Most Expensive Premier League Transfers Ever
The most expensive transfers in the football world, have always been one of the top topics to be talked about. But what about the most expensive Premier League transfers in history? Stay tuned to find out about these costly transfers.
Many Premier League clubs have spent a lot of money in the transfer market during their history. But the question is which ones have ended up as the
most expensive Premier League transfers ever
?
As the most competitive league in Europe, Premier League clubs seem to spend more money on transfers every year, with the 2023 January transfer window to prove the fact, as many clubs paid whopping amounts of money on their new transfers.
In this article today, we will go through all these
high-priced transfers in the history of the Premier League
. Ready to know more? Keep reading then.
Biggest Premier League Transfers of All Time
Bearing in mind that we have tried to include only the base transfer fees on this list, without any inflation. Let us now take a look at some of the most expensive transfers in EPL history:
10. Wesley Fofana
Position: Centre-Back
Transferred from: Leicester City to Chelsea
Transfer season: 2022/23
Transfer fee: €80.40m
The first name on our list of
the most expensive Premier League transfers
is
Wesley Fofana. Being a brilliant player since his start at Saint-Étienne's second team, Fofana went on to kick the ball at Saint-Étienne's first team, and Leicester City later, where he helped the team win the 2020–21 FA Cup. His eye-catching performance with Leicester gained him a costly transfer to his next club.
Almost a year later he joined Chelsea on a seven-year contract for a reported initial fee of €80.40m, plus add-ons, being one of the most expensive Premier League transfers in the history
9. Virgil van Dijk
Position: Centre-Back
Transferred from: Southampton to Liverpool
Transfer season: 2017/18
Transfer fee: €84.65m
The transfer of
van Dijkfrom Southampton to Liverpool is possibly one of the best transfers on this list, if not the best. Despite being one of the most expensive Premier League transfers ever, it bore fruit for both the player and the club and it has propelled both to unimaginable success. It’s this sort of outcome that clubs hope for when they make big signings, but as we have seen in the Premier League biggest transfers ever, we know it doesn’t happen all the time.
Van Dijk’s transfer to Liverpool was a lengthy saga, as the Reds tried to sign him in the Summer of 2017 but couldn’t match the fee that Southampton demanded for the player, but as their defensive woes continued Liverpool were convinced that van Dijk is the man to help them get rid of that. So van Dijk joined Liverpool in the January of 2018 for a fee of around €84.65 million, in one of
the biggest transfers in Premier League history
and as the most expensive center-back ever.
He immediately proved his worth as he galvanized Liverpool’s woeful defense and led them to their first Champions League final in years. They lost that final but their hunger was not satiated as they did the same again in the following year and this time they won. van Dijk and Liverpool went on to win the Premier League in the 2019-20 campaign ending the club’s 30-year wait for the domestic league title.
Van Dijk's transfer to Liverpool was really the turning point that made all of these happen, without van Dijk they were really poor defensively and couldn’t have ever achieved this amount of success. There is no doubt that he was worth every penny Liverpool paid and he would be looking to continue his success by retaining the Premier League in this ongoing season.
8. Romelu Lukaku
Position: Centre-Forward
Transferred from: Everton to Manchester United
Transfer season: 2017/18
Transfer fee: €84.65m
is a player who gets undermined a lot. It may be because of his style of playing which is akin to center forwards of the 90s and early 2000s and isn’t very common these days or it may be that Manchester United was never a good destination for him and he didn’t naturally fit in their tactics. Nonetheless, his particular move to Manchester couldn’t be called successful.
Lukaku’s story in the Premier League is a story of resilience, as he was never appreciated by the club that brought him to the EPL,
Chelsea, as he was loaned out a couple of times, currently being at Inter on loan from The Blues again.
7. Jadon Sancho
Position: Left Winger
Transferred from: Borussia Dortmund to Manchester United
Transfer season: 2021/22
Transfer fee: €85.00m
The seventh name on our list of the
most expensive Premier League transfers in history
is Jadon Sancho. Being a key player to Dortmund from 2017 to 2021, Sancho helped BVB win the 2019 DFL-Supercup and the 2020-21 DFB-Pokal.
Being famous for his trickery and game intelligence,
Sanchois recognized as one of the best young players in the world.
Starting his youth career with Watford and Manchester City, the 22-year-old started his senior career at Dortmund’s second team in 2017, joining the first team after just 3 games. There he took part in 104 matches, and scored 38 times, achieving the 2019 DFL-Supercup and the 2020-21 DFB-Pokal titles, as mentioned previously. In 2021 the famous player went back to England to sign his new contract with the Red Devils. The transfer was completed on 23 July, and Sancho joined Man United on an €85.00m five-year contract with the option of a further year extension. There he took part in the 2022-23 EFL Cup after a 4 months absence and helped his team take the honor home.
6. Harry Maguire
Position: Centre-Back
Transferred from: Leicester City to Manchester United
Transfer season: 2019/20
Transfer fee: €87.00m
Next on our list of the
most expensive Premier League transfers of all time
is Harry Maguire. The 30-year-old made a name for himself in Hull City and ended up joining Leicester City in the 2017-18 season, following Hull City’s relegation.
He then had two excellent seasons in Leicester where he showed to be a capable and commanding center-back, just the sort that so many elite clubs were looking for, and ended up attracting the attention of some of those elite clubs. But Manchester United got their player as they paid Leicester an eye-watering amount of €87 million. So
Maguirebecame the most expensive defender ever, breaking Virgil van Dijk’s record, and thus was set up with a huge expectation of living up to that fee.
