General Premier League Thread 2025/2026 - See Post #1 for Mod Note

Thats already my opinion, its why for example I don't want United to spend 100m+ on Anderson. From a football perspective the galactico fees are rarely ever justified.

Even the ones that do ok, they rarely have done so much better than a cheaper option would have done anyway, and not by enough to justify the risk.

Imagine paying more than the value of Celtic FC for a player and then he plays crap because he was tired after the world cup, or because he didn't fit well with the lads already there.

Whats the cut off figure for a high value flop? Would Nicolas Pepé be considered an expensive flop?

Definitely although was wrong place at wrong time for him. Arsenal were dreadful then and his stats weren't "that" bad

Pepe never worked out. I’d consider him a flop. At the same time since his signing there’s been players signed for more money who’ve scored less and people are bending over themselves backwards trying to justify their returns

I don't think Isak will have any issues with the coming off on 60mins part

It's impossible to judge Isak so far. He didn't even have a pre season and then missed most of the season with a broken leg ,and when played was playing in a **** system.

I don't care if he cost £1 or £100M tbh. All I care is, can he score a good chunk of goals next season and contribute to a successful season. That's all that matters. To me anyway.

Here are the top 20 transfers of all time (NOT adjusted for inflation)
Fees from transfer market

Going through them and signing a 100m+ player often doesn't lead to the desired effect on the team.

Neymar — Paris Saint-Germain — €222.00m — 17/18
Didn't achieve what he was brought in to do, they improved and achieved their goal of winning the CL in the years after he left. Has to be a Flop at this fee. Missed every march it seemed when his sister's birthday came up.

Kylian Mbappé — Paris Saint-Germain — €180.00m — 18/19
Played better for PSG overall than Neymar but still did not lead them to the CL and they improved as a team after he left. Similar issues now at Real Madrid where they were winning CLs before but now have to accommodate him. Can't call someone who scores as much as him a flop but it's also hard to not argue that they are a better team in the post Messi,Mbappe & Neymar era.

Ousmane Dembélé — FC Barcelona — €148.00m — 17/18
Flop but now leading PSG to CL wins. Didn't work at Barca though.
Right player under the wrong circumstances, PSG able to accommodate him much better - i.e doesn't need to play every week to win the league. Massive talent but workload needs to be managed, most big clubs can't carry that.

Alexander Isak — Liverpool FC — €145.00m — 25/26
Very poor first season and needs a big start to the next. Poor injury record overall.
Questions if he will fit longer term are fair at this stage. Talent is there but not clear if it will work out at Liverpool.

Philippe Coutinho — FC Barcelona — €135.00m — 17/18
Flop, never looked anything like the player at Liverpool. A panic buy for Barca after losing Neymar to PSG.
Ended up out on loan and knocking them out of the CL for Bayern. Disaster.

João Félix — Atlético de Madrid — €127.20m — 19/20
Flop - never reached the heights he should have, now in Saudi at the age of just 26
Talent was there when the deal was made but he was never the right fit for Atleti. Panic move after losing Griezmann to Barca.

Jude Bellingham — Real Madrid — €127.00m — 23/24
Success, lead them to the CL in his first season. Was a massive part of it, looked like he thrived being at this leve.

Suffering now as the team is trying to fit in more "name" players.

Florian Wirtz — Liverpool FC — €125.00m — 25/26
Not hit the heights yet but the talent is there, If they play to his strengths he'll be OK I think.
But not the first season fans would have hoped for with a 125m signing.
Would expect a better 2nd season.

Enzo Fernández — Chelsea FC — €121.00m — 22/23
Not a flop but light succes - they overpaid but he is one of their better players.
Again not the heights you would expect for the fee. Not lead them to much of note yet and with 2 100m+ midfielders they should be much better.

Eden Hazard — Real Madrid — €120.80m — 19/20
Big Flop - terrible signing for Real. Looked past his best almost instantly

Antoine Griezmann — FC Barcelona — €120.00m — 19/20
Flop - never fit in at Barca. Has gone back to Atleti since and rediscovered his form but his time at Barca was poor.

Jack Grealish — Manchester City — €117.50m — 21/22
Won plenty at City but was never really the main man. Flop is harsh I suppose because of the trophies but calling it a success doesn't feel right either. His goal and assist record is pretty poor.
Light success.

Cristiano Ronaldo — Juventus FC — €117.00m — 18/19
Juve would have brought him in to win the CL and that didn't happen. They were closer in the pre-Ronaldo days. Ronaldo still delivered goals (and in the CL) but they offset some of his cost by selling players instead of making the big push to win the CL. Overall hard to call it a success.

Declan Rice — Arsenal FC — €116.60m — 23/24
Success - has become one of their best players and is now a league winner with them.
Regarded as one of the best in europe now

Moisés Caicedo — Chelsea FC — €116.00m — 23/24
Light success - has become one of their best players and one of the best in the league.
But like Enzo, the pair of them haven't lead Chelsea to much.
If he moved to a better run club I would expect he would be important to success.

Romelu Lukaku — Chelsea FC — €113.00m — 21/22
Flop - Never found the form needed.

Paul Pogba — Manchester United — €105.00m — 16/17
Didn't push Utd onto any success. Form inconsistent.
You'd want a lot more from 100m+. The talent is obvious but it didn't lift the club in the way fans hoped.
Club was badly run during his time. Has to be called a Flop overall.

Gareth Bale — Real Madrid — €101.00m — 13/14
Success - won everything and scored in multiple finals, formed a deadly trio.

Kai Havertz — Chelsea FC — €100.00m — 20/21
An OK player but never in a million years worth the fee.
Scored in a CL final for them to be fair and sold at a good price to Arsenal.

Hugo Ekitiké — Liverpool FC — €95.00m — 25/26
Promising early signs, nasty injury but if he comes back OK he will do well.
Looked the better buy between him and Isak.

So over 20 players there's only a handful of real success stories, a few more who did OK and a lot who didn't achieve what they should have.

Signing a player for 100m+ is tricky business

Just on the topic of transfer fees, and the above comment on inflation, it reminded me of the recent post by Kieran Maguire on the top transfer fees in the history of football (since 1992) but this time adjusted for inflation.

And while I know they are not entirely accurate, it does give somewhat of a fairer reflection because we can't compare apples with oranges when talking about transfer fees from 10 years ago to today.

"The Leeds"

Why is it written like that?

Why do you think it gives a fairer reflection? I think its just a discussion point that's brought up when there's no real news or games to be discussed. You can say Alan Shearer cost £223m adjusted for inflation but in reality he cost £15m.

How about someone tally up all prize money earned and ticket sales since the PL started with inflation adjusted, would that give a fairer reflection on the transfer fees clubs spent on players?

He factored in spending of the total clubs in the division on a year by year basis I think.

This is straying dangerously close to 'alternative league table' territory…

Because they are "The Leeds" - biggest city with one club, and therefore deserve (apologies, Matt Johnson) the "The"!

He literally said exactly how he did it. Each transfer is a % of total revenue and then extrapolated it out.

Transfer fees are gone mad and they can't be sustainable and I'd imagine most fans would agree with that.

Ben Jacobs reporting today that Bournemouth value Scott at £80m and United and Liverpool are interested in signing him. He's a good player but not that good, a few years ago his profile/talent etc would see clubs paying around £25-30m for him.