Romelu Lukaku has struggled to make much of an impact at Chelsea since his £97.5million homecoming last summer. Well, on the pitch, at least.
It’s early days at Stamford Bridge for the Belgian striker but after a slow start Chelsea will be hoping he doesn’t become the latest in a long line of Premier League club record signings who have left their bosses feeling buyer’s remorse.
This is my verdict on every top-flight team’s most expensive addition, and whether they have been a hit or a miss.
Arsenal — Nicolas Pepe £72m
He’s scored 26 goals in 101 games, which sounds nice, but they’ve largely come against inferior opponents in competitions outside the Premier League.
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Aston Villa — Emi Buendia £33m
It was never going to be easy to follow the creative whirlwind that was Jack Grealish.
But Buendia was so good for Norwich that it’s been disappointing to see him so flat in a Villa shirt.
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Brentford — Kristoffer Ajer £13.5m
Injuries have held the central defender back so far. If Brentford survive and he’s a big reason why, it will have been money well spent.
JURY’S STILL OUT
Brighton — Adam Webster £20m
Has he been awful? Absolutely not. But good enough to say ‘phwoar, he’s been a worthy club record signing for Brighton’? I’m not so sure, and £20m might have been slightly steep.
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Burnley — Maxwel Cornet, Chris Wood, Ben Gibson £15m
Wood’s proven his worth and so has Cornet after his potentially risky purchase from Lyon. Gibson wasn’t worth it as Burnley took a £7m hit to let him leave.
HIT AND MISS
Chelsea — Romelu Lukaku £97.5m
IF Lukaku can return to Thomas Tuchel’s team and guide Chelsea to glory, then his price tag won’t seem outlandish. But right now, let’s just say it’s not going great. Being dropped for a game as big as Liverpool is as bad as it gets.
JURY’S STILL OUT
Crystal Palace — Christian Benteke £32m
They managed to get the odd decent season out of Benteke in the past but he’s been too inconsistent and £32m is a chunk of change for Palace.
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Everton — Gylfi Sigurdsson £45m
Rafa Benitez has not been able to call on Everton’s club record signing this season, and when he was playing he wasn’t exactly enthralling in midfield.
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Leeds — Rodrigo £26m
There have been flashes of his ability but nowhere near enough to say he’s been the super signing that Leeds hoped they were splashing out on.
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Leicester — Youri Tielemans £40m
Tielemans is consistently towards the top of the statistics among midfielders for tackles and interceptions. If Leicester sold him this month, they’d get their money back and then some.
HIT
Liverpool — Virgil van Dijk £75m
Worth every penny and all the zeroes on that cheque. Of all the Premier League clubs’ record signings, Van Dijk is the greatest example of when spending big on a player goes very right.
HIT
Man City — Jack Grealish £100m
Pep Guardiola dropping him for off-field behaviour is worrying, but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. He’s got plenty of years ahead in which his creativity can bring success to City.
JURY’S STILL OUT
Man Utd — Paul Pogba £89m
Considering what United thought they were getting from ‘hashtag Pogback’ and what they got, it’s hardly been a total success and five years of bliss.
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Newcastle — Joelinton £40m
Newcastle broke the bank to sign Joelinton from Hoffenheim. The man came to the North East but the goals didn’t. Now they’re trying to get some value out of him in a midfield role.
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Norwich — Christos Tzolis £10m
The bonus for Norwich is that their biggest buy wasn’t eye-wateringly expensive by Premier League standards. But even at a relatively modest £10m, the winger has yet to score or assist a goal in the league.
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Southampton — Danny Ings £20m
What Ings brought to Southampton was a guarantee of goals. It’s just a shame for the club that they couldn’t convince him to sign a contract extension. At least they made a £5m profit.
HIT
Tottenham — Tanguy Ndombele £54m
Mauricio Pochettino signed him and, a series of coaches later, it’s Antonio Conte’s turn to try to get some use out of Ndombele in Tottenham’s midfield.
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Watford — Ismaila Sarr £40m
Watford spent big to bring Sarr to the club and, to his credit, he was their top scorer in getting them back to the Premier League. He’s looked like a £40m player.
HIT
West Ham — Sebastien Haller £45m
West Ham decided Haller was such a dud that they were willing to take a £25m hit to sell the big striker to Ajax. Some transfers work, others don’t, and this one was disastrous.
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Wolves — Fabio Silva £35.6m
He’s young so maybe Silva will come good in the future — at least that’s what Wolves must be hoping. But it isn’t looking like £35.6m well spent, I’m afraid.
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