Elliot Anderson is set to become the second most expensive transfer in Premier League history at £116m, but several historic deals rank higher when adjusted for inflation.
Anderson is poised to complete a stunning move to Man City from Nottingham Forest, with the England international set to become the first signing of the post-Pep Guardiola era.
The 23-year-old will undergo a medical over the coming days before becoming a Man City player.
City were believed to have agreed an initial £106million fee with Forest last week, with Daily Mail Sport revealing earlier this month that Evangelos Marinakis was looking to secure a British-record £130m after add-ons.
Daily Mail Sport reported on Thursday that City sources have stressed the deal for Anderson is a straight one-off payment and are playing down the idea that they have eclipsed the £125m British-record fee that Liverpool paid for Alexander Isak last summer.
While Anderson will go in as the second most expensive signing by a Premier League club after Isak, it ranks 31st on a list of deals adjusted for inflation.
Elliot Anderson is set to sign for Man City for £116m, but his transfer fee will reportedly rank 31st in the most expensive Premier League deals when adjusted alongside inflation
Alan Shearer’s £15m move to Newcastle in the 1996-97 season ranks top of the list after being adjusted to £236.9m
Football finance expert Kieran Maguire revealed a list of the expensive Premier League transfers of all time, which have been adjusted for inflation in line with revenues of the top flight per season.
Maguire’s list is headed by Newcastle’s £15m signing of Alan Shearer back in the 1996-97 season.
His move from Blackburn, which remained the top flight’s record transfer for four years, has been adjusted to £236.9m.
Man United are responsible for the next two deals with Rio Ferdinand’s move to Old Trafford in the 2002-03 season and Juan Sebastien Veron’s transfer in 2001-02.
The deals were worth £33.3m and £28.1m at the time, but would now stand at both £198.5m and £178.5m respectively.
Liverpool’s £8.5m signing of Stan Collymore in 1995 follows next at an adjusted £176.8m, while Chelsea’s £50m deal for Fernando Torres in 2010-11 completes the top five at £157.8m.
Paul Pogba’s £89.9m transfer from Juventus to Man United in 2016 is the only transfer from the last decade to feature in the top 10, with the fee adjusted to £141.6m.
Maguire’s figures place Jack Grealish’s transfer to Man City in the summer of 2021 – which was reported to be £100m at the time – as the 14th most costly in the list.
| Rank | Season | Player | Club | Fee | Adjusted fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1996-97 | Alan Shearer | Newcastle | £15m | £236.9m |
| 2 | 2002-03 | Rio Ferdinand | Man United | £33.3m | £198.5m |
| 3 | 2001-02 | Juan Sebastien Veron | Man United | £28.1m | £178.5m |
| 4 | 1995-96 | Stan Collymore | Liverpool | £8.5m | £176.8m |
| 5 | 2010-11 | Fernando Torres | Chelsea | £50m | £157.8m |
| 6 | 1995-96 | Dennis Bergkamp | Arsenal | £7.5m | £156m |
| 7 | 1994-95 | Andy Cole | Man United | £7m | £153.8m |
| 8 | 2006-07 | Andriy Shevchenko | Chelsea | £30.8m | £152.6m |
| 9 | 1998-99 | Dwight Yorke | Man United | £12.6m | £144.7m |
| 10 | 2016-17 | Paul Pogba | Man United | £89.9m | £141.6m |
| *31 | 2026-27 | Elliot Anderson | Man City | £116m | £116m |
Grealish’s transfer fee was adjusted to £132.7m in line with Maguire’s inflation figures.
Isak’s record-breaking £125m switch to Liverpool follows in 15th at £132.6m, while the previous record deal which saw Moises Caicedo join Chelsea for £115m is placed two places lower at 17th.
Further recent deals involving Liverpool and Chelsea also feature highly, including Enzo Fernandez’s £106m move to the Blues in 2023, which is ranked in 20th place at an adjusted £127.5m.
Florian Wirtz’s £116m transfer to Liverpool last summer is three places lower, having been adjusted to £123.1m.
The only other deal to breach the £100m barrier, Declan Rice’s £105m move to Arsenal in 2023, was placed at 27th on the list after being adjusted to £119m.
Should Anderson complete his move to Man City, his transfer would enter the list in 31st place, four behind his England midfield partner.
