With Florian Wirtz set to move to Liverpool, the German star will become just the 10th player in transfer history to break the £100m mark.
Having rejected proposals from Bayern Munich and Manchester City, Wirtz is on the verge of a move to Anfield and will become one of the most expensive players of all time.
But big money does not always guarantee success. Here are the nine men to have cost £100m or more without add-ons and how they fared:
9. Joao Felix – £113m – Benfica to Atletico Madrid
Typically billed as the smaller spenders compared to Barcelona and Real Madrid, Atletico do sometimes break the bank but they got their fingers burned badly when they signed Joao Felix in the summer of 2019.
Having seen Griezmann leave for the Camp Nou, Diego Simeone’s club forked out £113m to sign the 19-year-old from Porto but he failed to live up to the standard set by Ateltico’s previous strikers.
He managed just 34 goals in his 131 games for the club before moving around a number of top clubs such as Chelsea and Barcelona. The London side decided to sign him for £45m in 2024 but he was sent out on loan to Milan just a few months later.
8. Philippe Coutinho – £105m – Liverpool to Barcelona
Whilst at Anfield, Philippe Coutinho had been one of the best attacking midfielders in the world so it was no surprise to see clubs like Barcelona come calling.
Having failed to land him in the previous summer, the Catalan club struck a deal with Liverpool in January 2018 for a huge fee of £105m but things got off to a rough start when he was diagnosed with a thigh injury during his medical, meaning that he would be out for three weeks.
He ended his first season with the La Liga title but had scored just seven goals in 18 league matches.
The following year that tally dropped to five in 34 and Barcelona decided to ship the Brazilian out on loan to Bayern Munich in 2019. The Camp Nou side then suffered the embarrassment of having Coutinho score against them as Bayern went on to lift the Champions League.
He briefly returned to Barcelona under new coach Ronald Koeman but moved to Aston Villa in January 2022 on loan before joining permanently that summer for a fee of £17m, £88m less than what Barcelona paid for him.
7. Antoine Griezmann – £107m – Atletico Madrid to Barcelona
When Antoine Griezmann arrived at Barcelona, there was one obstacle to his success – Lionel Messi.
At Real Sociedad and then Atletico, the Frenchman had developed into one of the best layers in the world but he did not endear himself to Barcelona fans after he appeared in a TV documentary entitled ‘The Decision’, which after a long hour, revealed he was staying at Atletico.
The following year though and he was off to Barcelona, finding himself wanting to operate in the exact same spaces that Messi was.
Griezmann’s time at Barcelona was not a complete disaster, but he returned to Atletico with his tail between his legs in 2021.
6. Jack Grealish – £100m – Aston Villa to Manchester City
Jack Grealish’s time at Manchester City looks almost certain to come to an end this summer, having first made the move in 2021.
Before the Etihad, he was one of the most creative players in the league, but the freedom he was given at Aston Villa was not afforded to him at City and as Pep Guardiola asked more and more of him, Grealish struggled to be at his best.
He played an important role in City’s terrible win but has since found his game time limited.
The ultimate humiliation came in the FA Cup final when City were chasing the game and instead of bringing on Grealish, the Birmingham-born player was left sat on the bench.
5. Enzo Fernandez – £107m – Benfica to Chelsea
The jury remains out on Enzo Fernandez, who has yet to live up to his price tag but also has not been a complete disaster.
Arriving from Benfica, the World Cup winner has become one of Chelsea’s main creative outlets and also the scorer of some important goals for the club. However, there is still a feeling he could do more given the money he cost.
4. Neymar – £200m – Barcelona to PSG
In modern football terms, there is a before Neymar and an after Neymar, such was the seismic shock his transfer sent through the game.
A release clause of £200m had been put into his Barcelona contract, and with a number that high, the Camp Nou club could never have dreamt that someone would pay it – in stepped PSG.
With Neymar wanting to get out of Messi’s shadow, he agreed to the move to the French capital in a transfer that forever changed fees.
But was his time a success? Five league titles and 118 goals in 173 games would suggest so, but Neymar was brought to Paris with one goal – win the Champions League.
His best effort came in 2020 when PSG reached the final, but Neymar would be long gone before they finally lifted the trophy.
3. Moises Caicedo – £100m – Brighton to Chelsea
After a horror debut that saw him give away a last-minute penalty, Moises Caicedo has grown into one of Chelsea’s most important players.
Having looked like he was Liverpool-bound, he instead joined Chelsea for £100m and played every game of their league campaign last year.
His versatility has been a big strength for Enzo Maresca, with the Ecuadorian even featuring at right back. At the age of 23, Caicedo looks like he is only going to get better.
Florian Wirtz will be high in demand this summer.
QUIZ:Can you name every Premier League club’s record signing?
2. Kylian Mbappe – £165.7m – Monaco to PSG
For PSG, it was simply unthinkable to have France’s biggest star playing anywhere else.
Bursting onto the scene in Monaco, the Pairsians forked out £165.7m to bring the teenager to the Parc des Princes and whilst there, he developed into one of the best players in the world.
He scored 256 goals in 308 games, won seven league titles and was the five-time Ligue 1 player of the season. But, like Neymar, the Champions League eluded him.
He also cost PSG a fortune, even after his transfer was complete. With speculation that he would leave on a free to Madrid, Mbappe signed a new deal in 2022 that saw him receive £1m a week.
Even that though could not stop him from leaving for the Bernabeu but in his first season away from the club, it was PSG – not Madrid – that lifted Europe’s biggest prize.
1. Declan Rice – £105m – West Ham to Arsenal
Calling a player who cost £105m a bargain seems foolish but Declan Rice has become one of the world’s best midfielders since making the move to the Emirates.
He has been Arsenal’s best player since joining and his contributions were most visible with his two stunning free kicks against Madrid.
At 26, the Englishman is reaching the peak of his powers and if Arsenal are to end their title drought, Rice will be key.
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