An amazing Premier League XI that cost less than Moises Caicedo’s £115m move to Chelsea
The Premier League’s transfer record has been broken yet again. Moises Caicedo is the most expensive player in English football history, having joined Chelsea from Brighton & Hove Albion for a head-spinning £115million fee.
Caicedo follows in the footsteps of his new Chelsea team-mate Enzo Fernandez, Jack Grealish and Paul Pogba in breaking the British transfer record in recent years. A lot’s changed since Alan Shearer moved to Blackburn Rovers for £3.6million at the dawn of the Premier League era.
We’ve put together an entire XI of Premier League players that cost than the 21-year-old Ecuadorian.
Note: we’ve not included academy graduates, free transfers or youth-team signings. This XI is made up entirely of senior players that were signed for transfer fees.
GK: Bernd Leno – £8million
After losing his spot at Arsenal to Aaron Ramsdale, Leno went about rebuilding his career in West London. For just £8million, the 31-year-old shot-stopper has been a terrific addition to Marco Silva’s side.
Only Alisson prevented more goals in the Premier League last season than Leno did and Fulham fans will be hoping the German goalkeeper will be on top form again this year.
RB: Kieran Trippier – £12million
Since returning to the Premier League with Newcastle, Trippier has managed to surpass all sorts of expectations. Signing him for a mere £12million was seen as good business at the time, but few could have predicted just how influential he’d go on to become.
The 32-year-old was arguably the best full-back in the Premier League last season and he offers so much to Eddie Howe’s side at both ends of the pitch. A truly transformative signing for the Toon.
CB: Joachim Andersen – £15million
If Crystal Palace were to cash in on Andersen these days they would make a healthy profit on their original £15million investment. After impressing on loan with Fulham, Palace saw enough to sign the Danish defender from Lyon in 2021.
He’s since formed a formidable partnership at the back with Marc Guehi and is a fan favourite at Selhurst Park.
CB: Ethan Pinnock – £3million
Brentford’s recruitment strategy has garnered plenty of praise over the years and rightly so. They signed Pinnock from Barnsley for a mere £3million back in 2019.
The defender played a crucial role in Brentford’s promotion season from the Championship and he has since become a solid defender in the top flight.
LB: Andrew Robertson – £8million
Arguably one of the best bargain buys of the modern era, you will struggle to find much better value than Liverpool have got with Robertson.
As Hull City were relegated from the Premier League, Liverpool only had to fork out £8million to seal a deal for the Scottish defender. Seven trophies and 267 appearances later, it’s fair to say this deal worked out in the end.
CM: John McGinn – £2.5million
You’ll struggle to find a more committed player in the Premier League than McGinn. The Scottish maestro is one of the few players from their Championship playoff-winning season that is still at the club.
Best of all? They signed him for a mere £2.5million back in 2018 from Hibernian. He always manages to put a smile on our faces.
john mcginn on why you should pick him in your fantasy football team pic.twitter.com/rCSOPc0Usv
— dan (@DanAV___) August 13, 2023
CM: Joao Palhinha – £20million
Fulham struck gold last summer when they snapped up Palhinha for just £20million. The central midfielder market has exploded of late and Fulham have now reportedly set a £90million asking price for the Portugal international.
Palhinha bossed things in his debut season at Craven Cottage, winning 147 tackles last season which was way more than any other player. You can tell why Fulham rate him so highly.
RW: Kaoru Mitoma – £2.5million
Brighton’s scouting network is absolutely unmatched in the Premier League. They manage to find gems like Mitoma on a regular basis and transform them into superstars.
READ: An astonishingly good XI of players sold by Brighton since 2017: White, Mac Allister, Caicedo…
ST: Julian Alvarez – £14.1million
Last year, Alvarez completed football by playing an important role in Argentina’s World Cup triumph and Manchester City’s history-making treble.
He’s yet to quite nail down his spot in Pep Guardiola’s favoured XI, but he was a brilliant squad player last term – chipping in with no fewer than 17 goals across his substitute cameos and appearances off the bench.
It blows our mind a bit that City were able to secure the services of one of South America’s brightest young talents for just £14million. If they ever decide to move him on, they’d make a colossal profit.
ST: Callum Wilson – £20million
It’s something of a fallacy that Newcastle United didn’t spend any money at all prior to their takeover. Callum Wilson, Joelinton and Miguel Almiron were all brought in for not-inconsiderable sums of money towards the tail end of the Mike Ashley era.
But £20million for Wilson looks like peanuts in comparison to some of the figures being spent on players these days, particularly strikers and England internationals.
Wilson showed his class with 18 Premier League goals as the Magpies finished in the top four last term. An absolute steal.
LW: Gabriel Martinelli – £6million
Arsenal have spent considerably to build Mikel Arteta a squad capable of challenging Manchester City, but they’ve also called upon homegrown talents and modest signings.
Bargains don’t come much bigger than Martinelli, who was signed from little-known Brazilian club Ituano for £6million back in 2019. The 22-year-old attacker is undoubtedly one of the finest players in his position in the Premier League and only looks like getting better.
He’s now worth – at the very least – ten times what the Gunners originally paid for his signature.
READ NEXT: Moises Caicedo next: The 17 players to break the Premier League transfer record – & how they fared
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