Ranking Every $100 Million Signing in Premier League History
The $100 million man is no longer a novelty, but the norm.
The aforementioned figure was once an esteemed superstar, a soccer player whose reputation preceded them. There was an air of mystique and a sense that they were something different, unlike anything we’d seen before.
Now, the concept of ’value’ has been sapped from soccer’s collective consciousness. Financial regulations may be in play, but the modern-day superpower is generating more money than ever, and there’s seemingly a greater willingness to spend vast sums not even on the finished product.
Mere potential—what you could become, not what you already are—can turn you into a $100 million (£74 million) man. The Premier League has emerged as the home of transfer brazenness, and in the summer of 2026 alone, nine players either moved to the English top flight or were transferred from within for a nine-figure sum.
Here’s how Sports Illustrated ranks the 22 total $100 million+ signings in the competition’s history.
22. Antony—Ajax to Man Utd ($100.2 million)
Antony never looked like living up to his massive price tag. / Michael Regan/Getty Images
Dollar-for-dollar, pound-for-pound, it has to be the worst signing in Premier League history.
Brazilian winger Antony, who earned his mammoth price tag off the back of two good—but hardly great—seasons with Ajax, set Manchester United back $100.2 million (£74 million) in 2022 at the start of Erik ten Hag’s reign.
He, of course, was someone the new manager knew well, but Ten Hag’s judgment has often proven to be more erroneous than savvy after earning the loftiest of reputations for guiding Ajax into the semifinals of the 2018–19 Champions League.
Antony’s Premier League career started with three goals in his first three games, but that was as good as it got for the slight wide man. There were few redeeming qualities, and although he’s since prospered at Real Betis in Spain, few United supporters are devastated that he‘s no longer struggling to cut onto his left foot at the Theatre of Dreams.
21. Romelu Lukaku—Inter Milan to Chelsea ($135 million)
Lukaku’s second Chelsea spell underwhelmed. / Clive Rose/Getty Images
This was supposedly a major statement from the European champions, who sought to dominate English soccer for a period with Thomas Tuchel at the helm.
Romelu Lukaku was chastized during the latter stages of his Manchester United career, but reinvented by Antonio Conte at Inter Milan. The Italian helped Lukaku rediscover his most destructive form, and he re-emerged as one of Europe’s deadliest hitmen at San Siro.
The majority thought that a striker-needy Chelsea were justified in spending as much as they did to bring him back to Stamford Bridge in 2021. He was meant to be the missing piece.
However, instead of spearheading a prosperous era in west London, Lukaku clashed with Tuchel and blamed the German for failing to maximize him. He voiced his discontent in an interview with Sky Italia midway through the season, and returned to Inter on loan after just a single season in west London.
Lukaku’s second bite of the cherry returned just eight goals in 26 Premier League outings.
20. Sandro Tonali—Newcastle to Spurs ($133 million)
It’s a lot of money for Tonali. / Steve Christo/Corbis/Getty Images
There have been plenty of recent additions to the list, so we’re projecting somewhat with the likes of Tonali.
The Italian was superb for Newcastle United in 2024–25 but went off the boil somewhat last season. He’s not a $133 million (£98 million) midfielder, yet that doesn’t render Tonali useless.
Rival supporters mocked Spurs for merely boasting an interest in the 26-year-old, believing the midfielder would never opt for north London, given who else was hunting his signature.
However, Tonali was in fact smitten by Roberto De Zerbi’s project (and a healthy pay packet). In response, those same mockers have since coalesced to smear Tonali’s talent.
Sure, he’s somewhat functional and limited in terms of what he can do with the ball, but Tonali also has the potential to be a midfield powerhouse for a Spurs team that suddenly looks to be on an upward trajectory.
19. Alexander Isak—Newcastle to Liverpool ($170 million)
Isak’s first season at Liverpool was disrupted by injury. / Robbie Jay Barratt/AMA/Getty Images
Alexander Isak’s St. James’ Park return on the opening weekend of the 2026–27 Premier League season summed the Swede’s time at Liverpool up: meek.
Isak was hindered by a leg break midway through his debut campaign, but we’re still yet to see the swashbuckling center forward who was the envy of the rest of the English top flight when he was strutting his stuff up on Tyneside.
It took Liverpool a Premier League-record transfer fee of $170 million (£125 million) to secure his services in Sept. 2025, and few batted an eyelid when the move went through. Isak had deserved such attention, but Reds supporters are wondering if they’ll ever see the version of Isak they thought they were buying.
