5 costliest January transfers in history

#1 Philippe Coutinho (£142m, Liverpool to Barcelona, 2018)

Coutinho moved to Spain in January 2018

Neymar left Barcelona in 2017 for a world-record transfer and the Catalan club signed two marquee players to fill his void. Ousmane Dembele came for big money in the summer, and he was followed by Philippe Coutinho in January. Liverpool received a mammoth £142 million for their Brazilian playmaker.

Coutinho had been courted by Barca in the summer, but any kind of deal failed to happen. He played half a season in England with great professionalism, but the persistence from Barca never extinguished. Coutinho's desire was too strong, and Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp had no choice in the end.

He won LaLiga in his first season in Spain, as Barcelona cantered to the title. Coutinho recorded 8 goals and 5 assists in 16 league appearances last season, which was a great start to life. He had failed to recreate that form this season, but the onus is on him to bounce back.