The announcement of Ross Barkley's loan move to Aston Villa today caught a lot of football fans off guard.

His future at Chelsea had been far from certain all summer, but rumours of a temporary switch to Villa Park were few and far between.

But the move is now official and from Villa's perspective, it's a deal that could pay dividends if Barkley can find his feet in the Midlands.

When he's at his best, the former Everton man is a seriously good player and that's reflected in the fact that his market value is still a more than respectable €21.5m.

But amazingly, that makes his switch to Villa only the eighth most valuable loan move of the 2020 summer transfer window.

Barkley with Villa

What is more, Gareth Bale is only fourth on the list! You can view the top 30 below, with all data sourced from Transfermarkt.

30. Mbwana Samatta | Aston Villa to Fenerbahce

Market value: €9.5m

29. Shane Duffy | Brighton to Celtic

Market value: €9.5m

Duffy with Celtic

28. Eddie Salcedo | Inter Milan to Hellas Verona

Market value: €10m

27. Davide Zappacosta | Chelsea to Genoa

Market value: €10m

26. Marco Benassi | Fiorentina to Hellas Verona

Market value: €10m

25. Rony Lopes | Sevilla to Nice

Market value: €10m

24. Alessandro Florenzi | Valencia to PSG

Market value: €10m

23. Mario Lemina | Southampton to Fulham

Market value: €10m

22. Hannes Wolf | RB Leipzig to Borussia Monchengladbach

Market value: €11m

Wolf in action

21. Benjamin Henrichs | AS Monaco to RB Leipzig

Market value: €12m

20. Goncalo Paciencia | Eintracht Frankfurt to Schalke

Market value: €12m

19. Santiago Arias | Atletico Madrid to Bayer Leverkusen

Market value: €12m

18. Dudu | Palmeiras to Al-Duhail

Market value: €12m

17. Alphonse Areola | PSG to Fulham

Market value: €13m

16. Luca Pellegrini | Juventus to Genoa

Market value: €13.5m

15. Brahim Diaz | Real Madrid to AC Milan

Market value: €13.5m

Diaz with Real Madrid

14. Michy Batshuayi | Chelsea to Crystal Palace

Market value: €14m

13. Cristian Romero | Juventus to Atalanta

Market value: €14m

12. Valentino Lazaro | Inter Milan to Borussia Monchengladbach

Market value: €15m

11. Keita Balde | AS Monaco to Sampdoria

Market value: €16m

10. Florentino | Benfica to AS Monaco

Market value: €18m

9. Weston McKennie | Schalke to Juventus

Market value: €20m

8. Ross Barkley | Chelsea to Aston Villa

Market value: €21.5m

Barkley has signed for Villa

7. Reiner Jesus | Real Madrid to Borussia Dortmund

Market value: €22.5m

6. Cengiz Under | AS Roma to Leicester

Market value: €23m

5. Marash Kumbulla | Hellas Verona to AS Roma

Market value: €25m

4. Gareth Bale | Real Madrid to Tottenham

Market value: €28m

3. Takefusa Kubo | Real Madrid to Villarreal

Market value: €30m

2. Sandro Tonali | Brescia to AC Milan

Market value: €32m

1. Alvaro Morata | Atletico Madrid to Juventus

Market value: €36m

Morata in action for Juventus

Morata comfortably takes spot, with Real Madrid trio Bale, Kubo and Reiner all featuring in the top 10.

Barkley's loan move to Villa is the most expensive to come from a Premier League club, while Under is the only player joining a club in the English top-flight who has a higher value.