Housing many of European football's biggest financial powerhouses - Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United to name but a few - nine-figure transfer dealings are now commonplace in the Premier League.
Whether players jump ship from one English club to another or arrive from elsewhere across the globe, with a great fee comes great expectations, which some meet and others fail to live up to.
Enzo Fernandez's move to Chelsea from Benfica in January 2023 remains the most expensive transaction in English football, while Declan Rice's move to Arsenal and Jack Grealish's switch to Manchester City are not too far behind.
Only Rice can certainly claim to have justified his +£100m price tag so far out of those three, showing that clubs do not always get what they pay for when it comes to multi-million pound players, as the uncovered gem may sometimes be better than the galactico.
This list celebrates those who did command the lucrative sums, though, and using data from Transfermarkt, Sports Mole counts down the top 10 most expensive transfers in British football history.
10. Darwin Nunez - £72.3m
© Reuters
Rippling nets for fun in the Portuguese football scene with Benfica, Uruguayan striker Darwin Nunez earned himself a marquee transfer to Liverpool in the summer of 2022 in a deal that could eventually see him become the most expensive Reds signing of all time.
Benfica have currently pocketed just over £72m through the sale of the South American striker, whose Anfield debut could hardly have gone any worse, as he was sent off in a draw with Crystal Palace for a nonsensical headbutt on Joachim Andersen.
Since holding his hands up and apologising for that early indiscretion, Nunez has sometimes succeeded and sometimes failed in making a name for himself in the Premier League, coupling useful chaos with a plethora of missed opportunities.
Of course, the former Benfica man still has plenty years ahead of him to hone his craft, but some Reds fans are already losing more patience with every missed sitter.
9. Harry Maguire - £74m
© Reuters
Prior to selling Wesley Fofana to Chelsea for an astronomical fee, Leicester City would take a large chunk out of Man United's budget during the summer of 2019, parting ways with Harry Maguire after just two seasons.
The Englishman did not miss a single Premier League game for the Red Devils in his debut season and was quickly given the captain's armband, but his subsequent period at the Theatre of Dreams has been rather indifferent.
Often the target of criticism and ridicule, Maguire lost his place in the Red Devils' XI amid a number of high-profile errors, although injuries to Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez helped him regain his spot and Erik ten Hag's faith.
Still one of Gareth Southgate's most trusted performers, Maguire was one of England's best players at the 2022 World Cup, but injury robbed him of the chance to play at Euro 2024.
8. Josko Gvardiol - £76.6m
© Reuters
Sticking with the defensive theme, Josko Gvardiol's astonishing rise to prominence with RB Leipzig meant that a big-money move to the Premier League was seen as inevitable.
The Croatia international was linked with moves to both Chelsea and Liverpool, but it was treble winners Manchester City who swooped in with a £76.6m package, which Leipzig were in no position to turn down.
Gvardiol arrived in Etihad on the back of domestic and international heroics, having also shone during Croatia's 2022 World Cup run, but he has made somewhat of an indifferent start to life in sky blue thus far.
That can partially be attributed to Pep Guardiola shoe-horning him into a left-back role, but he has showcased his goal threat with a couple of long-range rockets, and the signs are certainly promising for the fledgling Croatian.
7. Antony - £80.8m
© Reuters
Bringing the Ajax cavalry to Old Trafford, Ten Hag insisted on the signing of Brazilian trickery specialist Antony in the 2022 summer transfer window, so much so that Man United paid over £80m to prise him away from Amsterdam.
The attacker got off to the start that he would have been dreaming of, scoring on his debut in a 3-1 win over Arsenal as the Red Devils handed the Gunners their first top-flight defeat of the season in 2022-23, and he netted in his side's following clashes with Manchester City and Everton as well.
Nearly two years into his reign, the consensus is that the Brazil international should certainly be doing more to justify his extortionate price tag, and he is often the subject of online vitriol for his ineffective performances.
While flashes of flair are all well and good, the odd flip flap will count for nought if the end product is not there.
6. Paul Pogba - £89.3m
© Reuters
Previously the masters of the free transfer landscape before Barcelona stole that label, Juventus did not pay a single penny to bring Paul Pogba to the club in 2012, and they sold him back to the club that let him go for over £90m four years later.
Having won a host of domestic silverware and reached the Champions League final with the Bianconeri, Pogba had unfinished business at Old Trafford as he returned in 2016, but to some, he left again six years later with that business still unfinished.
Consistency was extremely hard to come by in the Premier League for Pogba, who came up with 39 goals and 53 assists in 233 games for Man United, all while dealing with a multitude of injury problems.
