logo
logo
league icon Premier League
This guy divided the fanbase at Old Trafford.

Where are they now? Every Premier League club’s record signing

Ben Stewart •

Premier League clubs are certainly no strangers to splashing huge sums of money on players, but dishing out a record transfer fee is certainly no guarantee of success. 

While some Premier League clubs have managed to get tremendous value out of their record signing, others haven’t quite been as lucky.

We’ve gone through every Premier League club’s record transfer signing and have checked out where they are today.

Arsenal – Declan Rice

Prior to this summer, Nicolas Pepe was Arsenal’s record signing at £72million. Gunners fans will be thankful that he no longer holds that title after they splashed a whopping £105million fee on Rice.

While the transfer fee certainly wasn’t cheap, Arsenal fans will feel like they have got value for money so far. Rice has undoubtedly improved Arsenal’s midfield this season and he’s already come up clutch with a few important goals.

Aston Villa – Moussa Diaby

Unai Emery has Aston Villa flying high in the Premier League right now and he’s also spent the money that he has been given wisely.

Diaby arrived from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer for a club-record fee of £51.9million. It hasn’t taken long for him to showcase his class either with seven goal contributions in his first 15 league appearances.

Bournemouth – Jefferson Lerma

The no-nonsense Colombian midfielder joined Bournemouth in August 2018 for a reported record fee of £26million. Lerma spent five years with the Cherries and racked up over 50 yellow cards in that time.

It didn’t take long until Bournemouth fans saw Lerma’s class and the midfielder also played a key role in their promotion back to the Premier League in 2021–22.

Upon his contract expiring in the summer, Lerma decided it was time for a fresh challenge and he signed for Crystal Palace on a free transfer.

Brentford – Nathan Collins

It cost the Bees a club record £23million fee to sign Collins in the summer and the Irish defender has impressed in his early days at the Gtech Community Stadium.

“There’s so much potential in Nathan,” Thomas Frank told reporters. “He’s just started his career, more or less. I know he’s played Premier League football before, but at 22 you are not even close to your highest level.”

Brighton – Joao Pedro

One of the outstanding performers in the Championship for Watford last season, it’s no wonder the Brazilian caught the attention of Brighton.

The Seagulls managed to secure a reported £30million deal for Pedro in the summer and the early signs have been very promising. Having already scored 10 goals across all competitions, the future looks bright for the 22-year-old.

Burnley – Zeki Amdouni

Burnley broke their club record in the summer to land a deal for Amdouni. Vincent Kompany’s side paid around £16million to sign the 23-year-old and the early signs have been fairly promising.

In an otherwise disappointing campaign for Burnley so far, Amdouni has looked like one of their brighter sparks.

Chelsea – Moises Caicedo

Including performance-related add-ons, Caicedo is Chelsea’s most expensive purchase at £115million which is slightly more than the £107million they splashed out on Enzo Fernandez.

The 22-year-old is yet to hit the heights in a Chelsea shirt that he was previously doing at Brighton, although Mauricio Pochettino still thinks it’s too early to judge their record signing.

“When we signed him, we knew what is going to happen. He’s an emotional guy, an emotional player that needs time to recover,” Pochettino told reporters.

“It also didn’t help [because of] the international games, travelling to Ecuador, to South America. That is really tough every single month, two or three weeks, go ten or 12 days away, then come back sometimes with an injury. It’s not an excuse but it’s the reality. In some situations like his, we need to give time and not to be unfair in the way that we assess him.”

Crystal Palace – Christian Benteke

It’s quite surprising that Palace haven’t broken their transfer record since 2016. The club spent an initial £27million on Benteke to prize him away from Liverpool and he is still their record signing today.

On the whole, Benteke was a fairly solid performer at Selhurst Park, but he was by no means at his peak during his spell in London.

After scoring 37 goals in 177 appearances, he called it quits on his Premier League career last year to join MLS outfit DC United. He’s scored a few worldies while playing in the United States, which we’re all for.

Everton – Gylfi Sigurdsson

The Toffees spent £40million on the Icelandic international back in 2017 and he made 156 appearances before departing last year. Sigurdsson made his return to football in the summer, signing for Danish club Lyngby on a one-year deal.

