At £100m plus £16m in add-ons, the attacking midfielder is set to shoot to the top of the British transfer record charts, and such money means big pressure and a smaller window for forgiveness.
Here we rank the 10 most expensive signings by a Premier League club from best to worst, looking at how costly a mistake they have proven, or whether they have backed up the hype after their big-money moves.
10. Declan Rice – £105m (2023, West Ham to Arsenal)
Thinking about those free-kicks still, aren’t you. So here you go…
Right in the top corner from Rice #UCL pic.twitter.com/ir38EOf6X2
Anyway, the £100m price-tag – plus £5m in add-ons – is yet to be fully justified, but that is not down to Declan Rice, who has emerged as a natural leader among the pack since joining from West Ham in 2023.
If, and it is turning into a bigger if as the summers roll by, Arsenal can get it right under Mikel Arteta, then no doubt Rice will be the key ingredient – and that much-needed striker the cherry on top.
Top 10 British transfers
All transfers made by a Premier League club include add-ons
Moises Caicedo – £115m (2023, Brighton to Chelsea) Enzo Fernandez – £107m (2023, Benfica to Chelsea) Declan Rice – £105m (2023, West Ham to Arsenal) Jack Grealish – £100m (2021, Aston Villa to Man City) Romelu Lukaku – £97.5m (2021, Inter Milan to Chelsea) Paul Pogba – £93.2m (2016, Juventus to Man Utd) Romelu Lukaku – £90m (2019, Man Utd to Inter Milan) Mykhailo Mudryk – £88.5m (2023, Shakhtar Donetsk to Chelsea) Antony – £86.3m (2022, Ajax to Man Utd) Darwin Nunez – £85m (2022, Benfica to Liverpool)Brighton knew they were onto a winner with Liverpool and Chelsea both interested, and Caicedo said it was his decision to pick blue over red.
8. Enzo Fernandez – £107m (2023, Benfica to Chelsea)
Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo cost Chelsea a combined £222m (Photo: Getty)Completing the hat-trick of expensive transfers that are only in their infancy right now is Enzo Fernandez, whose flat fee of £107m is the most upfront of any player in this list.
Like Caicedo and Rice, the Argentine is still proving his worth.
Some may argue Grealish should be lower down this list, but that perhaps speaks more to the terrible transfers that follow, while his contribution during City’s treble-winning season in 2022-23 saves the winger from entering Antony’s orbit.
6. Darwin Nunez – £85m (2022, Benfica to Liverpool)
Darwin Nunez remains an enigma at Liverpool (Photo: Getty)We’re firmly into hotly contested territory now. Darwin Nunez is quickly derided and his showreel of misses does him few favours, but his bouncebackability is near unmatched and his numbers aren’t that bad. Honestly. And certainly not enough to make him a “flop”.
He is an enigma, and could yet change his own narrative at Anfield, for better or worse.
This proved impossible, and though United finished second – a feat Mourinho called among the best in his career – behind City’s centurions, Lukaku was unable to improve on his Everton numbers.
Lukaku went on to say he was in a “deep hole” at United.
4. Paul Pogba – £93.2m (2016, Juventus to Man Utd)
The unveiling was a landmark moment in itself, a frenzy that defined the era – remember Alexis Sanchez playing Glory, Glory Man United on the piano in January 2018? – and looks worse given how Pogba’s return to Old Trafford played out.
HE'S BACK. #FirstNeverFollows cc: @paulpogba @adidasfootball @ManUtd pic.twitter.com/UVtl9NRjl7
Pogba could have been United’s own Kevin De Bruyne, Kevin Garside wrote in May, but lacked the greatness of the now ex-Manchester City legend.
Come late December 2021, Lukaku told Sky Italia he was “not happy” with his role under Thomas Tuchel and was hopeful of a return to Inter.
A loss of more than £70m, while his return of eight Premier League goals in 26 games that 2021-22 season at Chelsea makes for £12.2m per goal.
2. Mykhailo Mudryk – £88.5m (2023, Shakhtar Donetsk to Chelsea)
The fee though wasn’t the eyebrow raiser, but rather the staggering eight-and-a-half year contract Mudryk signed, allowing Chelsea to spread the cost of this transfer across this period.
In December 2024 he was then provisionally suspended by the Football Association (FA) after failing a drugs test. He denies any wrongdoing, but was then charged with anti-doping offences on Wednesday. He faces a four-year ban.
1. Antony – £86.3m (2022, Ajax to Man Utd)
Antony shone on loan at Real Betis after a failed spell at Man Utd (Photo: Getty)Are United the problem? Occupying three of our top five spaces suggests they are, and Jadon Sancho would probably agree given his “freedom” comment after Marcus Rasford’s Aston Villa debut.
Nevertheless, pointless spins and a bizarre main-character energy when coming off the bench turned Antony into a meme and nothing more at United after his move from Ajax, and he is now unlikely to add to his five goals and three assists from 62 Premier League appearances.
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