10 Most Expensive Transfers In Premier League Of All Time

top 10 most expensive premier league transfers of all time

The Premier League has a new mega-money superstar with Jack Grealish becoming the most expensive top-flight player ever.

Manchester United have had a long history of being the leading spenders in England and star man Paul Pogba has been the Prem’s priciest player for several years.

The Red Devils have splashed out again this summer, landing England ace Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund for £73million.

But now, near-neighbours Manchester City have smashed the transfer record, spending £100million on Aston Villa and England maestro Grealish.

The midfielder has replaced Pogba in the history books and overtaken a host of other mega-money deals done by the likes of Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal.

Harry Kane could yet break the record again this summer should he leave Tottenham.

List of top 10 most expensive Premier League transfers of all time

10. Alisson Becker (Roma to Liverpool in 2018) – £67million

9. Kai Havertz (Bayer Leverkusen to Chelsea in 2020) – £71million

8. Kepa Arrizabalaga (Athletic Bilbao to Chelsea in 2018) – £71million

7. Nicolas Pepe (Lille to Arsenal in 2019) – £72million

6. Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund to Manchester United in 2021) – £73million

5. Virgil van Dijk (Southampton to Liverpool in 2018) – £75million

4. Romelu Lukaku (Everton to Manchester United in 2017) – £75million

3. Harry Maguire (Leicester to Manchester United in 2019) – £78million

2. Paul Pogba (Juventus to Manchester United in 2016) – £89million

1. Jack Grealish (Aston Villa to Manchester City in 2021) – £100million

Detailed information on top 10 most expensive Premier League transfers of all time

10. Alisson Becker (Roma to Liverpool in 2018) – £67million

Photo: Getty Images

Alisson Ramses Becker (born 2 October 1992) is a Brazilian international footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Liverpool. He, at the time, became the world’s most expensive goalkeeper upon signing from Roma for a fee of £66,800,000.

After two years of competition between Loris Karius and Simon Mignolet, and two years of consistent errors cumulating in the Champions League Final, Liverpool were in search of a top class goalkeeper ahead of the 2018-19 season. The rumoured two big targets were Jan Oblak of Atletico Madrid, and Alisson from Roma.

On 17 July 2018, after months of rumoured interest, it was reported that Liverpool had finally made a bid of £62,000,000 to bring Alisson to Anfield, with Roma looking for a little more for a deal to be agreed. A day later, reports stated that a deal had finally been agreed, for a fee of £66,800,000, a record fee for a goalkeeper, with the Brazilian set to fly in for a medical after agreeing personal terms.

On 19 July 2018, Alisson was spotted leaving John Lennon Airport after reports that he had passed his medical. Later that evening, it was confirmed that Alisson had signed for Liverpool on a six year deal, becoming the club’s second most expensive transfer, just after Virgil van Dijk.

It was confirmed that Alisson was to wear the number 13 shirt for the 2018-19 campaign, with Loris Karius continuing to wear the number 1.

On 12 August 2018, Alisson made his competitive debut, starting and keeping a clean sheet in a 4-0 win over West Ham. He kept up this run in his next two games, making vital saves in wins over Crystal Palace and Brighton.

In his fourth appearance, Alisson made a massive error leading to a goal, attempting to 'Cruyff turn' a Leicester attacker in his penalty area, but losing the ball and allowing Ghezzal to pull a goal back for Leicester. Fortunately for the Brazilian, the Reds held out to win 2-1 away from home.

9. Kai Havertz (Bayer Leverkusen to Chelsea in 2020) – £71million

Photo: Getty Images

Full name Kai Lukas Havertz but commonly known as Kai Havertz. He is a German professional footballer. He plays as a winger or an attacking midfielder for the Germany national football team and the greatest English professional football club or Premier League club Chelsea FC. This German winger made his professional career for the German professional football club Bayer Leverkusen on 15 October 2016 against Werder Bremen as a substitute for Charles Aranguiz. In addition, he made his international debut for the Germany national team.

Havertz was first called up by the German greatest football coach Joachim Low on 29 August 2018 to play for the Germany national team. He made his international debut for the Germany national football team on 9 September 2018 against Peru national team as a substitute for teammate Timo Werner.

This German attacking midfielder was born into a middle-class family on 11 June 1999 in Aachen, Germany. His father (dad) and mother (mum) name is not available at this moment. His father is a policeman and his mother is a lawyer. Havertz is the third child and second son of his family. He has an elder sister Leah Havertz and an elder brother Jan Havertz. This German talented footballer started his youth career for Alemannia Mariadorf in 2003 when he was only four years. His grandfather Richard was the chairman of this club.

