The 10 biggest transfers in British history, ranked from best to worst ...Middle East

Whether he likes it or not, Florian Wirtz will eventually enter one of two categories after completing his transfer to Liverpool.

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.

So, will he join the list of flops? Or can the 23-year-old join a small group in justifying their fee? Initially, he will join the trio of £100m-plus players who start our list and are still writing their own tales.

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

— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) April 9, 2025

We will have lost a few Arsenal fans for a while but for those reading on, thanks.

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

An eye-watering sum, £100m plus £15m in add-ons, made Moises Caicedo Chelsea’s second £100m-plus midfield arrival in 2023, after his teammate below him in eighth.

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.

So, no Premier League winners’ medal, but Caicedo still enjoyed a standout season for Chelsea in 2024-25 despite their up-and-down form. He won Chelsea’s player and players’ player of the season awards, and will remain at the heart of the team going forward into the Champions League campaign.

8. Enzo Fernandez – £107m (2023, Benfica to Chelsea)

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.

A British record at the time, Fernandez has emerged as a key player under Enzo Maresca, captaining the club in Reece James’ absence.

Like Caicedo and Rice, the Argentine is still proving his worth.

The British record entered a new realm in August 2021 when Manchester City became the first Premier League club to fork out nine digits for a player.

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.

Does one decent season warrant the £100m fee? Not exactly, but his protectors will say he was a victim of the Pep Guardiola way. Grealish was rarely let off the leash, and now he needs a now owner.

6. Darwin Nunez – £85m (2022, Benfica to Liverpool)

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”.

In 95 league games for Liverpool he has 25 goals and 13 assists. A contribution every three games isn’t setting the world alight, but it’s not quite Andriy Shevchenko at Chelsea levels (nine goals, seven assists, 48 games) – so let’s calm down a bit.

He is an enigma, and could yet change his own narrative at Anfield, for better or worse.

Romelu Lukaku joined Manchester United from Everton in the summer of 2017 as Jose Mourinho sought a striker that could take them to Manchester City’s level.

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.

His return of 16 league goals in his first season at United wasn’t terrible, but 12 during the tumultuous campaign that followed at United – where Mourinho was sacked and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer favoured Marcus Rashford – led to Lukaku’s departure for Inter in 2019.

Lukaku went on to say he was in a “deep hole” at United.

4. Paul Pogba – £93.2m (2016, Juventus to Man Utd)

#Pogback. Stormzy rapping. Paul Pogba dancing. And for some reason this world-record transfer announcement all unfolded after midnight on 9 August 2016.

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

— Stormzy (@stormzy) August 8, 2016

He won the League Cup and Europa League there in 2017 but his relationship with Jose Mourinho soured thereafter. The player outlasted the manager, but eventually Pogba left himself on a free in 2022 after slipping away from relevance.

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.

After the Inter reprieve, Lukaku returned to the Premier League when former club Chelsea forked out a club-record £97.5m in August 2021.

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.

Come June 2022, he was off, with a season-long loan back at Inter confirmed. He went to Roma on loan in 2023-24 before Napoli paid £25.2m (€30m) to sign him last summer.

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)

er boy of Chelsea’s amortisation era under owners BlueCo, Chelsea paid Shakhtar Donetsk €70m (£62m) up front and a further €30m (£26.5m) in add-ons for Mykhailo Mudryk in January 2023.

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.

Apologies if this bores you, but really there’s little to add by way of Mudryk’s actual performances at Chelsea. Ten goals and 11 assists from 73 appearances, with his average of 49 minutes per game proof of his inability to break into the starting XI.

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)

Top of the flops, but already there is an “it’s not you, it’s me” aspect to this transfer given Antony’s successful loan spell at Real Betis.

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.

Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( The 10 biggest transfers in British history, ranked from best to worst )

Also on site :

• NYT Mini Crossword Answers, Hints for Saturday, June 21, 2025
• Planting the seeds for remembering
• Prabowo hails BRICS entry, reaffirms Indonesia’s non-aligned stance