Premier League spending has long been extravagant, but the numbers have become even more striking over the past decade. The competition’s traditional heavyweights continue to set the pace, using their financial strength to compete for the game’s biggest names year after year.

Here is a look at the 10 highest transfer fees in Premier League history, including add-ons.

Chelsea twice featured prominently in Romelu Lukaku’s career arc, first signing him from Anderlecht in 2011 and later bringing him back from Inter for just under £100 million. That second move proved costly in every sense. Lukaku had been prolific for Inter, helping them to the Serie A title in 2020–21, but he could not reproduce that level in west London. After only one full season, he was loaned out and later sold, with his Premier League return yielding eight goals.

July 2026 brought Sandro Tonali into Tottenham Hotspur’s record books after a move from Newcastle United. His rise had been well established at St James’ Park, especially after returning from a 10-month gambling ban in August 2024. Tonali helped Newcastle back into the Champions League and played a major role in ending their long wait for silverware with the Carabao Cup title.

Jack Grealish arrived at Manchester City for £100 million in 2021 and remained influential despite never fully hitting the levels many expected. Declan Rice’s £105 million transfer to Arsenal drew attention at the time, yet he has justified the fee through his all-round midfield impact, particularly as Arsenal reached the title in 2025–26.

Enzo Fernández’s £106 million move to Chelsea has brought mixed reaction, though his quality has surfaced in difficult circumstances. Moisés Caicedo followed at £115 million including add-ons after an outstanding season with Brighton & Hove Albion, and has since re-established himself among the division’s leading midfielders.

Elliot Anderson’s value surged from his £35 million move to Nottingham Forest, before Manchester City made him their club-record signing at £116 million. Liverpool’s arrival of Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen was then the record, but his first season at Anfield was slow, even if he still produced 15 goal involvements and signs of promise.

Nottingham Forest have dismissed Vitor Pereira despite the manager delivering Premier League safety after arriving in February. Pereira took charge with Forest 17th and three points above the relegation zone, and the side confirmed their survival with two games to spare, finishing five points adrift.

A mutual break clause in Pereira’s contract was triggered just two minutes before it expired at midnight on Tuesday, June 30, a move later confirmed by the club. The Portuguese had a mixed spell: two opening defeats were followed by a seven-game unbeaten run that secured safety. Forest also reached the Europa League semifinals under his management before suffering a heavy defeat to Aston Villa.

Pereira reacted to the decision, saying: “Naturally, I am disappointed and saddened. I truly believed in what we were building together, and I leave with a sense of pride in everything we achieved over the past months.

“I leave Nottingham Forest with no bitterness or resentment—only respect, gratitude and wonderful memories.”

Forest thanked Pereira and his staff in an official statement: “We would like to place on record our sincere thanks to Vítor and his team for their hard work and commitment throughout their time at the Club,” part of Forest’s statement read.

“Everyone at Nottingham Forest is grateful for their considerable efforts and for the relationships they forged with our players, staff and supporters.

“We thank them all for their service and wish them every success in the next stage of their careers.”

Pereira’s record at the club across 20 matches reads: 8 wins, 6 draws and 6 losses, a win rate of 40 and points-per-game of 1.5. Fabrizio Romano is among those to report that Forest will appoint former Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner as Pereira’s successor. Glasner is remembered as the Eagles’ greatest-ever manager, having guided the club to FA Cup and Conference League glory during his time in south London. He confirmed back in January that he’d be moving on at the end of the 2025–26 season. He had been considered by Manchester United before they stuck with Michael Carrick, and Forest regard the impending appointment of the 51-year-old as a major coup. Glasner is expected to sign a three-year deal at the City Ground.

Manchester City have confirmed an agreement to sign Nottingham Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson in a transfer that establishes a new British record.

City said: “The formalities of the move will be finalized upon his return to England,” City confirmed in a statement. “In the meantime, everyone at Manchester City wishes Elliot and the England squad the very best of luck in their World Cup campaign and we look forward to welcoming him to Manchester in due course. “

City are understood to have agreed to pay Forest a fee of $153.9 million (£116 million). The club negotiated the transfer to include no add-ons, a structure that places the deal above Florian Wirtz’s switch to Liverpool, which required bonuses to reach the £116 million valuation.

Although the fee falls short of the Premier League transfer record of £125 million set by Alexander Isak’s move to Liverpool, the structure of Anderson’s transfer makes him the most expensive British player on record. The sum is also £1 million higher than Real Madrid’s acquisition of Jude Bellingham, whose initial fee was £88.5 million with add-ons that could take the total to £115 million.

Previous benchmarks for British transfers have been debated. Arsenal paid a total of £105 million for Declan Rice, structured as £100 million plus £5 million in bonuses. Harry Kane’s move to Bayern Munich in 2023 was reported as an initial £82 million with a total package thought to be worth as much as £104 million, which placed him ahead of Jack Grealish’s £100 million transfer to City in 2021. Grealish and Anderson would be teammates at Manchester City next season unless Grealish leaves during the final year of his contract.

The new British record ends an eight-year run since Gareth Bale’s £85.3 million transfer to Real Madrid in 2013 and represents another significant chapter in recent high-value moves within the sport.