Relegated clubs can be like shopping in the discount section for Premier League teams and the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United have all found bargains.
Liam Delap may well prove to be the next addition to this team. A £30 million release clause was triggered after Ipswich’s relegation and Chelsea quickly snaffled him up.
From future Manchester United captains to one of the best defenders of all time, here is our XI.
GK: Jordan Pickford
After his boyhood club Sunderland went down – despite his best efforts – Pickford was signed by Everton for a fee of £25 million, making him at the time the third-most expensive keeper in history.
But it has proven to be a valuable investment with England’s number one still at Everton, playing 319 times for the Toffees.
The 2025-26 season will see Pickford play against his former club for the first time since he left.
RB: Glen Johnson
The future Liverpool player was part of a talented squad at West Ham that surprisingly went down in 2003.
The relegation led to a fire sale, with several prospects departing, including Johnson who moved to Chelsea for a fee of £6 million, marking the first signing under the ownership of Roman Abramovich.
Johnson won the Premier League and the League Cup for the Blues before moving to Portsmouth in 2006.
CB: Harry Maguire
Before you start angrily typing in the comments, we are not picking Harry Maguire for his move to Manchester United but instead when he swapped Hull for Leicester.
Despite the Tigers’ relegation in 2017, Maguire emerged with a lot of credit and he was signed by Leicester for £12 million.
His performances at the King Power got him on the radar of United who ended up forking out £80 million to bring him to Old Trafford, giving Leicester a £68 million profit after just two seasons.
CB: Phil Jagielka
The second Everton signing in this back line comes in the form of Jagielka who was part of a controversial relegation story before moving to Goodison.
West Ham escaped the drop at the expense of Jakgiela’s Sheffield United, but the London club was later found to have fielded Carlos Tevez when he was ineligible.
The striker actually broke third-party ownership rules as both he and Javier Mascherano were partially owned by Media Sports Investment.
To make matters worse, Tevez scored the only goal in a last-day win against Manchester United that kept West Ham up.
The Blades sued the Premier League as a result, winning £30 million in compensation, but it was actually Jagileka’s handball in the relegation decider against Wigan which saw the Blades drop.
LB: Andy Robertson
Since leaving Hull in 2017, Robertson has gone on to become one of the best left-backs in Premier League history and a crucial part of Jurgen Klopp’s winning machine.
Creating a unique partnership with Trent Alexander-Arnold, the flying full-backs were unstoppable at times and Robertson is second on the all-time list of assists by a Premier League defender.
All for the low price of £8 million. Hull haven’t been back in the top flight since.
CM: Roy Keane
Possibly the best signing from a relegated club ever, Manchester United got their hands on Keane after Nottingham Forest finished rock bottom in 1993.
In a sign of Keane’s talent, Forest were still able to negotiate a British transfer fee of £3.75 million, but it was money well spent as the Irishman stayed at the club for 13 years and became arguably their best captain of all time.
At Old Trafford, he won seven league titles, four FA Cups and the Champions League.
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CM: Georginio Wijnaldum
With Newcastle heading to the Championship, Wijnaldum was one of several players looking for a way to stay in the Premier League.
For the Dutchman, that opportunity came in the form of Liverpool.
Joining in 2016, Wijnaldum was an important figure in the Champions League-winning team of 2019 and etched himself into Anfield folklore as he scored twice off the bench in the incredible semi-final comeback against Barcelona.
CM: Scott Parker
Parker went down with West Ham in 2011 but had many suitors, eventually moving across London and to Spurs.
The midfielder only played at White Hart Lane for two years but made 50 appearances in that time before again swapping London clubs, this time to move to Fulham.
There have already been plenty of incomings and outgoings.
Premier League transfers: Every signing, sale and released player in 2025-26
RW: Paolo Di Canio
The scissor-kick man himself went down with West Ham in 2003, having missed large chunks of the run-in following a public spat with manager Glenn Roeder.
After Roeder suffered health problems, Trevor Brooking gave Di Canio a second chance. Despite his heroic goal against Chelsea in the penultimate game, it wasn’t enough to keep the Hammers up.
Di Canio left on a free transfer to join Charlton, where he helped them reach seventh in the 2003-04 season.
LW: Joe Cole
Having spent 13 years at West Ham, Joe Cole left the club in 2003 after the Hammers were relegated, breaking fans’ hearts by moving to Chelsea.
For Cole, it was an excellent decision as he won the league on three occasions as well as two FA Cups and the League Cup in 2005.
ST: Jermain Defoe
Defoe has left relegated clubs on two occasions, but we are sticking him in for his move from West Ham to Spurs in the mid-00s.
It does come with a slight asterisk as he actually moved in January 2004, six months after the relegation.
But Defoe made it clear he wanted to go long before that, handing in a transfer request less than 24 hours after the Hammers were down.
The striker got himself sent off three times during the Hammers’ First Division campaign just to make sure. He got his move and West Ham got Bobby Zamora in return.