#13 Newcastle (£12 million)
In the 2015/16 Premier League season, Newcastle United were in a relegation dogfight to maintain their place in the league. As a result, Mike Ashley decided to splurge money in a bid to maintain Newcastle's Premier League status. In came Jonjo Shelvey from Swansea and Andres Townsend from Spurs for £12 million each, both club record fees.
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The duo had patchy spells. Townsend's 4 goals managed to revitalise the Magpies, but it wasn’t enough to prevent them from going down. The Toon slipped to the Championship, Shelvey decided to stick with the club as they made a swift return to the Premier League.
Townsend, on the other hand, moved to Crystal Palace at the end of that season in a bid to save his England career. Newcastle’s January splurge proved that spending big in January doesn’t guarantee survival.
#12 Burnley (£13.40 million)
Burnley paid £13.4 million to Norwich City for midfielder Robbie Brady in January 2017.
Linking up with international team-mates Jeff Hendrick and Stephen Ward, Brady provided the much-needed creative spark to Sean Dyche’s well-drilled side. Somewhat of a cult hero with the international team, Brady, a former Manchester United academy graduate has a wonderful left foot with a natural tendency to score from dead ball situations.
It was an expensive gamble nonetheless but one which Burnley had to make in order to establish themselves as Premier League regulars. Brady, who had been in terrific form till November, unfortunately, is out for a substantial period due to a nasty knee injury he suffered against Leicester in December.