Setting up four goals in one game against Leeds United in August 2021 was not a sign of things to come in his final season, though, and Pogba made the identical move back to Juventus on a free transfer, although his career is now in tatters owing to his recent doping scandal.
5. Romelu Lukaku - £96.1m
© Reuters
Speaking of players returning to their former stomping grounds, Romelu Lukaku rediscovered his golden touch at Inter Milan after leaving Man United, which caught the eye of the club he previously left without having scored once in 15 appearances.
Chelsea spent the equivalent of £97.5m to re-sign the Belgium international from the Nerazzurri, whom he had fired to the Serie A title in the 2020-21 season, but it only took a few months for things to turn incredibly sour.
Having openly admitted to struggling with Thomas Tuchel's system and wanting a return to Inter Milan, Lukaku's wish was granted - on loan at least - as he returned to the Premier League to score just eight times in the top flight for Chelsea last season.
The striker's San Siro reunion did not go swimmingly either, and he may very well still be replaying his shocking World Cup misses against Croatia in his head, although he has found some success in a Roma strip during his latest Calcio loan.
Chelsea still have Lukaku under contract until 2026, but their wealth of attacking additions has seemingly closed the door on any chances of the misfiring Belgian reigniting his Stamford Bridge career again.
4. Moises Caicedo - £98.7m
© Reuters
A few within the Manchester United walls will surely be kicking themselves not to have taken a punt on Moises Caicedo during his teenage years in Ecuador, allowing Brighton & Hove Albion to swoop in and bring him to the Premier League for a nominal fee.
During his time on the South Coast, Caicedo excelled in the engine room with fellow South American Alexis Mac Allister, playing a pivotal role in Brighton's qualification for the 2023-24 Europa League despite memorably trying to engineer his own exit.
After Arsenal failed in their quest to poach the midfielder, Brighton would ultimately accept a club-record bid from Chelsea, who just about pipped Liverpool to the post in the same way that they captured Romeo Lavia.
While the former Independiente del Valle starlet has quickly become a mainstay in the Blues' midfield, his displays have left something to be desired so far, and he has a way to go before justifying his £99m price tag.
3. Declan Rice - £99.2m
© Reuters
Fresh from steering West Ham United to a coveted Europa Conference League crown, Declan Rice swapped the London Stadium for North London, joining Arsenal in what would become the most expensive transfer fee ever paid for a British player.
Surpassing Grealish's nine-figure record, Rice eventually joined the Gunners for a mammoth package which could fetch £105m after tense negotiations between Arsenal and West Ham, whose biggest roadblock was agreeing a payment structure after agreeing the record-breaking fee.
Manchester City's brief intervention held little significance too, as Rice put pen to paper on a long-term deal at the Emirates Stadium, where he would seemingly become the Gunners' shiny new toy in the number six position.
While he has flaunted his prowess in a more defensive role, the England international has also excelled in an advanced position with plenty of goals and assists, and his penchant for deadly set-piece deliveries has also enhanced his credentials as a player worthy of the initial £99m sum.
2. Jack Grealish - £100m
© Reuters
Onto the man whose record has since been surpassed, Jack Grealish became the first £100m player in British transfer history after Manchester City paid that nine-figure sum to prise him away from Aston Villa in 2021.
The boyhood Brummie would fulfil his silverware ambitions at the Etihad Stadium immediately, although he has evidently not experienced the same creative freedom in Pep Guardiola's system as he did at Villa Park, where the spotlight was always shining bright on him.
Scoring just three goals and providing three assists in 26 Premier League games in 2021-22, the pressure that a £100m price tag will undoubtedly bring may have been playing on the mind of the winger, who failed to settle in 2023-24 and was cut from England's Euro 2024 squad too.
With three years left to run on his Etihad contract, there is ample time for Grealish to make the desired impact in Manchester, but he can no longer proudly claim to be the most expensive in the land.
1. Enzo Fernandez - £102.9m
© Reuters
Todd Boehly and co earned vacation after fighting tooth and nail to bring Enzo Fernandez to the club during the 2023 winter transfer window, having already got seven deals over the line before deadline day.
Being knocked back time and time again by Benfica, who insisted that the midfielder's mammoth release clause was to be paid, Chelsea ultimately bowed to the Eagles' demands to get a deal over the line.
Benfica had only paid €12m (£10.6m) to bring Fernandez to the club from River Plate in the summer, but his value sky-rocketed tenfold after a memorable World Cup campaign with Argentina, winning the title and being named the tournament's best young player.
Now part of a Chelsea midfield overhaul - with Jorginho gone and N'Golo Kante following suit - Fernandez's range of passing has dazzled and delighted on several occasions, albeit not enough to propel the Blues back into the Champions League just yet.
Ben Knapton