8. Kepa Arrizabalaga (Athletic Bilbao to Chelsea in 2018) – £71million

Photo: Getty Images

Kepa Arrizabalaga Revuelta (born 3 October 1994) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Premier League club Chelsea and the Spain national team. He is sometimes referred to simply as Kepa.

A Basque native, Arrizabalaga began his senior club career with Athletic Bilbao. He played for Basconia, and joined Ponferradina and Real Valladolid consecutive loans, between 2011 and 2016. He then returned to Bilbao and became a first-team regular; in 2018, he was the subject of a record association football transfer when he moved to Chelsea in a transfer worth €80 million (£72 million), a record fee for a goalkeeper. There, he won the UEFA Europa League and the UEFA Champions League.

Arrizabalaga won the 2012 European Championship with Spain's under-19 team. He made his senior debut in 2017, and was selected for the 2018 World Cup.

The goalkeeper arrived on the eve of Thibaut Courtois' departure from Stamford Bridge in 2018 but has yet to scale the heights of his predecessor. He remains a Chelsea player but has fallen down the pecking order behind the impressive Edouard Mendy, who was picked up for a mere £22m at the start of the 20/21 season.

7. Nicolas Pepe (Lille to Arsenal in 2019) – £72million

Photo: Goal

Nicolas Pépé (born 29 May 1995) is an Ivorian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Premier League club Arsenal and the Ivory Coast national team.

Pépé began his senior club career with Poitiers in the Championnat de France Amateur 2. He signed for Angers in 2013, aged 18, and spent a season on loan at Orléans in 2015. He signed for Lille in 2017, and was named to the UNFP Ligue 1 Team of the Year in the 2018–19 season. That summer, Pépé joined Arsenal for a club-record fee of £72 million, and won the FA Cup in his debut season.

Pépé, who was born in France to parents of Ivorian descent, made his debut for the Ivory Coast on 15 November 2016 in a friendly against France. He was selected for the Africa Cup of Nations in 2017 and 2019.

Pépé was born in France to parents of Ivorian descent. He received a call up to the Ivory Coast national football team in November 2016, and was an unused substitute in the goalless draw away to Morocco in 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification on 12 November. He made his debut three days later in a friendly of the same score against his birth nation, France, at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis in Lens, playing the final four minutes in place of Max-Alain Gradel.

Pépé was named in Michel Dussuyer's 23-man squad for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon, but took no part as the Elephants were eliminated from their group.

On 24 March 2018, in a friendly against Togo in France, Pépé scored his first international goals in the first half of a 2–2 draw. He followed it three days later, with another goal in a 2–1 win against Moldova in the same stadium.

Pépé was called up for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt. He was absent from their quarter-final penalty shootout defeat by Algeria, having been dropped for Max Alain Gradel due to a lack of form.

Pépé is known as a quick and skilled attacking winger who is comfortable on both flanks, but usually plays on the right wing cutting onto his left foot; he was also converted by former Lille head coach Marcelo Bielsa to play as a striker.

6. Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund to Manchester United in 2021) – £73million

Photo: Sporty Tell

Jadon Malik Sancho (born 25 March 2000) is an English professional footballer who plays as a winger for German Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund and the England national team. A highly technical, creative player, he is known for his trickery, pace and use of feints in one-on-one situations. He came runner-up for the 2019 Kopa Trophy and was nominated to the 40-man shortlist for the 2020 Golden Boy.

Previously a youth player with Watford and Manchester City, Sancho signed his first senior contract with Dortmund in 2017. In his second season, he established himself as a first-team regular and was named in the 2018–19 Bundesliga Team of the Season. Ahead of the 2019–20 season, Sancho won his first trophy following the DFL-Supercup victory over Bayern Munich.

Sancho was part of the England youth team that won the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup and made his debut for the senior team in 2018.

When he was really young, Jadon was an avid fan of English football club, Chelsea. At a very tender age, Jadon had shown great interest in football that his headteacher at his primary school in London, Crampton primary school, had been convinced that he’ll go on to become a football sensation.

Sancho can function as a second striker or wide midfielder typically in a Borussia Dortmund 4–2–3–1 formation on either wing of attack. Dortmund's 'young player project' has helped Sancho function in the focal point of attack alongside a core of talented young stars like Erling Haaland, Gio Reyna and Jude Bellingham.

