Manchester United have the oldest transfer record in the Premier League – but at least their most expensive player isn’t Ryan Mason from Spurs.
Remember, this is a record of the last five record transfers, not simply that club’s five most expensive transfers ever.
Arsenal club-record transfer progression
Mesut Ozil – £42.5m (Real Madrid, September 2013)
Alexandre Lacazette – £46.5m (Lyon, July 2017)
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – £55.5m (Borussia Dortmund, January 2018)
Nicolas Pepe – £72m (Lille, August 2019)
Declan Rice – £100m plus £5m add-0ns (West Ham, July 2023)
Three of those players subsequently had their contracts terminated early as sacrifices to the Arteta process, while Lacazette was at least allowed to see out his Arsenal deal before leaving on a free transfer when it expired. Rice is very much the exception.
Aston Villa club-record transfer progression
Wesley Moraes – £22m (Club Brugge, June 2019)
Ollie Watkins – £28m, rising to £33m (Brentford, September 2020)
Emi Buendia – £30m, rising to £38m (Norwich, June 2021)
Moussa Diaby – £43.2m, rising to £51.9m (Bayer Leverkusen, July 2023)
Amadou Onana – £50m (Everton, July 2024)
Add-ons make things a little murky – Watkins has surely achieved his while Buendia has not – but it underlines the PSR-based frustration at Villa that even after qualifying for the Champions League in two of the past three seasons, their record transfer is half the size of their record sale.
Bournemouth club-record transfer progression
Benik Afobe – £10m (Wolves, January 2016)
Jordon Ibe – £15m (Liverpool, July 2016)
Nathan Ake – £20m (Chelsea, June 2017)
Jefferson Lerma – £25m (Levante, August 2018)
Evanilson – £31m, rising to £39.5m (Porto, August 2024)
Six years is a big old gap between record buys, but the brilliant Bournemouth recruitment model focuses on finding hidden gems in the £10m-£25m range, as opposed to spending vast sums on proven commodities.
Brentford club-record transfer progression
Keane Lewis-Potter – £16m, rising to £20m (Hull, July 2022)
Kevin Schade – £22m (Freiburg, July 2023)
Nathan Collins – £23m (Wolves, July 2023)
Igor Thiago – £30m (Club Brugge, February 2024)
Dango Ouattara – £37m, rising to 42.5m (Bournemouth, August 2025)
Brentford would not mind if any of those players go on to emulate former most expensive signings in Bryan Mbeumo and Ivan Toney, up to and including becoming record sales. Can’t see Nathan Collins going on much of a scoring streak, mind.
Brighton club-record transfer progression
Jurgen Locadia – £14m (PSV, January 2018)
Alireza Jahanbakhsh – £17m (AZ Alkmaar, July 2018)
Adam Webster – £20m (Bristol City, August 2019)
Joao Pedro – £30m (Watford, May 2023)
Georginio Rutter – £40m (Leeds United, August 2024)
Brilliant as Brighton are, their transfer strength has been in identifying rough diamonds from faraway lands to polish and move on for considerable profit rather than spending big. It doesn’t always work – they made £1m back on Locadia, Jahanbakhsh and Webster – but when it does they tend to at least double their money, as with Pedro.
Chelsea club-record transfer progression
Alvaro Morata – £58m (Real Madrid, July 2017)
Kepa Arrizabalaga – £71m (Athletic Bilbao, August 2018)
Kai Havertz – £75.8m (Leverkusen, September 2020)
Romelu Lukaku – £97.5m (Inter Milan, August 2021)
Enzo Fernandez – £106.8m (Benfica, February 2023)
There is a genuine case to say Fernandez is legitimately the best of those Chelsea signings; he is indisputably the one who has spent the longest trying to leave.
Coventry club-record transfer progression
Viorel Moldovan – £3.25m (Grasshopper, January 1998)
Mustapha Hadji – £4m (Deportivo La Coruna, July 1999)
Robbie Keane – £6m (Wolves, August 1999)
Craig Bellamy – £6.5m (Norwich, August 2000)
Haji Wright – £7.7m (Antalyaspor, August 2023)
Welcome back to the Premier League, Coventry City. May Frank Lampard’s transfer budget be minuscule enough to preserve such a beautiful collection of names.
Crystal Palace club-record transfer progression
Yohan Cabaye – £10m (PSG, July 2015)
Andros Townsend – £13m (Newcastle, July 2016)
Christian Benteke – £27m (Liverpool, August 2016)
Brennan Johnson – £35m (Spurs, January 2026)
Jorgen Strand Larsen – £43m rising to £48m (February 2026)
A ludicrous fact: not a single one of those signings was made by Roy Hodgson (ten transfer windows in charge). Crystal Palace presumably still regret giving Alan Pardew (four transfer windows in charge) quite so much pocket money. They only handed Oliver Glasner the company credit card after it was confirmed he was leaving. The Austrian should get a bigger budget in his next job.
Everton club-record transfer progression
Yakubu Aiyegbini – £11.3m (Middlesbrough, August 2007)
Marouane Fellaini – £15m (Standard Liege, September 2008)
Romelu Lukaku – £28m (Chelsea, July 2014)
Jordan Pickford – £30m (Sunderland, June 2017)
Gylfi Sigurdsson – £45m (Swansea, August 2017)
Not sure what to say about that. It would probably make the best five-a-side team of any club on this list. Would love to see Lukaku at Powerleague.
