Van Dijk, Lukaku, Pogba: Every Premier League club's record signing ranked
The 2022/23 summer transfer window opened for Premier League clubs last week.
It hasn’t taken long at all for Liverpool to make their mark.
With Sadio Mane searching for pastures new, Liverpool quickly identified Benfica forward Darwin Nunez as his replacement.
The Uruguayan is set to complete his move to the Reds after a deal was agreed.
Liverpool will pay €80m with a potential €20m in add-ons. Should the add-ons be met, he will become the club’s record signing.
Following the transfer, we’ve looked at Transfermarkt and named every Premier League club’s record signing.
We’ve ranked the 20 players into categories ranging from ‘Worth every penny’ to ‘Complete disaster’.
Worth every penny
Virgil van Dijk | Southampton to Liverpool | £75 million
Youri Tielemans | Monaco to Leicester | £40 million
Danny Ings | Liverpool to Southampton | £26.28 million
Liverpool were mocked when they paid £75m for Van Dijk but he’s been more than worth it.
Ings scored 46 goals in 100 games for Southampton. Tielemans has been brilliant for Leicester but, unfortunately for them, he looks set to depart the club this summer.
Good business:
Kristoffer Ajer | Celtic to Brentford | £13.5 million
Enock Mwepu | Salzburg to Brighton | £20.7 million
Ajer played his part as Brentford retained their Premier League status in 2021/22. He will continue to get better.
Mwepu had an injury-hit first campaign but impressed when on the pitch. He won Brighton’s goal of the season in 2021/22 with a scorcher against Liverpool.
Not bad, but paid over the odds
Rodrigo | Valencia to Leeds | £26 million
Gylfi Sigurdsson | Swansea to Everton | £40 million
Joelinton | Hoffenheim to Newcastle | £40 million
Jefferson Lerma | Levante to Bournemouth | £25.2m
These four have done ok for their clubs but they haven’t quite lived up to their price-tag.
Joelinton has revived his Newcastle career after moving from a striker to a midfielder.
Still has a lot to prove
Jack Grealish | Aston Villa to Manchester City | £100 million
Emiliano Buendía | Norwich to Aston Villa | £33 million
These two didn’t hit the heights expected of them in 2021/22, but have the quality needed to be a success.
Both Grealish and Buendia directly contributed to just 10 goals in the 2021/22 campaign.
Disappointing
Nicolas Pepe | Lille to Arsenal | £72 million
Tanguy Ndombele | Lyon to Tottenham | £55.45 million
Christian Benteke | Liverpool to Crystal Palace | £32 million
Sebastien Haller | Frankfurt to West Ham | £45 million
Paul Pogba | Juventus to Man United | £89.3 million
Pogba had his moments for United but his stint was plagued with inconsistency. He will depart the club on a free transfer this summer.
West Ham bought Haller with the intention he will be their main striker for many years to come. He scored just 14 times in 54 games for the club.
Tottenham shipped Ndombele out on loan last season and his time at the club could come to an end this summer.
Complete disaster
Romelu Lukaku | Inter Milan to Chelsea | £103.50 million
Joao Carvalho | Benfica to Nottingham Forest | £13.5m
Jean Michael Seri | Nice to Fulham | £27m
Fabio Silva | Porto to Wolves | £35 million
Lukaku’s Chelsea career started well but it quickly went sideways. Within a few months he declared his unhappiness at the club and hinted he wanted to return to Inter Milan.
Seri left Fulham on a free transfer this summer. He scored just twice in 70 games for the club.
While Silva failed to score a single goal in the 2021/22 campaign. He’s just 19, so he’s still got more than enough time to improve, but as things stand he’s been a disaster.
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