JANUARY 2023’S MOST EXPENSIVE TRANSFER XI

The transfer window is closed … so it’s time to build January’s most expensive XI.

Obviously, these aren’t the 11 most expensive players of the month, because then we’d have no goalkeepers, only a couple of defenders, and any number of wingers. That would be ridiculous.

Instead, we’ve tied ourselves to a 4-2-3-1 and cheated a little bit at left-back. It’s a minor tweak, you’ll forgive us.

Chelsea provided five of these players. If they’d have fancied it, the entire new XI would only have set them back €456.7 million (£403.5 million) — talk about January sales!

All figures from Transfermarkt.

GK: Jonas Omlin, €9m

Montpellier ➡️ Borussia M’Gladbach

RB: Malo Gusto, €30m

Lyon ➡️ Chelsea

CB: Ilya Zabarnyi, €22.7m

Dynamo Kyiv ➡️ Bournemouth

CB: Jakub Kiwior, €25m

Spezia ➡️ Arsenal

LB: Benoît Badiashile, €38m

Monaco ➡️ Chelsea

DM: Danilo, €20m

Palmeiras ➡️ Nottingham Forest

CM: Enzo Fernández, €120m

Benfica ➡️ Chelsea

RW: Noni Madueke, €35m

PSV Eindhoven ➡️ Chelsea

AM: Anthony Gordon, €45m

Everton ➡️ Newcastle

LW: Mykhailo Mudryk, €70m

Shakhtar Donetsk ➡️ Chelsea

ST: Cody Gakpo, €42m

PSV Eindhoven ➡️ Livepool

Total cost: €456.7m (£403.5m)