Matheus Cunha will almost definitely be taking a step down to complete his dream move to Manchester United, and few have done so at greater expense.
Wolves forward Cunha has reportedly already agreed personal terms with Ruben Amorim’s side and is unmoved by them being utter sh*te.
This is the club he ‘loves’ and that gives Manchester United a transfer advantage they will maximise by meeting his £62.5m release clause.
But it is curious that Cunha will likely be moving down the Premier League table to make the move, with Wolves two points ahead of Manchester United ahead of a final day on which they host Brentford and Aston Villa respectively.
The Brazilian will not be the first to do so, nor the most expensive. But he will find himself among these, the biggest ever signings involving a player joining a club lower in the Premier League.
N’Golo Kante – £32m in July 2016
From: Leicester (1st)
To: Chelsea (10th)
It is not often a player can leave the popular, newly-crowned miracle champions for a loathed mid-table team with barely an eyebrow raised or an unkind word spoken. But the combination of Kante’s inherent likeability and the Freaky Friday scenario Leicester and Chelsea found themselves locked in a decade ago led to one of the strangest yet most straightforward transfers imaginable.
Chelsea, at the start of their rebuild under Antonio Conte, faced basically no competition for very possibly the best player of the previous season, although Arsene Wenger inevitably fluttered his eyelashes and PSG sniffed around.
Eight players moved to Premier League teams for bigger fees than Chelsea paid Leicester for Kante in the same summer. Arsenal spent more on Granit Xhaka, Spurs invested as much on Moussa Sissoko and Manchester United paid about three times more for Paul Pogba. Phenomenal work from all involved.
Alex Iwobi – £34m in August 2019
From: Arsenal (5th)
To: Everton (8th)
Marco Silva kept a straight face when describing Iwobi as “one of our main targets”, despite the Toffees having to rush through a move in the final two hours of the 2019 transfer window after finally abandoning their summer-long pursuit of Wilfried Zaha.
Iwobi’s future was intrinsically linked to that of the Crystal Palace talisman either way. The Nigerian said he would have to consider leaving Arsenal if Zaha joined the Gunners due to the added “stress” of competing for places, with that pressure enough to evoke panic even when it was only Nicolas Pepe who moved to north London.
Everton had finished 16 points behind Arsenal but in the midst of a period of lavish spending reached up the table to make Iwobi the third-most expensive player in their history at the time.
The gap was actually closed to seven points in 2019/20, with Iwobi a late substitute in an abysmal game watched from the stands by incoming managers Mikel Arteta and Carlo Ancelotti.
Lewis Hall – £35m in July 2024
From: Chelsea (6th)
To: Newcastle (7th)
A slightly different case, Hall’s marriage with Newcastle was arranged when the Magpies were eight places higher than Chelsea, but by the time that loan was made permanent a year later the Blues were one position and three points ahead.
It is unknown whether or indeed how many of the £7m add-ons included in the deal have been triggered, but more than 50 appearances, an actual trophy and a couple of England caps might leave Champions League qualification as the only box left unticked.
Juan Mata – £37.1m in January 2014
From: Chelsea (3rd)
To: Manchester United (7th)
While Manchester United were officially Premier League champions for a little under four more soul-sapping months, their star had already fallen by the time Mata’s helicopter landed at Carrington.
David Moyes welcomed the Spaniard with unsurprisingly open arms, hoping he could galvanise his fading first season at Old Trafford as Manchester United sat seventh, a point clear of Newcastle.
Chelsea were third at the time the deal went through, much to the chagrin of Wenger. “Some teams have already played twice against one opponent and some others not. I think if you want to respect the fairness for everybody exactly the same, that should not happen.”
He would loan Kim Kallstrom later that month in protest.
Mata, on the other hand, will probably forever remain the top scorer of Ryan Giggs’ entire career as a club manager.
Nemanja Matic – £40m in July 2017
From: Chelsea (1st)
To: Manchester United (6th)
The first of a great many awkward midfield keys signed to unlock Paul Pogba, it was Matic who Jose Mourinho described as having “everything he wants in a footballer” in what was presumably intended as a compliment but is actually a damning indictment beyond about 2015.
Conte was furious and for once entirely justified as Chelsea used the funds to restock their cupboards with Tiemoue Bakayoko and Danny Drinkwater before Ross Barkley arrived in January.
The Blues fell to fifth in what amounted to a solid title defence considering their previous efforts, beating Manchester United in the FA Cup final after Mourinho secured his self-identified greatest achievement of finishing second to Manchester City and waiting patiently for the title to be reallocated years later.
Cole Palmer – £42.5m in September 2023
From: Manchester City (1st)
To: Chelsea (12th)
Enough steaming missiles have been launched at the walls of Stamford Bridge, Cobham and any other property Chelsea have sold to themselves over the years for some to stick. Yet Palmer is still probably the one unqualified success story for Clearlake’s recruitment strategy.
How wasteful it would have been had he heard Pep Guardiola out and decided to stay at Manchester City on the promise of a steady increase in minutes. Palmer felt he was already better than the 13 starts afforded to him in two seasons as a first-teamer and backed himself for a lead role elsewhere instead of playing a part in a supporting cast.
Chelsea provided that platform and their sole regret will be that Palmer’s contract only runs for another eight years.
Kyle Walker – £53m in July 2017
From: Tottenham (2nd)
To: Manchester City (3rd)
The game went in the summer of 2017 and Walker was held responsible by many.
The mere concept of a full-back being sold for upwards of £50m caused a thousand think-pieces about the sport’s spiralling finances, followed by weeks of introspection as everyone pondered what part they had played in this and how they could possibly have stopped it.
Kyle Walker. £50m. Entire heads fell off across the country.
Forgotten in the ensuing madness was the fact that Walker had ostensibly taken a step down. He helped Tottenham claim the Put The Pressure On Cup, securing his place in the PFA Team of the Year in the process, before being dropped by Mauricio Pochettino for the FA Cup semi-final, a north London derby and a match with Manchester United. Those seven minutes in a 2-1 win at White Hart Lane in May 2017 happened to mark Walker’s last in a Spurs shirt.
The right-back joined Manchester City that summer – for £50m! – and immediately explained that he moved to a team which finished eight points behind Spurs and was knocked out in the last 16 of the Champions League in Pep Guardiola’s debut trophyless season “to go on and pick up silverware”.
Walker will leave the Etihad this summer with 17 winner’s medals in eight years. Listen, fair play.
Moises Caicedo – £115m in August 2023
From: Brighton (6th)
To: Chelsea (12th)
The Liverpool copium was remarkably strong when their ambitious midfield transfer overhaul was slightly undermined by the panicked £111m bid Chelsea duly hijacked with a £115m offer of their own shortly after.
Their frustration and consternation was broadly understandable. Chelsea had just finished in the bottom half under Frank Lampard in what was until recently an unthinkably embarrassing crash through the glass ceiling the Big Six clubs installed long ago; there are two Europa League finalists who would take 12th right now.
Liverpool were far from the peak of their powers, finishing fifth and suffering early exits from the three knockout competitions, but they had Jurgen Klopp and a clear plan moving forward.
That centered around the midfield and when Jude Bellingham proved one immutable Real Madrid truth, the money the Reds put aside was thrown in the general direction of Caicedo. Brighton, who ended the 2022/23 just a place behind Liverpool, were happy enough to watch the auction unfold and escalate.