Club by club: Premier League record signings

Club by club: Premier League record signings

Seven Premier League clubs have broken their transfer record this summer. Expect a few more to tumble by the end of the month…

Arsenal – Mesut Ozil (£42.4million in summer 2013)
Well it wasn’t going to be a striker, was it? For all the criticisms of his recent transfer dealings – or lack thereof – Arsene Wenger can feel pretty smug about this one. Ozil has improved with every season in England, as evidenced by 19 Premier League assists last campaign.

Bournemouth – Jordon Ibe (£15.3million in summer 2016)
Even before Manchester United proved that transfer fees really do mean nothing at all any more with the signing of Paul Pogba, Bournemouth had already warned us by landing a winger whose Premier League record reads ’41 appearances, one goal, three assists’.

Burnley – Andre Gray (£9million in summer 2015)
Burnley really are a strange club. Having refused to spend following promotion in 2014, they have so far repeated the same feat. It’s even stranger that in between those campaigns they decided to splash £9million on a man who would end the season as the Championship’s top goalscorer.

Chelsea – Fernando Torres (£50million in winter 2011)
Of all the riches spent by Chelsea, this British-record deal – which bought 20 goals in 110 Premier League appearances – remains a real blot on their copybook. Although can you really put a price on making Gary Neville make that noise live on air?

Crystal Palace – Andros Townsend (£13million in summer 2016)
The Eagles broke their transfer record last summer with the signing of Yohan Cabaye and have repeated the feat with another former Newcastle man. Some long overdue stability could see Townsend shine after impressing at St James’ Park – although he may no longer be the club’s most expensive player come the end of the month if Alan Pardew manages to land a new striker.

20 years ago today Barcelona paid a world record £13.2m for Ronaldo. Last week Crystal Palace paid £13m for England reject Andros Townsend..

— Sean (@Sean_AA) July 12, 2016

That’ll be inflation, chief.

Everton – Romelu Lukaku (£28million in summer 2014)
As Daniel Storey likes to remind us all on a daily basis, Everton played something of a blinder here. Since Lukaku’s loan spell at Goodison Park was made permanent, he has scored 45 goals in 94 appearances. The statistics are quite ridiculous, and the striker is also certain to earn the Toffees a healthy return should he leave the club.

Hull City – Abel Hernandez (£10million in summer 2014)
Remarkably one of the few first-team players to remain at Hull, this season will prove whether Hernandez was worth the outlay in the first place. After only four goals in his debut Premier League campaign, the jury remains out on whether the Uruguayan can cut it in the top flight; 21 goals in the Championship last season suggests the ability is there.

Leicester City – Ahmed Musa (£16.6million in summer 2016)
Poor Nampalys Mendy didn’t even get to spend a whole week as Leicester’s record signing, but a number of exciting displays in pre-season suggest Musa could be more than worth the honour.

Liverpool – Andy Carroll (£35million in winter 2011)
The best deadline day ever. Liverpool, brimming with cold, hard cash following the aforementioned sale of Torres to Chelsea, signed Luis Suarez from Ajax before going completely Jordan Belfort and landing Andy Carroll – 22 years old, 41 top-flight appearances to his name, Andy Carroll – for £35million. We don’t need to tell you which was the better deal.

Manchester City – Kevin de Bruyne (£55million in summer 2015)
After a promising, albeit injury disrupted, first season in a sky blue shirt, De Bruyne could go a long way to justifying his price tag under Pep Guardiola this term. If the Belgian betters his record of 16 goals and 14 assists in all competitions last term then he will be a good shout for player of the season.

Mourinho/Chelsea's biggest mistake was not letting De Bruyne and Lukaku go, it was not including a buy-back clause in the deals.

— Kristan Heneage (@KHeneage) August 6, 2016

Manchester United – Paul Pogba (£89million in summer 2016)
You might just have heard about this one. Yes, it was starting to get tedious. Yes, the fee feels insane. Yes, it’s ridiculous he was let go in the first place. But bloody hell, what a statement.

Middlesbrough – Afonso Alves (£12.5million in winter 2008)
Back with the big boys, Boro have been lauded by many for their impressive work in the transfer market this summer. But their record signing remains a warning of what can go wrong. Four league goals in 2008/09 as Boro were relegated mean the Brazilian is not fondly remembered, to say the least.

Southampton – Dani Osvaldo (£14.6million in summer 2013)
Long hair. Check. Smokes. Check. Loves The Rolling Stones. Check. Osvaldo is probably one of the most rock ‘n’ roll footballers around. Sadly, that proved to be his downfall as, after just 12 Premier League appearances and three goals, the Argentinean decided to Glasgow kiss Jose Fonte and Mauricio Pochettino promptly decided the striker was too much of a sinner to be a Saint.

Stoke City – Gianelli Imbula (£18.3million in winter 2016)
The jury remains out on Imbula, who showed very brief flashes of quality after Stoke shelled out to sign the midfielder from Porto in January.  The 23-year-old will have to produce a lot more this season in order to justify his price tag.

Sunderland – Asamoah Gyan (£13million in summer 2010)
Whether you call it karma or not, if you hand your first-choice striker the number three shirt then you deserve all you get. Gyan had a decent enough season at the Stadium of Light, during which he scored 11 goals, but then left under a cloud to join Al-Ain and leave the Black Cats relying on Nicklas Bendtner, Connor Wickham and Ji Dong-Wong for goals.

Glory be to God we made it…..new year…new aspirations…. pic.twitter.com/SuOu1bgqNz

— ASAMOAH GYAN (@ASAMOAH_GYAN3) January 1, 2016

Swansea City – Borja Baston (£15.5million in summer 2016)
Perhaps optimistically nicknamed Van Baston, the Spaniard remains an intriguing signing for Swansea. The forward has a good pedigree having scored 18 times in La Liga last term, but with Swansea tipped to struggle this term, Baston will have to hit the ground running.

Tottenham – Erik Lamela (£30million in summer 2013)
If you had asked Spurs fans whether Lamela was worth the money after the winger’s first season – in which he made only three league starts – you would have been met with a resounding ‘no’. But the Argentinean has improved immeasurably. Mauricio Pochettino has transformed his compatriot into a robust and combative attacker, now perfectly suited to English football.

Watford – Isaac Success (£12.75million in summer 2016)
Beating the £6.6million Watford paid Tottenham for Etienne Capoue last summer, Success is somewhat of a risky signing for the Hornets. The 20-year-old is yet to be capped by Nigeria, which doesn’t bode well judging by the forwards who have been capped over the last 12 months.

West Brom – Salomon Rondon (£12million in summer 2015)
After a slow start at the Hawthorns, Rondon showed enough in the second half of the season to suggest he can prove an effective outlet for the Baggies this term. The striker certainly fared better than previous record signing Brown Ideye, although could be overtaken by Christian Benteke later this month if Tony Pulis gets his way.

West Ham – Andre Ayew (£20.5million in summer 2016)
Despite all the talk of signing a high-profile striker this summer, Ayew somewhat surprisingly became the Hammers’ record signing. The Ghanian impressed for Swansea last season, but there is still the feeling West Ham needed to land a higher calibre of attacker to really progress.

Rob Conlon