Which nationality has accumulated most transfer fees in winter window?

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The 2025 winter transfer window closed on Monday for the majority of major European leagues. It was a relatively quiet window with very few major deals being completed on deadline day with Nico Gonzalez’s €60 million move to Manchester City the most expensive day on February 3rd. The biggest clubs in the world will generally complete the majority of their business at the end of their season when they can budget fully and have more time to work on major deals.

For leagues like Brazil and the United States, the January window – extended into February – is their main transfer market. With the increased prevalence of data and scouts being dispatched all over the world, clubs are scouring the globe to identify and sign the best talent. But which nation’s players have accumulated the highest total transfer fees in the winter window this century? Let’s find out.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Brazilian players have accumulated more transfer fees than any other nation during the winter window. Clubs have spent €3.64 billion on Brazilian players during the January window since 2000 and the record deal remains Phillippe Coutinho’s €135 million move from Liverpool to Barcelona in 2018. As the graphic below illustrates, Argentina ranks second with players from the South American nation being sold for a total of €1.94b.

The record sale of an Argentinian player in January is Enzo Fernandez’s €121m move to Chelsea in 2023. England (€1.24b) take third spot with Newcastle’s €45.6m signing of Antony Gordon, the January record for an Englishman. France and Italy are the other two nations to have over €1b worth of talent sold in the winter window. China (€650m) is the only non-European or South American nation in the top ten with the United States coming in at 26th.