Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was one of the bargains of the January transfer window, according to analysis by the CIES Football Observatory.

The Football Observatory analyse transfers, fees and player values every window.

Their latest update looks at some of the top transfers over the winter window. For each of the top transfers, they compared the actual fee paid against the player’s estimated value.

Here are their results:

Transfer Analysis
Graphic courtesy of www.football-observatory.com

As you can see, only two of the top transferred players went for less than their expected value.

Aubameyang’s transfer had the largest difference between CIES’ estimate and actual amount paid, with Arsenal paying €19m less (£16.8m approx).

The Gunners clearly got a good deal for one of Europe’s most prolific strikers.

Lucas Moura is second on the list, and that’s probably not much of a surprise.

Moura only played six matches in half a season with PSG before his move. They clearly didn’t want him anymore, and his real market value plummeted fast.

The Premier League saw a massive increase in January spending overall.

The total for 2018 is €545m, which is almost double 2017’s €280m.

It’s also significantly more than any of the other big five European leagues.

Only Spain comes close, with their €319m spending significantly boosted by the signing of Philippe Coutinho.

Transfer Analysis 2
Graphic courtesy of www.football-observatory.com

The Premier League continues to invest heavily to try and compete with the world’s best.

We’ll see how well that translates to success on the pitch in Europe in the second half of the season.