The English Premier League is considered the most profitable and richest national football championship in the world. Some top European clubs, as well as Middle Eastern giants, are capable of shelling out such incredible amounts of money for the desired player that even in the Premier League there is no such thing, but this is rather an exception to the rule, and in England even an outsider in the elite division is ready to pay a tidy sum. In anticipation of the approaching summer transfer window, it is worth remembering who the representatives of Foggy Albion paid truly generously for, and at the same time assess whether it was worth it.
If you like sports betting, visit Mostbet. And now – to the rating compiled according to Transfermarkt data: next to the player’s name is the amount of compensation in millions of euros actually paid for his transfer, and in brackets is his estimated value at the moment.
Enzo Fernandez – 121 million (55)
The River Plate graduate was allowed to play in the first team early, but it was logically assumed that he would not have regular playing experience in the grand club, he would have to look for loan options. The guy went to another Argentine team – Defense and Justicia – and together with them, at the age of 18, he won the Copa Sudamericana (the South American equivalent of the Europa League).
With such success, the loan did not last long – River Plate brought Enzo back, and the midfielder continued to rock. At less than 20 years old, Fernandez made his debut for his native team, and six months later, in the summer of 2022, he went to Europe – but not in the top 5, but “only” to Benfica. The Lisboners demonstrated a real master class in the market: in the next transfer window they will sell him to Chelsea for seven times more!
Enzo’s wild rise in price and popularity was facilitated by the fact that in a short period of time in Benfica he managed to go to the 2022 World Cup, and not just formally attend there, but become a champion, in addition receiving the title of best young player of the tournament. The Blues, having updated the Premier League transfer record, happily signed a contract with Fernandez for eight years.
And although the Argentine has taken an important place in Chelsea’s game formations, the club’s performance over the last year and a half has not been impressive at all. Even the best young player in the World Cup can’t do anything about it – money doesn’t play in football. Because of this, it still looks like the footballer himself made a mistake in choosing the team, and the management made a mistake by shelling out such a sum.
Jack Grealish – 117.5 million (65)
In second place is a fundamentally different approach to the transfer: a substantial amount was paid not at the time of hype and not for a young man who had just flashed, but after a long observation of the player in the Premier League, where he played even before moving to Manchester City. The midfielder played 185 matches for his native Aston Villa – the townspeople had a lot of time to understand what kind of footballer he was, especially since Grealish had already made his debut for the England national team by that time.
Man City have acquired a mature player in his prime, almost 26 years old at the time of his transfer in August 2021. Grealish has not yet become completely indispensable in the new team, but given the enormous competition, the opposite would be surprising. At the same time, Jack is definitely not superfluous – he plays quite a lot, often gets into tour teams, helped the team win two Premier League titles, the FA Cup and the dream of every football player – the Champions League!
You can debate whether it’s a little expensive, but overall it’s a good purchase. If Grealish plays out his contract to the end, he will delight Man City fans with his play for at least three more years (until the summer of 2027). And there is no need to look at his lower current value – we must not forget that he was taken in his prime, and now he is soon 29.
Declan Rice – 116.6 million (90)
In recent years, London Arsenal have taught their fans that the championship is a dream to strive for, but it is unlikely to be realised. The 2023/24 season is radically different from this point of view – the Gunners finally showed a completely different level of play and imposed a serious fight on Manchester City, managing to completely “unhook” Liverpool from the title race. One of the heroes of this team was Declan Rice, who played his first campaign for the new team with virtually no replacements.
Who should bite their elbows in this situation is Chelsea. The fact is that Rice, despite having played three matches for the Irish national team in his early youth, is a Londoner, and as a child he was brought up at the Aristocrats Academy. But while still a teenager, the guy had to move to West Ham, for which he would play more than 200 matches. In the Hammers camp, he will be able to play for the national teams of two different countries, and for England he will become very important, and will bring substantial money to the same club for the transfer. And while the Blues are frantically trying to spend millions on a non-existent football player who can single-handedly pull them out of the middle of the standings, their star pupil is effectively playing for their competitors…
Moises Caicedo – 116 million (75)
Another extremely expensive acquisition by Chelsea, the feasibility of which is still questionable. The story of this football player, albeit a little more modest, is very similar to the one described above in the case of Fernandez – also a Latin American (Ecuadorian), he played early for his native Independiente del Valle, quickly and inexpensively (five million – feel the difference!) moved to Europe, forced the Aristocrats to shell out crazy amounts of money.
True, the Blues had every opportunity to put Caicedo’s game under a microscope, because he had played almost fifty matches for Brighton before the summer of 2023. In August, Jurgen Klopp announced that a price had been agreed for the Ecuadorian’s move to Liverpool, but the next day it turned out that Chelsea had made a better offer at the last minute. Caicedo played his debut season for the Aristocrats diligently, but has not yet managed to reach any heights with the team – it is possible that it would have been better with the Merseysiders.
