Neymar's return to boyhood club Santos is a heartwarming one, given the nightmare 15 months from which he's just emerging. An ACL tear in October 2023 meant he only ended up playing seven games for his previous club, Al Hilal, despite costing $94m in transfer fees and another $161m per year in wages.

There are just three days left until deadline day in the January transfer window for clubs in England and across Europe, with the window shutting on Monday. Unai Emery says Aston Villa ’s transfer window “is not normal” as they aim to sign “two or three players” before Monday night’s deadline.

BBC Sport explains why the January transfer deadline is in February, and how that compares to other European leagues.

Manchester City dominates the top ten of this month's biggest buys, but Al Nassr have taken the top spot from Paris

The winter transfer window opened on January 1, 2025, and in the Premier League runs until 11pm GMT on Monday, February 3, 2025. The EFL transfer window closes at the same time. The European transfer windows all also close on February 3, 2025, though the times vary.

A groundbreaking record was set in the women's game over the summer, with total international transfer spending reaching $6.8 million from June 1 to Sept. 1 2024, according to FIFA -- almost double what was spent during the same period in 2023.

The January transfer window never seems to produce the same level of excitement as the summer one. Some clubs feel like they don’t need to do business midway through a season, while others dread it in case a bigger side targets one of their in-form stars.

The Premier League transfer window is set to close on February 3, with clubs getting extra time to do their business as the boundaries of the January transfer window have been stretched