18. Florian Wirtz—Bayer Leverkusen to Liverpool ($133 million)
Wirtz had a forgettable debut season at Anfield. / Robbie Jay Barratt/AMA/Getty Images
We’ve got a year of Florian Wirtz at Liverpool to judge, and his start to life on Merseyside was anything but plain sailing.
Wirtz garnered a lofty reputation for starring amid Bayer Leverkusen’s unbeaten Bundesliga season in 2023–24, and had the chance to make the obvious move to Bayern Munich the following summer. He resisted, though, and instead opted for the rigors of English soccer, which haven’t been kind to him so far.
His debut season returned 17 goal contributions in 49 games, which was by no means disastrous, but when you spend as much as Liverpool did to sign him, you’re expecting much more, especially on the big occasion.
Worryingly, Wirtz hasn’t looked like a superstar at Anfield. However, many suspect that the German was hindered by Arne Slot’s car crash of a second season in charge of the club, and there are hopes that Andoni Iraola will reinvigorate the playmaker.
17. Sávio—Man City to Tottenham ($115 million)
Sávio scored on his Spurs debut. / Jacques Feeney/Offside/Getty Images
Tottenham’s year-long pursuit of Man City winger Sávio ended with the suddenly free-spending Lilywhites splashing a drastically-inflated fee to finally land their man late last month.
$115 million (£85 million) is a remarkable figure for a wide player with such underwhelming final third output, but Spurs are banking on the Brazilian maximizing his distinct potential.
Sávio’s promising debut season has been thrust to the wayside by naysayers, who have harshly judged him through a disrupted sophomore campaign. There’s plenty for Roberto De Zerbi to work with, and while he needs to do plenty to justify his price tag, Sávio is intent on silencing a few in North London.
16. Kai Havertz—Bayer Leverkusen to Chelsea ($115.5 million)
Havertz delivered in the 2021 Champions League final. / Jose Coelho/Pool/Getty Images
Plenty of Chelsea supporters couldn’t believe that Arsenal were willing to take Kai Havertz off their hands for $86 million (£63.5 million) in 2023 at a key stage in Mikel Arteta’s project.
The Blues registered a financial loss, but they were content to rid themselves of the German, who’d delivered the Blues one of the greatest moments in their modern history.
Still, not even the winning goal in a Champions League final can completely mask what was ultimately a very underwhelming career in West London, especially given the hype he had generated in Germany. Havertz scored 32 times in 139 Chelsea appearances, adding 16 assists.
15. Ayyoub Bouaddi—Lille to Man City ($115 million)
Bouaddi is the most likely to replace Rodri of City’s new midfielders. / Vince Mignott/MB Media/Getty Images
There’s much to like about Ayyoub Bouaddi.
An intelligent kid with the world at his feet, Bouaddi has taken on the job of replacing Rodri at Manchester City this season. Fortunately, he has two big-money arrivals alongside him to share the burden, and Enzo Maresca will have the chance to ease the young Moroccan into things.
The 18-year-old proved at the World Cup that no stage is too big, but it may take some time until we see the best of the composed young midfielder at the Etihad Stadium.
14. Mateus Fernandes—West Ham to Spurs ($112 million)
Fernandes is a class act. / Phil Walter/Getty Images
Mateus Fernandes may have suffered back-to-back relegations with Southampton and West Ham United, but his talent is there for all to see.
Fernandes can perform a myriad of midfield functions and has the potential to be a Portugal stalwart over the next decade. He’s a silky smooth operator who creatively evades pressure in the build-up phase, connects defense to attack, and can combine in and around the penalty area.
Fernandes combines slick in-possession traits with a fierce tenacity when the ball needs to be won back. He’s bound to emerge as the most impressive of Spurs’ lengthy 2026 summer transfer haul.
13. Jack Grealish—Aston Villa to Man City ($139 million)
Grealish was brilliant during Man City’s treble-winning campaign. / Michael Regan/Getty Images
Jack Grealish’s Manchester City career technically isn’t over, and there was an iteration of the former $139 million (£100 million) wide player that emerged at the start of Enzo Maresca’s tenure.
It’s easy to slander Grealish’s City career for how it’s faded. However, the role he played in their treble-winning season can’t be overlooked. Grealish played 50 times across all competitions and racked up almost 3,500 minutes of action.
He was never an output man, so his 16 goal contributions that season seem rather tame, but the Englishman nonetheless performed a specific job very well. Grealish retained possession in the final third and attracted opposition pressure to open spaces for others in and around the box.
His impressive apex rendered the rest all the more disappointing.