Regarded as a highly technical, creative player, Sancho is known for his trickery, pace and use of feints in one-on-one situations and has been described as one of the world's best young players.

5. Virgil van Dijk (Southampton to Liverpool in 2018) – £75million

Photo: 90min

Known for his very smooth ball-playing defending skills, Virgil van Dijk is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Premier League club Liverpool and captains the Netherlands national football team.

Born on 8th July 1991, Van Dijk is a right-footed centre back, who usually features on the left-hand side of central defence, although he can be used as a right-sided centre back.

He possesses aerial prowess, skills from dead ball situations, and strong leadership qualities.

After beginning his career with Groningen, he moved to Celtic in 2013. He made 62 appearances for Groningen and managed to score 7 goals for his club

Virgil Van Dijk helped his side win the Scottish Premiership with his defending skills and was named in the PFA Scotland Team of the Year in both of his seasons due to his impressive performance, and later won the Scottish League Cup for Celtic.

Van Dijk joined Southampton in September 2015 where he scored 4 goals in 67 games he played.

Van Dijk currently plays for Liverpool since he joined Liverpool in January 2018 for £75 million and became the most expensive defender in the world.

On October 10th, 2015, Van Dijk made his full international debut for Netherlands in a 2–1 victory against Kazakhstan in a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifier.

On 26th March, he scored his first international goal to conclude a 3-0 win over European champions Portugal at the Stade de Geneve.

4. Romelu Lukaku (Everton to Manchester United in 2017) – £75million

Photo: Getty Images

Romelu Lukaku is a Belgian footballer who plays for the Belgian national team along with the ‘Premier League’ team ‘Manchester United.’ Born and raised in Antwerp, Belgium, Romelu started playing football at a young age and joined his first club, ‘Rupel Boom,’ at the age of 5. Eventually, he was discovered by a bigger club, ‘Lierse’ and was inducted into their youth program. He scored 121 goals in the 68 matches that he played for ‘Lierse’, which got him a contract with ‘Anderlecht.’ Soon, he emerged as the lead scorer in the ‘Belgian Championship.’ Following this, he joined ‘Chelsea’ in 2011. In 2012, he was loaned to ‘West Bromwich Albion.’ In 2014, he signed a three-year contract with ‘Everton.’ After a lot of speculations, he signed a five-year contract with ‘Manchester United,’ in 2017. Romelu has played for the Belgian ‘Under-21’ team and the Belgian senior team. Romelu happens to be a very aggressive player on the field and is known to use his body to get around the defenders.

In December 2015, Romelu scored goals in six consecutive ‘Premier League’ matches, making him the first striker from ‘Everton’ to achieve the feat. He scored another goal in the seventh match, making himself the first ‘Everton’ player to score in seven matches across all competitions.

During the 2016–2017 season in September, Romelu scored a hat-trick within the first 12 minutes of the game against ‘Sunderland.’ This was the twelfth-fastest hat-trick in any ‘Premier League’ match. He touched many records and continued his graceful form throughout the season.

In April 2017, he was included in the ‘Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year,’ better known as the ‘PFA Team of the Year,’ and was a strong contender in the race to win the ‘PFA Player of the Year’ and the ‘PFA Young Player of the Year’ awards.

In July 2017, he signed a contract with ‘Manchester United’ and made his debut in the ‘UEFA Super Cup’ against ‘Real Madrid.’ In his first nine appearances for ‘Manchester United,’ Romelu scored 10 goals. At the end of his first season with the leading ‘Premier League’ team, he had scored 24 goals in 29 matches.

Romelu was part of the Belgian national ‘Under-21’ squad and was included in the team for the 2014 ‘World Cup.’ His younger brother, Jordan Lukaku, was also part of the team, but the team struggled through the tournament. Romelu was also part of the Belgian squad that competed in the 2016 ‘UEFA Euro.’

3. Harry Maguire (Leicester to Manchester United in 2019) – £78million

Photo: Skysports

Jacob Harry Maguire (born 5 March 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Premier League club Manchester United and the England national team.

Maguire came through the youth system at Sheffield United before graduating to the first team in 2011. He totalled 166 professional games for the club and was their Player of the Year three consecutive times, also featuring in the PFA Team of the Year for League One as many times. In 2014, he transferred to Hull City for £2.5 million, who loaned him to Wigan Athletic in 2015. He joined Leicester City in 2017 for an initial fee of £12 million. Two years later, he moved to Manchester United for a fee believed to be £80 million, a world-record amount for a defender, and within six months was appointed the club captain.

