January 12, 2025

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Rating every Premier League Big Six club’s record signing after Pepe leaves Arsenal

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Rating every Premier League Big Six club's record signing after Pepe leaves Arsenal
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High: Defying an unimpressive start to his Arsenal career to finish as second highest goal-scorer in his second season.

Low: Being left out of the team entirely for all three of Arsenal’s opening games of the 2022-23 season.

Rating: 4/10

Chelsea: Romelu Lukaku (£97.5m from Inter Milan, August 2021)

The second-most expensive signing in Premier League history, Lukaku’s prodigal return to Chelsea last summer after firing Inter to the Serie A title was greeted by a wave of fanfare but soon turned sour after the Belgian’s form hit rock bottom around five games in.

The striker struggled to get to grips with coach Thomas Tuchel’s three-pronged attacking approach and, after sharing his frustration in a TV interview back in Italy, he fell so far out of favour that the German preferred to play central midfielders up front rather than his club’s record signing.

All in all, Lukaku played 26 times in the Premier League in 2021-22, scoring just eight goals in a poor campaign that also saw him embark upon a 10-game league run during which he failed to find the back of the net.

Less than a year since his grand return to Stamford Bridge, the beleaguered Belgium international has already been shuttled back to Inter, rejoining the Serie A side on a season-long loan deal last month.

High: Scoring against Arsenal on his second debut for Chelsea, then twice in a 3-0 victory over Aston Villa on his return to Stamford Bridge two games later.

Low: Failing to score a single Premier League goal between Dec. 29 and May 7, a brutally long fallow run of 129 days without notching a league goal.

Rating: 2/10

Darwin Nunez‘s transfer from Benfica could break Liverpool’s existing record should the Uruguay striker trigger enough clauses to push his transfer fee to £85m, but for the time being the honour still belongs to Van Dijk.

The Dutchman had proven himself in the Premier League with Southampton before the Reds took the plunge, only to see the cultured centre-back go from strength to strength as an integral part of their famously steadfast back line.

Van Dijk’s arrival coincided with one of the most successful periods in Liverpool’s history with six major honours won including the Champions League in 2018-19 — the year in which the defender was crowned UEFA Men’s Player of the Year, PFA Players’ Player of the Year and Premier League Player of the Season. And he still hasn’t lost a league game at Anfield.

High: Winning historic Premier League and Champions League titles under Jurgen Klopp in the space of just two seasons.

Low: Sustaining a nasty cruciate ligament injury in the Merseyside derby against Everton in October 2020 that kept the Dutchman out of action until the following July, missing 45 games in total as the Reds could only muster a third-place league finish.

Rating: 10/10

Manchester City: Jack Grealish (£100m from Aston Villa, August 2021)

Grealish became the most expensive Premier league signing in history when he left boyhood club Aston Villa in order to join the ranks at Manchester City last summer. Despite the extraordinary price tag, the 26-year-old England international has found opportunities somewhat limited since then, making just 23 league starts for City under Pep Guardiola and chipping in with three goals and as many assists.

It’s early days but Grealish has started the 2022-23 season in much the same vein, playing 90 minutes in City’s opener against West Ham United, then just 45 minutes against newly-promoted Bournemouth before being left out of the 3-3 draw against Newcastle United altogether (though a minor injury was later cited as the reason).

The sprightly winger has been decent in patches but still has a lot more to do before he convinces anybody that he’s of the calibre to command a triple-figure transfer fee.

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High: Scoring against Ajax in the Europa League final to lift the trophy under Jose Mourinho in 2016-17, thus capping off a double cup-winning season.

Low: Pogba’s abject performance against Liverpool in October 2021 that must surely go down as his worst night in a United shirt. After his side had conceded four goals in the first half, the midfielder came on at half-time but failed to make any impact whatsoever as Liverpool soon powered to a 5-0 lead. Just to rub further salt into the wound, Pogba was then sent off for a two-footed lunge on Naby Keita with an hour played at Old Trafford.

Rating: 5/10

Tottenham Hotspur: Tanguy Ndombele (£60m from Lyon, July 2019)

Richarlison will become Tottenham’s record signing once the club end up paying all the add-ons bundled into the Brazilian forward’s transfer from Everton, but until then Ndombele remains Spurs most expensive arrival.

Out of favour under almost every manager he played under, Ndombele made just 63 Premier League appearances in his three years at the club, scoring six goals. Indeed, the French midfielder found his inclusion limited to just three starts in all competitions after Antonio Conte was installed as head coach in November 2021.

Capable of precision distribution, excellent ball retention and barnstorming breaks from the middle of the pitch, Ndombele just wasn’t able to operate with enough consistency to convince any of the five managers he played under at Spurs of his ability. It’s perhaps little surprise that the 25-year-old was allowed to join Napoli on a season-long loan deal just over a week ago.

High: It’s hard to look beyond his brilliantly unorthodox wonder goal against Sheffield United.

Low: Failing to earn a single minute on the pitch for Spurs in the Premier League from Boxing Day 2021 onwards.

Rating: 3/10

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