Chelsea announced on Wednesday that Joao Felix, whose €126 million transfer to Atletico Madrid remains the fourth-biggest in the history of the game, has joined them on loan for the remainder of the 2022-23 season.
Sources have told ESPN’s James Olley that the move carries a fee of around €12.5m and, while the Blues will be paying Felix’s wages in full until the end of the campaign, there is no obligation to make the deal permanent in the summer.
That loan fee raised more than a few eyebrows, but it is modest compared to the huge transfer fee that took Felix from Benfica to Atletico three-and-a-half years ago when the forward was only 19 years old.
Indeed, his is one of only 12 players in football history to command an initial transfer fee of €100m or more (not including any add-ons, performance-related clauses etc.), with some of the biggest stars of the game being added to the list since the barrier was first broken in 2013.
Here is a look at those dozen nine-figure deals made over the past decade, as we determine which of them were a hit and which were a miss (spoiler alert: hits are thin on the ground.)
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Having played just 50 times for Dortmund during his short senior career, Dembele was suddenly transformed into the second-most expensive player of all-time at the age of 20 when Barcelona signed him in August 2017. Thereafter, any momentum the French winger managed to build up was routinely spoiled by injuries and, while there were isolated bright moments here and there, the first four seasons he spent at Barca were largely one big disappointment.
Things have slowly picked up since 2020-21 to the point that Dembele signed a contract extension last summer until June 2024, but for the time being at least it’s hard to argue that the Catalans have come anywhere close to getting their money’s worth.
Rating: MISS
Fee: €115m
Transfer: Inter Milan to Chelsea
Year: 2021
Appearances: 44
Goals: 15
Assists: 2
Another grand “homecoming” that quickly turned sour saw Lukaku make a prodigal return to Chelsea after firing Inter to the Serie A title with the intention of leading their line for years to come.
However, despite scoring on his second Premier League debut and then racing to three goals in his first three games for the Blues, the burly Belgian scored just two goals in his next 20 league appearances before gradually seeing himself phased out of the first team by then-coach Thomas Tuchel.
After falling out of favour, Lukaku then angered fans by publicly commenting on his frustrations before choosing to end his dismal plight at Stamford Bridge by rejoining Inter on loan.
Rating: MISS
Fee: €117m
Transfer: Aston Villa to Manchester City
Year: 2021
Appearances: 59
Goals: 7
Assists: 7
Grealish became the most expensive English footballer ever when City flexed their financial muscle to sign him from Villa in the summer of 2021, after a season in which he had scored six league goals and chipped in with 10 assists — an impressive tally only bettered by Harry Kane, Bruno Fernandes and Kevin De Bruyne.
The England international has made a moderate start to life at the Etihad, contributing six goals and four assists (in all competitions) in his debut season but, while he was part of City’s 2021-22 title-winning side, he often featured in an ancillary role. Grealish continues to slowly find his feet under the strenuous tutelage of Pep Guardiola, but for now the fact remains that he still has a long way to go before he is one of the first names on the teamsheet to fully justify his fee.
Rating: MISS
