After the news that Liverpool will splash out £75million to sign Virgil van Dijk, we looked at the five most expensive transfers in British history.
Paul Pogba £89m (2016)
Paul Pogba became the worlds most expensive player back in 2016, when Manchester United agreed to shell out £89m to bring the midfielder back to Old Trafford. The Frenchman had left the club on a free transfer back in 2012 after growing frustrated at the lack of first team opportunities at the club.
He was thrust straight into the first team squad at Juventus, making 37 appearances for the Old Lady in his debut campaign, going on to make a total of 178 appearances and scoring 34 goals, before arriving back at Old Trafford in 2016 as the worlds most expensive player.
Romelu Lukaku £75m (2017)
Manchester United agreed to spend big once again the year after, by signing Romelu Lukaku from Everton in a £75m deal, which could rise up to £90m.
The striker had been somewhat prolific in the Premier League, scoring 17 goals while on loan at West Brom, before scoring 87 goals in 166 appearances for the Toffees, prompting a race for his signature between United and Chelsea, a race which Jose Mourinho won.
Virgil van Dijk £75m (2018)
The latest addition to this list sees Virgil van Dijk become the Premier Leagues third most expensive signing of all time, when Liverpool announced they had agreed a deal to sign Van Dijk from Southampton. The former Celtic defender in fact becomes the SIXTH player to make the move from the South coast club to Anfield, following in the footsteps of Adam Lallana, Dejan Lovren, Nathaniel Clyne, Ricky Lambert and Sadio Mane,
Angel di Maria £59.7m (2014)
Yet another Manchester United signing to make the top five, when Manchester United agreed to pay Real Madrid just shy of £60m for the services of Angel di Maria. The move would set a new British transfer record at the time.
The Argentine had a blistering start to life in England, but then caught Louis van Gaal-itus, a seemingly crippling disease which sapped all attacking qualities out of most of Manchester United’s squad. He was sold after just one year at the club to Paris Saint-Germain for £44m, a £15m loss for the Red Devils.
Alvaro Morata £58m (2017)
Embroiled in a transfer tug of war between Manchester United and Chelsea in the summer of 2017, and with Chelsea looking likely to sign Romelu Lukaku, Manchester United were thought to be the front runners for the Spaniard.
However, the Manchester giants swooped in to sign Lukaku, leaving Chelsea free to sign Morata, in a deal that would break the previous club record set when they signed Fernando Torres from Liverpool for £50m.