12. Paul Pogba—Juventus to Man Utd ($116 million)
Pogba was under constant scrutiny. / Ash Donelon/Manchester United/Getty Images
Paul Pogba had it all, and the fanfare that greeted his Manchester United return in 2016 was unlike any other Premier League transfer.
The Frenchman produced some outstanding, otherworldly moments at Old Trafford, but it’s hard to escape the supposition that his second bite of the cherry up in Manchester wasn’t just one big false dawn.
As gifted as he was, Pogba never inspired a serious title charge and often flattered to deceive when it mattered most. His six years with the club were ultimately a dissapointment, albeit not a disaster. There was plenty of good in there, too.
11. Morgan Rogers—Aston Villa to Chelsea ($157 million)
Rogers is Chelsea’s record signing. / Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC/Getty Images
It’s a value-for-money thing here.
Morgan Rogers is undoubtedly gifted and was worthy of a big move after notching 60 goal contributions in 129 appearances for Aston Villa over the past three seasons. However, he did set Chelsea back a club-record $157 million (£115 million). You’re demanding something or someone generational for that sort of price.
Still, the sharpshooting Englishman is set to enjoy life under Xabi Alonso at Chelsea and must be relishing the chance to team up with Cole Palmer again.
Together, they’re bound to make the Blues a fun watch, and few will care about the size of the transfer fee if Rogers helps catapult Chelsea back into a position where they’re competing for the Premier League title.
10. Hugo Ekitike—Eintracht Frankfurt to Liverpool ($106.1 million)
The Frenchman quickly settled before his Achilles injury. / Paul ELLIS/AFP/Getty Images
Liverpool’s 2025 summer transfer window looks like it’s destined for infamy, similar to Tottenham Hotspur’s 2014 summer after they sold Gareth Bale.
However, the most likely to emerge from the abyss as the Christian Eriksen-like ray of hope is Hugo Ekitike. Before an Achilles injury ended his dynamic debut season prematurely, the Frenchman offered a swagger to a Liverpool team that curiously lost its spark after lifting the title.
He’s an aesthetic, endearing forward who you simply can’t take your eyes off in full tilt. We can only hope he’s retained his explosive burst and impish creativity once he returns from his long-term layoff.
9. Elliot Anderson—Nottingham Forest to Man City ($155 million)
Anderson has huge shoes to fill. / Sarah Stier/FIFA/Getty Images
Like Rogers, we cannot say Elliot Anderson isn’t a very good player. However, there’s just no way he’d have cost $155 million (£114 million) this summer if, one, he wasn’t English, and two, he wasn’t being traded between Premier League clubs.
Anderson is an impressive all-rounder, but is he so uniquely talented that City should’ve paid the fourth-most expensive transfer fee in soccer history to get him? The jury’s out.
Much will depend on how Enzo Maresca profiles him in midfield.
8. Harry Maguire—Leicester to Man Utd ($108 million)
Maguire has developed into a Man Utd stalwart. / Gareth Copley/Getty Images
Manchester United sought their very own Virgil van Dijk in 2019, and for Harry Maguire, that’s where the problem started.
By becoming soccer’s most expensive defender ever, perfection was expected. Maguire was put under a microscope as very few had ever been before, with every lapse or misjudgment pounced upon.
Maguire has been through some mightily tough periods at Old Trafford, but it’s fair to say that his transfer overall, even if the price tag was excessive at the time, has been a success. At the time of writing, the 33-year-old has notched 273 appearances for the club and won a pair of domestic cups.
He was also club captain for three-and-a-half years.
7. Enzo Fernández—Benfica to Chelsea ($131 million)
The Argentine has blossomed into an effective box-crashing midfielder. / Mike Hewitt/Getty Images
Enzo Fernández had barely landed in Europe by the time Chelsea were willing to spend $131 million ( £97 million) on him in the winter of 2023.
Fernández had joined Benfica the previous summer, and an impressive World Cup campaign in Qatar with eventual champions Argentina convinced the Blues that he was an unmissable asset.
The midfielder arrived during a tumultuous and deeply unsuccessful period in Chelsea’s modern history, and it’s fair to say it wasn’t until Enzo Maresca arrived ahead of the 2024–25 season when Fernández started to show his value.
And Maresca had to convert him from a deep-lying controller into a box-crasher in order to do so. He scored 16 Premier League goals in his final two seasons at Stamford Bridge, yet few supporters were welling up when the Blues reached an agreement with Manchester City for his transfer this summer.
Fernández had wanted out for a little while.
6. Enzo Fernández—Chelsea to Man City ($168 million)
$100 million man. / Nigel French/Sportsphoto/Allstar/Getty Images
Fernández is hard to like, but he’s a good player; that can’t be denied. There are limitations to his game that mean he’s unlikely to ever excel as a disciplined midfield pivot player, but reduce his defensive responsibilities and the Argentine, somewhat of a luxury operator, can produce.