Fulham – Jean Michael Seri

Considering Fulham spent a club-record fee of £27million on Seri, it’s probably fair to say that he didn’t live up to the hype. Despite this, he still had some memorable moments in a Fulham shirt and played a role in their promotion from the Championship in 2021–22.

At 32 years old he continues to be a classy operator in the Championship and can now be found pulling the strings for Liam Rosenior’s Hull City side.

Liverpool – Virgil van Dijk

Worth every penny, even at £75million. A priceless addition.

Virgil van Dijk celebrates during the UEFA Champions League match between Liverpool and Ajax at Anfield, Liverpool, September 2022.

Virgil van Dijk celebrates during the UEFA Champions League match between Liverpool and Ajax at Anfield, Liverpool, September 2022.

READ: Virgil van Dijk: Revisiting the 8 alternatives Liverpool chased in 2017

Luton Town – Ryan Giles

Prior to receiving their Premier League riches, Luton’s record arrival was Carlton Morris who was signed for just under £2million.

In order to make themselves competitive for the top flight, they splashed some cash in the summer and their biggest arrival was Giles from Wolves.

Having impressed on loan with Middlesbrough last season, Luton had seen enough to spend around £5million on Giles. However, despite splashing out a record fee, Giles hasn’t managed to nail down a consistent starting spot yet.

“He’ll want to play more, like all the lads who haven’t played quite as much, but we’ve got a long season, we’ve got loads of games coming up. I thought he did well when he came on the other day,” Rob Edwards explained.

Manchester City – Jack Grealish

Plenty of people turned their noses up when City splashed £100million on Grealish. Despite not pulling up many trees in his debut season, Grealish soon proved his worth under Pep Guardiola.

The former Aston Villa playmaker played a key role in City’s treble-winning campaign, although injuries have hampered his progress this season.

Manchester United – Paul Pogba

United fans definitely saw glimpses of what the Frenchman was capable of and his return of 90 goal contributions in 233 matches isn’t quite as disastrous as some people would have you believe.

However, there’s no denying that Pogba didn’t live up to the hype upon his then-world-record return to Old Trafford. Last year he made a return to Juventus, although his second stint in Turin has started even more disastrously.

Pogba spent the vast majority of last season on the sidelines with an injury and he is currently suspended following a suspected breach of anti-doping regulations.

Newcastle – Alexander Isak

The Swedish forward has justified his £63million price tag so far with a number of eye-catching performances. In the Premier League this season, the 24-year-old has averaged a goal every 108 minutes which is some going.

Nottingham Forest – Ibrahim Sangare

The 26-year-old joined Nottingham Forest in for a club record fee this summer from PSV. However, it is worth pointing out that Morgan Gibbs-White could still be their record signing if performance-related add-ons are triggered.

Forest have struggled to find much consistency this season and Sangare is still seemingly getting to grips with his new surroundings.

Sheffield United – Rhian Brewster

Brewster looked destined for the very top during his early days and Sheffield United splashed £23.5million to pry him away from Liverpool, following a prolific loan spell he had with Swansea.

Unfortunately, Brewster has struggled to find much consistency at Bramall Lane as he has scored just five goals since his arrival in 2020.

Tottenham – Tanguy Ndombele

Somehow, the French midfielder is still on the books at Tottenham, despite the club doing their best to offload him for the past three years.

While the £55million signing did show some glimpses of talent, he largely underwhelmed during his time in north London. Following loan spells with Lyon and Napoli, he is currently on loan with Galatasaray.

West Ham – Sebastien Haller

The Hammers have made some great signings over the years, but they have always struggled when it comes to strikers. Things never really clicked for Haller in the Premier League and West Ham ended up making a significant loss on their £45million signing.

Despite his struggles with West Ham, Haller went on to have a prolific spell with Ajax and subsequently earned another big-money move to Borussia Dortmund.

Wolves – Matheus Cunha

After a fairly slow start to life in the Premier League last season, Cunha has exploded into life this time around. The Brazilian forward already has seven goal contributions and has been one of the most productive players for Wolves this time around.

READ NEXT: The Premier League ‘big six’ head-to-head table of 2023-24: Man Utd grab first pts…

TRY A QUIZ: Can you name the 20 players with the most PL substitute appearances?

Manchester United Premier League Arsenal Chelsea Liverpool Manchester City Newcastle United Tottenham Hotspur