Asmir Begovic: Record January spending ‘brilliant’ for the Premier League

English Premier League clubs shelled out a record ￡450 million ($639m) on new players in the January transfer window, but goalkeeper Asmir Begovic believes the soaring figures are a “positive thing all round.”

The spending was double the previous record, helped by Liverpool’s signing of Virgil van Dijk from Southampton for a world-record fee for a defender of ￡75 million ($106.5m).

Manchester City’s ￡57 million ($81m) purchase of Aymeric Laporte and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s ￡56 million ($80m) move to Arsenal were the two other big-money moves of the winter window.

“This January is specifically crazy compared to the last couple of Januarys, but I think it’s great,” Begovic told CNN Sport after his Bournemouth side beat champions Chelsea, his former club.

“The Premier League is growing every year, the TV money is growing every year, the interest in the league, the best players want to play here.

“So I think it’s amazing, it’s a great product that we have and the more better players we have the better the clubs are and the better the league is. So I think it’s a positive thing all round.”

READ: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang completes transfer from Borussia Dortmund to Arsenal

READ: Alexis Sanchez completes controversial transfer

Gabon international Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has joined Arsenal from Borussia Dortmund for a reported fee of $85 million.

The deal for the Gabon international, could see Arsenal's Olivier Giroud join Chelsea for a fee thought to be in the region of ￡18 million ($25.5m).

The transfer merry-go-round involving Arsenal, Dortmund and Chelsea could take Michy Batshuayi from the Premier League champions to the Bundesliga club.

Manchester City confirmed the signing of Aymeric Laport from Athletic Club, after the Premier League leaders activated the ￡57.2 million ($80.9 million) buyout clause in the defender's contract.

And the Manchester club Alexis Sanchez has signed for is ... United.
Sanchez had linked with a move to Manchester City, but the 29-year-old Chilean has opted to join Jose Mourinho's United.

Meanwhile Henrikh Mkhitaryan has left Manchester United to join Arsenal in the transfer swap involving Sanchez.

Carlos Tevez returned to boyhood club Boca Juniors from Chinese Super League side Shanghai Shenhua, where he was the highest paid player in the world -- earning a reported $900,000 per week.

Philippe Coutinho has joined Barcelona from Liverpool in a transfer widely reported to be worth $170 million.

Besiktas' forward Cenk Tosun is set to join Everton for a reported ￡27 million fee, making him the most expensive player in Turkish Super Lig history. "It is just personal terms now, the final stage," said manager Sam Allardyce on Thursday.

Liverpool paid $101 million for Southampton defender Virgil van Dijk -- a world record for a defender. The Merseyside club had tried to sign the Dutch international during the 2017 summer transfer window, but a potential deal was scuppered after Liverpool was forced to apologize for making an alleged illegal approach for the 26-year-old.

Portuguese international Adrien Silva finally joined Leicester City from Sporting Lisbon for a reported $29 million. Silva has been in limbo for the last four months after paperwork relating to his transfer was submitted 14 seconds too late on the final day of the summer transfer window on August 31.

Diego Costa is back at Spanish club Atletico Madrid for a second spell. The Spain international rejoined Atletico from Chelsea in a $77 million deal after the two clubs agreed his transfer September. When Costa signed Atletico was operating under a FIFA ban on registering news players until January, so the Spanish club's record signing is only now eligible to play.

2018 January transfer window: All the major moves

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Talent stockpiling

In the past, the biggest Premier League clubs have been accused of purchasing some of the country’s most talented players, and then leaving them on the bench and not giving them a chance to play.

In the summer of 2015, Chelsea signed Bosnia’s Begovic after five seasons as Stoke City’s first-choice goalkeeper.

Begovic made the move knowing his playing time in the Chelsea team would be limited behind Thibaut Courtois, who was beginning his second season as the starting goalkeeper.

“I think any athlete, any individual wants to challenge themselves at the highest level,” he said. “You don’t get the opportunity to join a club like Chelsea every single day and for me it was an opportunity I couldn’t turn down.

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Published 12:42 PM EST, Thu February 1, 2018

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“I wanted to test myself at the highest level, I wanted to win and compete for trophies and that’s what Chelsea allowed me to do. I had a great two years there, I competed with one of the world’s best in Thibaut Courtois.”

Begovic made just 19 Premier League appearances over two seasons at Chelsea, with 17 of those coming in his first year after Courtois struggled with injury.

However, he did have the honor of lifting the Premier League trophy last season and he believes the sacrifice in regular minutes on the pitch was worth it.

“We went at it every single day and ultimately we won a championship together,” he says. “So for me it’s a worthwhile experience. Sometimes you have to make decisions, whether you want to play more, maybe, or a little bit less.

“When you get to a bigger club it’s much more of a squad game with the amount of games that you play, so you have to understand that you might not be playing every single game.

“But I think as an individual and as an athlete, it’s about testing yourself at the highest level and that’s what those clubs provide.”