Top 5 most expensive Premier League signings

William Donnelly
2017-07-03
1.8K views

The Premier League is often recognised as the best league in world football and it has certainly had the players and the teams over the years to justify this title. While many people say it’s getting worse, it’s still as entertaining as it ever has been at the top and the bottom of the table. In this article, we’ll take a look at the 5 most expensive players to play the beautiful game on English shores. (Transfer fees courtesy of transfermarkt.co.uk

5. Anthony Martial – Monaco to Manchester United, £51 million

Pundits across the world doubted the price tag payed for Anthony Martial but never doubted the sheer talent of the young French international. The Premier League’s most expensive teenager instantly silenced his critics with a debut goal against Liverpool at Old Trafford within half an hour of coming off the bench. His goal scoring form continued with 2 goals against Southampton in his first league start.

Under Jose Mourinho he has been slightly out of favour but he has still managed 15 goals in his 51 appearances for the Red Devils where many have come off the bench. He went to twitter to confirm that rumours about him leaving in the summer were false to the delight of many United fans. He’s been a breath of fresh air in the Premier league since his arrival but he’ll be desperate to get a longer run in the first-team before becoming bored of warming the bench at Old Trafford.

4. Raheem Sterling – Liverpool to Manchester City, £53 million

Another young player signed for big money in Manchester which angered the fans of Liverpool as he was one of the key players after they narrowly missed out on Champions League football. Once again, the fee was hugely doubted and his first season at Man City was very average. However, the English winger has flourished this season in Pep Guardiola’s first season and 13 goals in 63 games in a great return for a player who has played out-wide on most occasions.

10 goals and 13 assists with a few games of the season left to go in Guardiola’s maiden PL season is brilliant for the wideman and shows that the Spanish manager’s faith in Sterling has been thoroughly rewarded with some great performances. Man City might not achieve a top 4 place this season but they’ll expect a title challenge next season and Sterling will have to be vital in that push.

3. Kevin De Bruyne – Wolfsburg to Manchester City, £63 million

The dominance of the two Manchester clubs doesn’t end here as all 5 players on the list made big money moves to Manchester as they are the two wealthiest clubs in the league. While he didn’t come cheap, the signing of Kevin De Bruyne was fantastic from man city as he has been one of the league’s best players since his arrival at the Etihad. It wasn’t his first taste of Premier League action as he signed for Chelsea 2012 where he made 3 appearances over a 2-year spell, before moving on.

He really came into his zone when he swapped Wolfsburg for City and he has already racked up over 50 competitive appearances for his new side since the beginning of last season. He is the league’s leading player for most assists after laying on 16 goals for his team-mates, an incredible return along with 6 goals. At just 25, the Belgian playmaker is far from his best and it’ll be worrying for the rest of the Premier League when he eventually hits that peak.

2. Angel Di Maria – Real Madrid to Manchester United, £64 million

The only player on this list that is no longer playing football in the Premier League is Angel Di Maria. After Man United payed the biggest fee that any Premier League club had ever payed at the time, the Argentine forward failed to live up to the extremely big price tag. He was signed by Louis Van Gaal at the beginning of the 2014/15 season and not even a year later, he had signed for Paris Saint-Germain.

He played 27 times in the Premier League scoring 3 goals in the process including a Goal of the Season contender with a beautiful chip against Leicester City. While he failed to light up the Premier League, the season was poor as a whole for Manchester United as they only just scraped a top 4 spot after spending big in the summer transfer window before. He certainly doesn’t lack talent as he’s been brilliant since his move to PSG but the price tag and bright lights of the Premier League might’ve been too much at that point of Di Maria’s career.

1. Paul Pogba – Juventus to Manchester United, £89 million

The most expensive transfer in the history of football saw Paul Pogba return to the side where he played since the age of 16, who actually sold released him to Juventus for nothing! He impressed massively in his 4 year spell in Italy and earned himself a place in the FIFPro World XI in 2015, the youngest player to do so since a certain Lionel Messi. In his first season at Manchester United he has received a lot of unfair criticism after being one of Jose Mourinho’s best players. The criticism he has received is because he hasn’t got a high amount of goals and assists, an issue that would’ve been solved if Ibrahimović had finished more of his chances laid on by the Frenchman.

His first goal back at United came against the reigning champions, Leicester, where he also earned the Man of the Match award in a 4-1 win. He has also scored against Swansea, Crystal Palace and Middlesbrough along with 2 goals in the Europa League, where his side are ahead in the semi-final against Celta Vigo after the first-leg. A top 4 finish and the Europa League trophy would signal a decent season for United but with Jose Mourinho and Paul Pogba, they’ll be expecting a push for the title next season. Manchester United fans want to see their side reaching the heights they reached under the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson and any success they will have in the coming seasons, there’s no doubt that Paul Pogba will play a vital role.