There will be plenty of movement before the window closes, but here are the top 20 most expensive players of the summer so far.
Players are ranked by size of the initial fee, with add-ons stated…
1) Aurelien Tchouameni
Monaco to Real Madrid – £68.3m (plus £17m add-ons)
Real fended off intense Premier League interest from Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United by offering Monaco a package potentially worth £85.3million. PSG were keen too but they backed away when it became clear that the 22-year-old was only interested in Real. Monaco stand to make a profit just shy of £70million, having bought Tchouameni from Bordeaux for £16million in January 2020.
2) Darwin Nunez
Benfica to Liverpool – £64m (plus £21m add-ons)
Liverpool moved decisively for last season’s top scorer in the Portuguese league by agreeing to a deal that could rise to €100million if Nunez triggers all the add-ons. The Reds will be liable for the first £12.8million worth of extra payments once Nunez has made 60 appearances, with £4.3million due after just 10 games. Once Nunez meets that 60-appearance threshold, he’ll become Liverpool’s most expensive player ever, before you even factor in the other £8.5million that is linked to individual and team performance.
3) Erling Haaland
Borussia Dortmund to Manchester City – £51m
City have got a bargain thanks to Mino Raiola arranging a clause in Haaland’s Dortmund contract that made him available for £51million this summer. But the champions’ bill for Haaland will reportedly come to a total £85.5million when you factor in representatives’ fees – Alfie stands to trouser a few quid – and other costs.
4) Richarlison
Everton to Tottenham – £50m (plus £10m add-ons)
The Toffees took what Spurs were offering to get the deal done in time to be included in last season’s accounts. Watford could also pocket around £2million having inserted a sell-on clause when they sold the Brazilian in 2018.
5) Raphinha
Leeds to Barcelona – £49m (plus £7.6m add-ons)
The Brazilian has been quite clear all summer that Barca was his preferred destination, despite intense interest from Chelsea and Arsenal. Thankfully for the winger, Barca have somehow mustered up enough cash to pay a hefty amount up front. Frenkie De Jong wants answers.
Sterling, Koulibaly a welcome transfer move from Boyz II Men for Tuchel at Chelsea
6) Lisandro Martinez
Ajax to Manchester United – £48.5m (plus £8.5m add-ons)
The Butcher of Amsterdam will become the smallest centre-back in the Premier League – not that a lack of height stopped this lot. Erik ten Hag reportedly opted for Martinez over the board’s recommendation of Pau Torres, who just wasn’t Ajax enough.
7) Raheem Sterling
Manchester City to Chelsea – £47.5m
Chelsea are very pleased with themselves for taking Sterling from City, but it also represents good business on behalf of the champions, who’ve basically got their money back for the winger despite him having only a year remaining on his deal.
8) Gabriel Jesus
Manchester City to Arsenal – £45m
City also got top whack for another player a year from free agency, one who was by no means guaranteed a place in Pep Guardiola’s team. Jesus struggled to be a regular last season when City had no strikers, so the arrivals of Haaland and Julian Alvarez would have restricted his playing time even further. But Arsenal are delighted with the deal, so everyone is happy. Which is nice.
9) Robert Lewandowski
Bayern Munich to Barcelona – £42.5m
Barca may be mortgaging their future income to fund their spending, and they still owe the players they’ve got wages they deferred to keep the club in business. But Lewandowski and Raphinha are a couple of spanking signings. And they still fancy a centre-back.
10) Kalvin Phillips
Leeds to Manchester City – £42m (plus £3m add-ons)
Fair f***s to City. They’ve massively strengthened in two key areas by signing Haaland and Phillips for roughly what they raked in for two players a year away from walking away for nothing. And the feeling persists that they’ve had Leeds’ pants down here. Given the reported figures around Declan Rice, Phillips looks a steal. Though Leeds weren’t helped by the fact there wasn’t a bidding war. Manchester United were interested but Phillips would never have done the dirty on his hometown club.
11) Federico Chiesa
Fiorentina to Juventus – £34m (plus £6m add-ons)
Juve have been obliged to buy Chiesa this summer after a two-year loan, which cost them £8million. The Old Lady could end up coughing up as much as £42million if the winger meets certain targets.
=12) Kalidou Koulibaly
Napoli to Chelsea – £34m
Remember when Chelsea wouldn’t give anyone over 30 a contract any longer than the end of the week? Koulibaly got a four-year deal when he joined the Blues. Still, the centre-back cost around a third of the price Napoli hoped to fetch a year or two ago.
Another one. #KoulibalyIsChelsea pic.twitter.com/fcexST5KSy
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) July 16, 2022
=12) Vitinha
Porto to PSG – £34m
The midfielder certainly didn’t look a £34million player when he was at Wolves, who didn’t think he was worth half that amount when they had the chance to sign him last summer for £17million at the end of a season-long loan. But a breakout season in Porto’s midfield last season caught Man Utd’s eye, though it was PSG who moved decisively for the 22-year-old.
=12) Nuno Mendes
Sporting Lisbon to PSG – £34m
PSG had already coughed up the same amount as they paid for Vitinha by exercising their right to sign Nuno Mendes permanently from Sporting Lisbon after trying before buying with a loan last season. The left-back played 37 games for PSG and only lost out on the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Season award to William Saliba.
15) Karim Adeyemi
RB Salzburg to Borussia Dortmund – £32.14m
Details of the specifics of the deal are thin on the ground but Adeyemi was Dortmund’s third signing of a summer of sweeping change which has seen them recruit a new coach and also add Sebastien Haller, Nico Schlotterbeck, Niklas Sule, Salih Ozcan and a couple of freebie keepers.
16) Sven Botman
Lille to Newcastle – £31.3m (plus add-ons)
The Magpies beat off interest from AC Milan to finally land Botman, who they wanted in January but were made to sweat while the centre-back and Lille waited for the Rossoneri to come up with a bid worth accepting. They didn’t; Newcastle did. But the Toon have kept the details close to their chest.
17) Fabio Vieira
Porto to Arsenal – £30m (plus £4.23m add-ons)
It was a five-year contract for Arsenal’s second signing of the summer, who netted Porto a lovely profit having come through the Portuguese club’s youth ranks.
18) Nayef Aguerd
Rennes to West Ham – £30m (plus £4.23m add-ons)
Having used the Hammers’ interest last summer to net himself a new contract at Rennes, Aguerd finally succumbed to David Moyes’ charms. We all do eventually.
19) Sebastien Haller
Ajax to Borussia Dortmund – £29million
Dortmund moved to replace Haaland with a West Ham flop who scored 34 goals and offered nine assists in 42 appearances for Ajax last season, while also finishing the Champions League group stage as top scorer. And they have got him for £16million less§ than the Hammers paid Eintracht Frankfurt in 2019. Let’s hope the striker is back on the field quickly after a testicular tumour was discovered.
20) Sadio Mane
Liverpool to Bayern Munich – £27.5m (plus £7.5m add-ons)
“Like I always say, my life is always about a challenge,” said Mane upon signing for the side who’ve won the Bundesliga every year for the last decade. Southampton were hoping to make a tidy amount from a sell-on clause but they are relying on the add-ons for a few crumbs since Saints are due around 15 to 20% of any profit Liverpool make on the £34million they invested in the Senegal star.