivals
Ali Gabr on loan from Zamalek
Daniel Sturridge on loan from Liverpool
Departures
Tyler Roberts to Leeds United for 2.5 million pounds
Arrivals
Joao Mario on loan from Inter Milan
Departures
Martin Samuelsen on loan to Burton Albion
Diafra Sakho to Stade Rennes for 8 million pounds
Barcelona will feel the most pleased of all the Liga sides with their January transfer business after capturing coveted playmaker Philippe Coutinho for a club record 142 million pounds and signing Colombia defender Yerry Mina.
The signings of Coutinho, 25, from Liverpool and Mina, 23, from Palmeiras will rejuvenate Ernesto Valverde's ageing squad and buttress his already brilliant side, which has an 11-point lead in the table and look destined to win a 25th league title.
Champions Real Madrid have strangely not boosted their squad to help their crumbling campaign, with coach Zinedine Zidane saying he did not want new signings despite his side sitting in fourth place an embarrassing 19 points adrift of Barca.
Philippe Coutinho from Liverpool to Barcelona for 142 million pounds
Aymeric Laporte from Athletic Bilbao to Manchester City for 57 million pounds
Cedric Bakambu from Villarreal to Beijing Guoan for 35 million pounds
Inigo Martinez from Real Sociedad to Atheltic Bilbao for 28 million pounds
Roger Martinez from Jiangsu Suning to Villareal for 13 million pounds
Francis Coquelin from Arsenal to Valencia for 12 million pounds
Yerry Mina from Palmeiras to Barcelona for 10 million pounds
Guilherme Arana from Corinthians to Sevilla for 9.8 million pounds
Marc Bartra from Borussia Dortmund to Real Betis for an undisclosed fee
Javier Mascherano from Barcelona to Hebei China Fortune for 8.7 million pounds
IMAGE: FC Barcelona's new signing Philippe Coutinho during the presentation. Photograph: Albert Gea/Reuters
The sale of Borussia Dortmund striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to Arsenal for 56 million pounds ($79 million) dwarfed any signings made by Bundesliga clubs, again showing the remarkable spending power of their English counterparts.
The biggest buys by Bundesliga sides were Dortmund's 21.5-million-euros capture of Switzerland defender Manuel Akanji from FC Basel, and Germany forward Sandro Wagner's move to Bayern Munich from Hoffenheim for 13 million euros.
Wagner, 30, began his career at Bayern and returned after a 10-year absence, having played at half a dozen clubs, all in the Bundesliga.
In a similar move, another veteran striker, Mario Gomez, returned to his first club VfB Stuttgart nine years after departing.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Borussia Dortmund to Arsenal for 56 million pounds
Manuel Akanji from FC Basel to Borussia Dortmund for 18.7 million pounds
Sandro Wagner from Hoffenheim to Bayern Munich for 10.7 million pounds
Gabon's Pierre Emerick Aubameyang. Photograph: Kaz Photography/Getty Images
Serie A clubs largely stayed out of the transfer window in another indication of their relatively limited spending power.
The main moves were outwards with AS Roma selling full back Emerson Palmieri to Chelsea for around 22 million euros and Genoa letting 16-year-old prodigy Pietro Pellegri leave for AS Monaco for slightly more, according to Italian media.
Roma forward Edin Dzeko was also the subject of speculation over a move to Chelsea, with every game reported as being possibly his last, but that move fell through.
Neither of the leading pair, Napoli and Juventus, made any signings although the former had been chasing Sassuolo winger Matteo Politano.
Pietro Pellegri from Genoa to Monaco for 17.5 million pounds
Emerson Palmieri from AS Roma to Chelsea for 17 million pounds
It was a relatively quiet transfer window in France, where Paris St Germain did not follow up their extraordinary activity in the summer when they sent shockwaves through the sport with the 222-million-euros capture of Brazil forward Neymar.
PSG, who are under UEFA pressure to abide by financial fair play rules, netted a reported 28 million euros ($35 million) when they sold Brazil winger Lucas Moura to Tottenham Hotspur, as the Premier League continued to attract Ligue 1 players.
The capital side did, however, recruit former France midfielder Lassana Diarra after he ended his contract with Al Jazira.
Guido Carrillo from Monaco to Southampton for 19.1 million pounds
Martin Terrier from Lille to Olympique Lyonnais 9.9 million pounds
Diafra Sakho from West Ham United to Stade Rennes for 8 million pounds