He’s an excellent passer boasting a great sense of timing, with his late arrivals into the box proving fruitful towards the back end of his Chelsea career.
Overall, Fernández didn’t do enough at Stamford Bridge to justify his huge price tag, and Man City have since ensured Chelsea made a profit on the 25-year-old.
However, the Argentine is back with the manager who oversaw his best work in West London, and he’s set to spend his peak years with the Cityzens.
5. Bradley Barcola—PSG to Liverpool ($166 million)
Barcola arrived at Liverpool with a lofty reputation. / Liverpool FC/Getty Images
The Premier League has lost its star power in recent years, but Liverpool will believe they’ve acquired a ready-made gem in Bradley Barcola this summer.
Of course, the fee was huge, but Barcola’s CV means such a splash was at least justifiable.
The winger may not yet be the most efficient in front of goal, but he’s a constant threat. He wouldn’t have been counted upon by Luis Enrique otherwise, even if off the bench, in the biggest moments for a Paris Saint-Germain side that claimed back-to-back Champions League crowns.
Barcola is a dangerously exciting player who’ll get the Anfield faithful off their seats.
4. Joško Gvardiol—RB Leipzig to Man City ($104 million)
Pep Guardiola converted Gvardiol into a marauding leftback. / Molly Darlington/Copa/Getty Images
The second-most expensive defender of all-time, but Joško Gvardiol has masqueraded as a whole lot more during his Manchester City career.
In fact, rarely has he been utilized in the position that earned him his big move. Since joining the Cityzens in 2023, Gvardiol’s talent further upfield has been exploited.
He couldn’t stop scoring during City’s charge to Premier League glory in 2023–24, and Enzo Maresca is now deploying the Croatian international in an incredibly demanding role that highlights his brilliance in possession.
Gvardiol averages a goal contribution every five games for the Cityzens. Oh, and he can defend when he has to.
3. Moisés Caicedo—Brighton to Chelsea ($146 million)
Chelsea won a competitive race to sign Caicedo in 2023. / Chris Lee/Chelsea FC/Getty Images
If you forget the disastrous debut at the London Stadium, Moisés Caicedo has had an excellent Chelsea career. Okay, a few red cards have been thrown into the mix, too, but for the most part, the midfielder’s known not to cross the red line.
Caicedo is a snappy customer who does play on the edge. That’s what makes him brilliant.
The Ecuadorian has rarely earned respite since arriving in West London in 2023, with multiple managers counting upon Caicedo relentlessly. He’s Chelsea’s tone-setter, and his superb off-ball coverage shouldn’t undermine often classy play in possession.
He’s also stepped up as a leader and will play an imperative role for the new boss, Xabi Alonso.
2. Bruno Guimarães—Newcastle to Arsenal ($101 million)
This looks like an excellent signing on paper. / Nigel French/Sportsphoto/Allstar/Getty Images
Arsenal believe they’ve signed a sure thing in Bruno Guimarães this season.
The Brazilian was often a thorn in the Gunners’ side, all the way back to when they were beaten 2–0 by an upstart Newcastle United team in May 2022, which completely altered the top-four race and ensured Mikel Arteta’s side missed out on Champions League soccer.
It takes plenty to earn Arteta’s trust, and the two midfielders Arsenal signed in 2025 either never gained it, or lost it rather swiftly. Thus, they’ve pivoted to one of the Premier League’s best in Guimarães.
He’s a fierce competitor who’ll offer Arsenal an edge on big European nights. There are very few midfields he doesn’t get into, and the Gunners will feel as if they’ve snagged him for a reasonable price, given the context of the market.
1. Declan Rice—West Ham to Arsenal ($137.5 million)
Rice was instrumental in Arsenal’s Premier League title success. / George Wood/Getty Images
As this list has proven, mammoth Premier League signings are rarely worth it. They’re all bluster. All bark, no bite.
However, few would argue that Declan Rice’s Arsenal switch hasn’t been a major success.
It took a couple of years for the Gunners to evolve into title winners after signing Rice from West Ham United in 2023, and the Englishman has been through it in North London. The indefatigable midfielder is always available and rarely does he underperform.
His legs are key to Arsenal’s suffocation, and he’s morphed from a high-octane box-to-box into an all-round midfielder who can dictate when called upon and contribute in the final third, too.
Rice has been one of the world’s finest midfielders throughout his Arsenal career. This is what a $100 million soccer player looks like.