Maguire played one match for England under-21 in 2012. In October 2017, he made his senior debut, and he was chosen for the 2018 FIFA World Cup squad.

United splashed a Premier League record transfer fee for a defender in 2019, signing Maguire on a five-year deal and making him captain of the club. His development has continued since then, impressing in the heart of the United defence and showcasing his talent for England at the recent European Championships.

2. Paul Pogba (Juventus to Manchester United in 2016) – £89million

Photo: Sporty Tell

Paul Labile Pogba (born 15 March 1993) is a French professional footballer who plays for Premier League club Manchester United and the France national team. He operates primarily as a central midfielder, but can also be deployed as an attacking midfielder, defensive midfielder and deep-lying playmaker.

Born in Lagny-sur-Marne, Pogba joined the youth team of Ligue 1 side Le Havre in 2007, before a protracted transfer brought him to Manchester United two years later. After beginning his senior career with Manchester United two years later, limited appearances persuaded him to depart to join Italian side Juventus on a free transfer in 2012, where he helped the club to four consecutive Serie A titles, as well as two Coppa Italia and two Supercoppa Italiana titles. During his time in Italy, Pogba further established himself as one of the most promising young players in the world and received the Golden Boy award in 2013, followed by the Bravo Award in 2014. In 2016, Pogba was named to the 2015 UEFA Team of the Year, as well as the 2015 FIFA FIFPro World XI, after helping Juventus to the 2015 UEFA Champions League Final, their first in 12 years.

Pogba's performances at Juventus led to him returning to Manchester United in 2016 for a then-world record transfer fee of €105 million (£89.3 million). The fee was the highest paid by an English club at the time. In his first season back, he won the League Cup and the Europa League. In the 2018–19 season, he was named to the PFA Team of the Year.

Internationally, Pogba captained France to victory at the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup and took home the award for the Best Player for his performances during the tournament. He made his debut for the senior team a year later and featured prominently at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, where he was awarded the Best Young Player Award for his performances. He later represented his nation at UEFA Euro 2016 on home soil, where he finished as a runner-up, before winning the 2018 FIFA World Cup, scoring in the final.

1. Jack Grealish (Aston Villa to Manchester City in 2021) – £100million

Photo: Independent UK

Jack Peter Grealish (born 10 September 1995) is an English professional footballer who plays as a winger or attacking midfielder for Premier League club Manchester City and the England national team.

Grealish joined Aston Villa at the age of six, and made his debut for the club in May 2014, following a loan at Notts County. Eligible to represent either England or the Republic of Ireland internationally, Grealish was capped by the Republic of Ireland up to under-21 level before confirming his decision to play for England in April 2016. He played for the England under-21s for the first time in May 2016, winning the 2016 Toulon Tournament. In August 2021, Grealish departed from Aston Villa and moved to Manchester City in a transfer deal worth £100 million, making him the most expensive English player ever.

Grealish plays as a winger or attacking midfielder, and has been noted for his ability to run and dribble past defenders. Bryan Jones, Aston Villa's former academy director, likened his playing style to that of Nottingham Forest legend John Robertson, citing his "ability to just ghost past people".

As a consequence of his nimble movement, Grealish has notably been on the receiving end of heavier, more physical challenges from opposing players. Shaun Derry, his manager at Notts County, highlighted this, following fixtures against Sheffield United and Stevenage in early 2014 and called for more official protection. In a 2014 match for Aston Villa against Hull City at Villa Park, a number of fouls committed against Grealish resulted in three Hull players receiving yellow cards within just a 15-minute period.

Grealish wears child-sized shin pads whilst playing, in order to maintain his ability to control the ball effectively. He wears his football socks rolled down due to superstition, which has led to referees warning him to pull them up.

Aston Villa manager Tim Sherwood said in May 2015 that Grealish was learning from his friendship with his midfield partner, the experienced Joe Cole. Sherwood considered Cole a role model for Grealish's private life, as he "didn't read too much about Joe being on the front pages".

On 12 February 2021, In an interview with Talksport, Aston Villa teammate Emiliano Martínez described Grealish as "the most talented player [he had] ever seen" and expressed surprise that he had not played more games for England. Martínez went on to say: "he never gives the ball away. When I see Grealish running, it’s always a shot on target or a corner for us. He will drive past two or three players". Martínez also drew comparisons of Grealish to his Argentina teammate, Lionel Messi.

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