Ranking the Premier League's £100m transfers after Wirtz

Liverpool person signed 22-year-old midfielder Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen successful a blockbuster transportation worthy an archetypal £100 million, with £16m successful imaginable add-ons.

While the British transportation grounds remains the £106.3m that Chelsea paid Benfica up beforehand to motion Enzo Fernández successful 2023, Wirtz volition go lone the 5th subordinate to determination to (or within) the Premier League for implicit £100m.

Though Wirtz's interest is simply a agelong mode shy of the world-record transportation -- Neymar's £198m determination to Paris Saint-Germain from Barcelona successful 2017 -- immoderate woody that reaches 9 figures puts immense unit connected the players and, typically speaking, those progressive conflict to unrecorded up to the expectations created by these astronomical numbers.

Here, we fertile the erstwhile 4 based connected however palmy they've been, but besides what the aboriginal holds for them.

4. Enzo Fernández
£106.8m, Benfica to Chelsea, 2023

Fernández's acquisition astatine Chelsea has been up and down, contempt the information he's lone been determination 2½ years.

Signed nether Graham Potter disconnected the backmost of the 2022 World Cup triumph with Argentina (hence the inflated interest that saw Benfica marque implicit £100m successful nett from their archetypal £6m investment), helium was archetypal fixed a restrictive relation astatine the basal of midfield, tasked with recycling possession and switching play -- but not truly getting astir the transportation oregon into goal-scoring areas.

His presumption successful the squad was past called into question somewhat arsenic Potter's imperishable replacement Mauricio Pochettino (who took implicit aft Frank Lampard's caretaker spell) truly liked Conor Gallagher and focused connected his pairing with Moisés Caicedo, which near the Argentine connected the extracurricular looking successful astatine times.

But nether manager Enzo Maresca, things changed successful the 2024-25 season. In fact, astatine times successful 2025, Fernández has looked the Blues' champion stake to people a goal, with his runs into the container and rasping agelong shots proving precise effective. His six league strikes this play made him the club's third-top extremity scorer, and he's already netted 1 successful the 2025 Club World Cup.

Life is acold from casual astatine Chelsea, what with the changeless managerial upheaval (he's played nether 4 already) and implicit £1 cardinal of transportation concern successful a fistful of windows, truthful this is not needfully the Argentine's fault, but the representation of what Fernández should beryllium arsenic a subordinate has ne'er been wholly clear. Indeed, the squad has ne'er felt similar it's his, truthful astatine nary constituent has helium truly felt similar a £106.8m footballer.

At the precise least, though, there's plentifulness of clip for this transportation to cookware out. Unlike...

3. Jack Grealish
£100m, Aston Villa to Manchester City, 2021

When you put £100m into signing a player, you not lone expect fireworks, but you expect them to beryllium a large portion of the squad for a precise agelong time. How to gauge Grealish's City career, then, fixed it appears to beryllium implicit aft conscionable 4 uneven seasons?

The 29-year-old was near retired of Pep Guardiola's Club World Cup squad this summertime successful an effort to expedite his departure. It's hardly the script anyone envisioned erstwhile City broke the British transportation grounds to motion him from Aston Villa successful 2021.

Given the stakes progressive successful specified an costly deal, it's just to accidental 3 of Grealish's 4 seasons shadiness much towards disappointment than success. He ne'er eclipsed the five-goal people successful the Premier League, and played conscionable 716 minutes successful 2024-25. However, he'll ever beryllium capable to constituent to the 2022-23 campaign, successful which helium played a pivotal relation successful Man City winning a European treble. He was a unit to beryllium reckoned with successful the Champions League, finishing the tourney with the astir shot-creating actions (55) of immoderate subordinate and moving hard for the team, portion besides picking up the Premier League and FA Cup trophies.

This monster play prevents Grealish's clip astatine City from being regarded arsenic a full failure, but if this truly is the extremity of the England international's vocation astatine the Etihad Stadium, helium didn't truly warrant the interest successful the end. Grealish ranks supra Fernández successful this database due to the fact that his interaction successful 2022-23 is much definable than thing the Argentine has managed truthful far.

2. Declan Rice
£100m (plus £5m successful add-ons), West Ham to Arsenal, 2023

Now we statesman to determination toward the expected interaction of a £100m-plus player. After flitting betwixt the No. 6 deep-lying midfield relation and that of a box-to-box No. 8 aboriginal connected successful his Arsenal career, Rice has flourished successful the second presumption arsenic his aggression and powerfulness often pb Arsenal to triumph power of the middle. He registered astatine slightest 3 tackles and interceptions combined successful 15 abstracted Premier League games past season.

Rice has besides go 1 of the league's apical set-piece takers, perfecting the creation of the in-swinging country to large effect, past added nonstop free-kick goals to his crippled connected that celebrated nighttime against Real Madrid successful the Champions League quarterfinals.

His earthy fittingness levels are disconnected the charts: He has started 32 oregon much league games successful each of the past 7 seasons, often played full European campaigns alongside them, and has reached 2 European Championship finals arsenic a cardinal subordinate for his state successful that clip too.

A durable, physically imposing, extremity scoring, box-to-box midfielder with a penchant taking power of large games? That's idiosyncratic you tin physique astir for years to come.

1. Moisés Caicedo
£100m (plus £15m successful add-ons), Brighton & Hove Albion to Chelsea, 2023

How often bash you find 2 clubs consenting to wage implicit £100m to motion a player? So overmuch truthful that they extremity up really lodging monster bids and going head-to-head?

It was a singular concern for Caicedo to find himself in: Liverpool agreed to a full of £111m, past Chelsea went to £115m, which was structured arsenic £100m up beforehand and £15m successful imaginable add-ons. It was a saga that lasted astir of the summer, wrecked his preseason and piled unit connected the Ecuador midfielder's debut for the Blues -- which saw him springiness distant a punishment successful a frankly unspeakable cameo during a 3-1 nonaccomplishment to West Ham United.

That shocking commencement is simply a distant memory, arsenic Caicedo soon recovered his feet and for the past 18 months oregon so, he's played exceptional shot to a ridiculously accordant level, showcasing a singular array of skills.

Not lone is Caicedo 1 of the astir prolific tacklers and interceptors (third-most successful the Premier League past season), he's besides an underrated progressive passer (he ranks ninth for progressive passes), a bully shot bearer and is tactically astute capable to invert from close backmost if his squad needs him to. He's astir apt the second-best and astir important subordinate astatine Chelsea, down lone Cole Palmer.

Chelsea person already enjoyed 2 fantabulous seasons from the 23-year-old and person plentifulness much to look guardant to. Signing young players for immense transportation fees carries risk, but the upside is that you tin payment from their precise long, palmy careers if they enactment out.

In a precise adjacent telephone betwixt Caicedo and Rice for the No. 1 spot -- 2 players who person afloat made their team's motor rooms their ain -- the erstwhile edges it successful portion acknowledgment to that longevity.