Maguire’s time at United hasn’t been all that smooth, as he has struggled quite a bit to find his form and consistency throughout the season, performing well only in patches and without any continuity or consistency. And consistency is the number 1 thing anyone expects from a defender. Perhaps it’s worth mentioning that he hasn’t had a decent center-back pairing as his partners, Bailly and Lindelof, are average at best.
All this plus the disciplinary issues he had in the summer of 2020 means that Maguire must give it all in the upcoming season and perform to his best, lest he will be another expensive Manchester United flop, despite being one of the Premier League biggest transfers ever.
5. Antony
Position: Right Winger
Transferred from: Ajax to Manchester UnitedTransfer season: 2022/23
Transfer fee: €95.00m
The fifth name on our list of the most expensive Premier League transfers in history is Antony Matheus dos Santos, simply known as Antony. Starting his career at São Paulo, Antony joined Ajax in 2020 to be one of the most effective players in the next two years. Overall, he took part in 57 appearances for Ajax, scoring 18 times and helping the team win two Eredivisie titles and the 2020-21 KNVB Cup.
The brilliant player wanted to leave Ajax in February 2022. However, after Ajax rejected the interest expressed by Manchester United he stayed with the team for another 6 months. Eventually, on 30 August 2022, the two teams reached an agreement for Antony's transfer, and a few days later the Red Devils’ new transfer signed his contract and joined the team for an eye-catching amount of €95 million, with a further €5 million in add-ons. This number made Antony the third most expensive player the club has paid for, after Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku.
Being one of the bests at the club, Antony has so far scored seven goals in all competitions for
the Red Devils, among which one was Man United’s EFL CUP Quarter-Final goal against Charlton. Thanks to this goal, Antony and his teammates made their way to the final match against Newcastle and took the trophy home.
4. Paul Pogba
Position: Central Midfield
Transferred from: Juventus to Manchester United
Transfer season: 2016/17
Transfer fee: €105.00m
Paul Pogba is the next name on our list of the
most expensive EPL transfers ever
. The academy product that went away to Juventus for free and came back to United for what was at the time the most expensive transfer in the history of football. Manchester United was hoping that his transfer was the key to them winning the Premier League again, but it wasn’t. However,
Pogbahelped the Red Devils win the 2016-17 UEFA Europa League, also becoming the tournament’s runner-up in 2020–21. Additionally, together they won the 2016-17 EFL Cup.
As we take another look at the biggest transfers in Premier League history we can see that almost half the list is comprised of united players. The current 30-year-old player has been linked with a move to Real Madrid numerous times, though for now, the transfer hasn’t taken place, as in 2022 he decided to go back to Turin on a four-year contract.
3. Romelu Lukaku
Position: Centre-Forward
Transferred from: Inter Milan to Chelsea
Transfer season: 2021/22
Transfer fee: €113.00m
Wonder why we have Lukaku twice on this list? Well, perhaps because he’s been one of the most wanted players since he started playing football, though we have mentioned his different and old-fashioned style of playing.
Also owning the eighth spot on our list of the biggest premier league transfers of all time, Lukaku’s transfer to Chelsea which took place in 2021 has been even bigger, as the Blues agreed to pay €113.00m to Inter Milan to bring their old player back home.
Leaving Manchester United in 2019, he joined Inter Milan where he stayed for the next two years, achieving a Serie A and a Supercoppa Italiana title and also becoming the UEFA Europa League runners-up in 2019–20.
Then it was time for the huge transfer to take place. In August 2021, Lukaku returned to Chelsea for a reported club-record fee of €113.00m. The eye-watering cost made Lukaku the most expensive player in the Premier League at the time. However, as you can see there are still two names on our list of the
biggest transfers in premier league history
, which has been added to the list in the past three years. Keep reading to see who these players are.
2. Jack Grealish
Position: Left Winger
Transferred from: Aston Villa to Manchester City
Transfer season: 2021/22
Transfer fee: €117.50m
The second spot on the list of the
most expensive transfers in EPL history
is the current Manchester City player,
Jack Grealish. Being the most expensive Premier League transfer of all time till the 2022-23 winter transfer window, Grealish started playing football professionally with Aston, where he also played during his youth career. Taking part in 185 games in his eight years with the club, he scored 29 goals overall. It also has to be mentioned that he spent a year with Notts County on loan from Aston Villa. His great performance with both clubs attracted the attention of Manchester City and eventually, in August 2021, the Citizens confirmed that they have signed Jack Grealish on a six-year contract with a transfer fee of 117 million Euros. The eye-catching number made Grealish the most Expensive Premier League transfer at the time.
Ready to find out who is the first name on our list of Premier League biggest transfers ever? Let’s carry on then.
1. Enzo Fernández
Position: Central Midfield
Transferred from: Benfica to Chelsea
Transfer season: 2022/23
Transfer fee: €121.00m
And here we come to the first name on our list of the
most expensive Premier League transfers in history
, Enzo Fernández.
The Argentine professional footballer has previously kicked the ball for River Plate, Defensa y Justicia on loan, and Benfica, before joining The Blues on a record-breaking transfer of €121.00m.
During his time at Benfica, Fernández performed brilliantly and following a run of five consecutive wins and three clean sheets, the 22-year-old was named the Primeira Liga's Midfielder of the Month in September. An award that he received in October and November as well.
Chelsea’s agreement on reaching Fernández was finalized in January 2023, with the brilliant player making his debut for the team in the Premier League only a month later. Overall Fernández has taken part in seven matches for Chelsea so far, which means it is still so soon to estimate whether he has met the expectations regarding his transfer fee or not!
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