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Premier League 2011 January Transfer Window Activity

Following the conclusion of the 2011 English Premier League January Transfer Window Prozone’s Performance Analysis Centre looks at the 2011 player trading activity and reviews against the transfer trends over the last 5 years.

Premier League 2011 January Transfer Window Activity

Summarising the findings the following data has been sought looking at every transfer into the EPL from the previous 5 seasons (Summer 2006-January 2011) and each respective transfer window.

Sources of Recruitment

Figures 1 & 2 show the trends over the last 5 years in each transfer window with regards to the total number of transfers made and the percentage of these transfers that were recruited from one of the ‘Big Five’ Leagues in Europe.
 

  Fig.1. Total No. of Transfers and % From Big 5 European Leagues

  Fig.2. January Transfer Breakdown

Interestingly this year, there was the largest amount of British players that moved within the window - 46% of all transfers(Figure 3) compared to January 2010 (39%), whilst in the Summer of 2010, only 33% of all transfers into Premier League clubs consisted of British players.

  Fig.3. Percentage of British Transfers

Possibly with increasing rules and importance on ‘home-grown’ players, a further breakdown of the players that moved within the window shows that 91% of the British transferred players were either home-grown or have the potential to become home-grown [Figure 4]. In comparison from the ‘other’ transfers only 11% were home-grown or have the potential to become home-grown [Figure 5].

  Fig.4. Percentage of Home-Grown British Players

  Fig.5. Percentage of Home-Grown Other Players

Analysing the breakdown of British Transfers further, there is a large increase in the percentage of Irish players brought in. 17% is 7% more than any previous January transfer window for the percentage of Irish players recruited by English Premier League clubs.

  Fig.6. Percentage Breakdown of British Players

 

Recruitment Type

After the 2010 January transfer window where there were more loan signings made than transfers, the January 2011 transfer window has returned to the more familiar pattern of approximately 50-60% player movements being full transfers. Whilst the percentage of deals going through as loans stayed the same 42%, the number of free transfers this January dropped by 15% from last year.
 

  Fig.7. January Trends of Type of Transfer Deals

Tiered Analysis

Historically the clubs in the Top 4 league positions have recruited the least number of players within the January transfer window. Again this Trend (Figure 8.) continued in January 2011, with the Top 4 recruiting the least amount of players. The graph also shows that in general the number of players brought in in January is remaining lower than trends 3-4 years ago. 
 

  Fig.8. No. of Players Recruited in January Broken Down by Tiers

Over the last 5 seasons there has been a shift in general as it appears more players are brought in from the ‘Big 5’ Leagues within Europe. In 2011 like recent seasons, the Top 4 are the tier to bring in the least percentage of their transfers from these ‘Big 5’ (Figure 9).

Fig.9. Percentage of Transfers bought from the ‘Big 5’ Leagues

With the January transfer window a club's first opportunity to buy or sell players since the end of August, reactionary transfer spending remains evident with regards to ambitions in improving league position. However as with recent seasons and with the restraints of the current economic environment clubs appear to be more selective in their player recruitment with the number of players recruited during January continuing to be significantly lower than 3-4 seasons ago. 

With Directors, Managers and Scouts becoming more diligent and accountable with regards to the recruitment of new players, Prozone RECRUITER allows users to identify, profile, benchmark and evaluate potential transfer targets through the integration of objective data, analysis, video, and biographical career data.

Prozone’s suite of performance tools offer teams to make better informed decisions on player trading and through Prozone’s Performance Analysis Centre can assist with bespoke research projects to aid clubs and scouting departments gain a better understanding of the recruitment landscape.

For more information on Prozone RECRUITER or Prozone research email enquiries@prozonesports.com or call +44(0)113 2449296

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