Fulham club-record transfer progression
Steve Marlet – £11.5m (Lyon, August 2001)
Konstantinos Mitroglou – £12m (Olympiakos, January 2014)
Jean Michael Seri – £25m (Nice, July 2018)
Emile Smith Rowe – £27m, rising to £34m (Arsenal, August 2024)
Kevin – £34.6m (Shakhtar Donetsk, September 2025)
Fulham do like to use their regular Premier League promotions, or in the case of Mitroglou imminent relegations, to open new transfer doors. The capture of Kevin as an established top-flight force knocked Edwin van der Sar’s summer 2001 move from Juventus off.
Hull club-record transfer progression
Tom Huddlestone – £5m (Spurs, August 2013)
Nikica Jelavic – £6.5m (Everton, January 2014)
Shane Long – £7m (West Brom, January 2014)
Abel Hernandez – £10m (Palermo, September 2014)
Ryan Mason – £13m (Spurs, August 2016)
Can your Premier League licence be revoked if Ryan Mason is the most expensive player in your history? Honestly, Spurs bookends, FFS.
Ipswich club-record transfer progression
Steve Sedgley – £1m (Spurs, June 1994)
Marcus Stewart – £2.5m (Huddersfield, February 2000)
Hermann Hreidarsson – £4.5m (Wimbledon, August 2000)
Matteo Sereni – £4.8m (Sampdoria, August 2001)
Omari Hutchinson – £20m, rising to £22.5m (July 2024)
Not ashamed to say that looking at the record transfer progression of clubs who spent the last couple of decades outside the top flight – particularly those who once were in the Premier League – might be the most fun one can have within the boundaries of written law.
Leeds United club-record transfer progression
Michael Bridges – £5.6m (Sunderland, July 1999)
Olivier Dacourt – £7.2m (Lens, July 2000)
Rio Ferdinand – £18m (West Ham, November 2000)
Rodrigo – £27m (Valencia, August 2020)
Georginio Rutter – £35.5m (Hoffenheim, January 2023)
It took 20 months for Leeds to break their transfer record thrice from July 1999. It took 20 years for Leeds to break their transfer record once from November 2000. Daniel Farke raising that bar again doesn’t seem imminent.
Liverpool club-record transfer progression
Andy Carroll – £35m (Newcastle, January 2011)
Mo Salah – £36.9m (Roma, June 2017)
Virgil van Dijk – £75m (Southampton, January 2018)
Florian Wirtz – £100m, rising to £116m (Bayer Leverkusen, June 2025)
Alexander Isak – £125m (Newcastle, September 2025)
Arne Slot’s inability to figure out an expensive and ‘unthinkable’ conundrum cost him his job. The good news for Liverpool is that their record signings do tend to impress; Wirtz and Isak knocked Fernando Torres and Luis Suarez off this list.
Manchester City club-record transfer progression
Riyad Mahrez – £60m (Leicester, July 2018)
Rodri – £62.8m (Atletico Madrid, July 2019)
Ruben Dias – £64.3m (Benfica, September 2020)
Jack Grealish – £100m (Aston Villa, August 2021)
Elliot Anderson – £116m (Nottingham Forest, July 2026)
As masters of the £50m transfer and really anything in that general ballpark, Manchester City will be hoping that Anderson has more longevity as a productive nine-figure signing than Grealish.
Manchester United club-record transfer progression
Rio Ferdinand – £29.3m (Leeds, July 2002)
Dimitar Berbatov – £30.8m (Tottenham, September 2008)
Juan Mata – £37.1m (Chelsea, January 2014)
Angel di Maria – £59.7m (Real Madrid, August 2014)
Paul Pogba – £89.3m (Juventus, August 2016)
Fair play to Manchester United for accepting that their last two club-record signings were either immediately or eventually so catastrophic it would be foolish to try again. They have the oldest transfer record in the Premier League – and most of the Championship.
Newcastle United club-record transfer progression
Michael Owen – £16m (Real Madrid, August 2005)
Miguel Almiron – £20m (Atlanta United, January 2019)
Joelinton – £40m (Hoffenheim, July 2019)
Alexander Isak – £63m (Real Soeciedad, August 2022)
Nick Woltemade – £63m rising to £69m (Stuttgart, August 2025)
With the panicked signing of seventh-choice centre-forward Woltemade, Alan Shearer was finally relieved of his duties on this list. Don’t think Newcastle’s giant German striker will be matching such an output.
Nottingham Forest club-record transfer progression
Emmanuel Dennis – £20m (Watford, August 2022)
Morgan Gibbs-White – £25m, rising to £42.5m (Wolves, August 2022)
Ibrahim Sangare – £30m (PSV, August 2023)
Elliot Anderson – £35m (Newcastle United, July 2024)
Omari Hutchinson – £37.5m (Ipswich, August 2025)
Another one difficult to accurately decipher without access to what are undoubtedly hilarious and unfudged financial accounts, as Gibbs-White’s add-ons have likely been triggered during his servitude to Mr. Marinakis.
Sunderland club-record transfer progression
Darren Bent – £10m (Tottenham, August 2009)
Steven Fletcher – £12m (Wolves, August 2012)
Didier N’Dong – £13.8m (FC Lorient, August 2016)
Enzo Le Fee – £19.35m (Roma, June 2025)
Habib Diarra – £27m (Strasbourg, July 2025)
N’Dong is without a club after being released by Esteghal in the summer. Let’s get the band back together.
Tottenham club-record transfer progression
Davinson Sanchez – £42m (Ajax, August 2017)
Tanguy Ndombele – £53.7m (Lyon, July 2019)
Dominic Solanke – £55m rising to £65m (Bournemouth, August 2024)
Mateus Fernandes – £85m (West Ham, July 2026)
Sandro Tonali – £92.5m rising to £100m (Newcastle, July 2026)
The appropriate response to finishing 17th in consecutive seasons, even if it has bumped Erik Lamela and Moussa Sissoko off this list. Spurs do appear to have gone slightly transfer mad.