Man Utd love spending vast sums on teenage prodigies but even they cannot boast the most expensive Premier League signing ever under the age of 20.
These right here are the most expensive teenage signings in Premier League history. Lewis Hall and Estevao Willian could eclipse some of these figures if they activate clauses in their transfers to Newcastle and Chelsea respectively.
Konstantinos Karetsas could make this list if he joins Arsenal.
10) Anderson (£30m)
One did not simply play for Man Utd between 2007 and 2015 without spending at least some of the intervening time appearing on some sort of podcast and suggesting Anderson could have been the greatest footballer in history if he wasn’t obsessed with McDonald’s.
The literal Golden Boy of 2008 made his move to Old Trafford alongside Nani the previous summer, making 38 appearances in his debut season and never surpassing that figure in seven further campaigns.
The Brazilian arguably fit enough into 2007/08 to make it all worth it, coming on in the final minute of stoppage time in extra-time to convert a sudden death penalty with his first kick of the Champions League final, immediately after John Terry lost his footing.
9) Gabriel Jesus (£31m)
“We look forward to him making a big impact at Manchester City in January,” said Manchester City director of football Txiki Begiristain in August 2016, discussing the relatively unknown Gabriel Jesus.
A lauded talent within Brazil, it was nevertheless striking to see the Premier League commit such figures on a teenager in Pep Guardiola’s first transfer window.
That “big impact” was almost unfathomably quick from Jesus when he did arrive at the Etihad the following January. It was decided that Jesus would stay in Brazil to complete their league season and inspire Palmeiras to a first national championship in 22 years, being named player of the year in the process.
With Jesus making his Selecao debut in September 2016, scoring five goals and assisting four in his first six caps by the end of the year, having helped guide his country to Olympics gold a fortnight after the confirmation of his impending move to England, it was clear Manchester City had spotted a talent. Four Premier League titles and 95 goals before being sold at a substantial profit to Arsenal six years later only underlined it.
8) Luke Shaw (£31m)
It is often underestimated just how callow – and how brilliant – Shaw was in his early Premier League days. Wayne Rooney remains the only player to make his 50th appearance in the competition at a younger age (18 years, two months and four days), with Shaw matching Milner (18 years, seven months and 17 days) and beating Cesc Fabregas by about a week.
The left-back was a PFA Team of the Year member and Young Player of the Year candidate – beaten by Eden Hazard so fair enough – before he took the genuinely arguable step back of leaving that wonderful Southampton team for Louis van Gaal’s sterile revolution.
No-one would choose differently in the same position but it is a shame just how much Shaw has struggled even just for fitness at Old Trafford. It is probably best for everyone to move on.
7) Yakuba Minteh (£33m)
Newcastle turned a profit in the region of £28million on a player who never played a senior game in black and white. It’s entirely possible Minteh never even trained with Eddie Howe’s squad.
The Gambia winger signed for the Magpies in summer 2023, from Danish side OB. Immediately, he was loaned to Feyenoord, where he scored 10 goals. The expectation was for Minteh, now 19, to return to Newcastle and push for a first-team place, but PSR put paid to that.
With Newcastle desperate for cash before June 30 and even more reluctant to sell any established stars, they snatched the £33million Brighton were offering and diverted Minteh’s path to the AmEx.
6) Archie Gray (£35m)
Newcastle didn’t really want to part with Minteh, but selling Gray was an even bigger wrench for Leeds.
When the final whistle blew at the Championship play-off final to condemn Leeds to another season of second-tier scrambling, immediately the focus at Elland Road switched to sales. Gray, a prodigious, versatile England Under-21 international, was comfortably their most sellable asset, despite the sour taste that selling one of their own might leave.
With Bayern Munich, Manchester United, Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund among those linked, it was a surprise to see Brentford emerge as the frontrunners when they agreed to pay Gray’s release clause and impressed the player and his family with their plans to make him a star.
Despite the Bees’ intent, it always seemed a ploy to smoke out some of the bigger hitters. Tottenham stepped up, with the lure of Ange Postecoglou one of the factors swinging it for Spurs. And now he’s a Europa League winner.
5) Fabio Silva (£35.6m)
Absolutely ludicrous, that. Portuguese authorities clearly agreed as the fee, a club-record transfer for Wolves at the time, was investigated as part of a wider operation exploring issues with agents and third-party payments.
Eyebrows might have been raised when Porto commanded such preposterous money for a teenager with a single league start and goal to his name. Silva’s entire professional career consisted of 781 minutes and three goals when Jorge Mendes worked his magic.
The forward did at least improve on that at Molineux, netting four times in the Premier League; he has been more prolific on loan at each of Anderlecht, PSV, Rangers and Las Palmas since, yet still has a year left on his Wolves deal.
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4) Wesley Fofana (£36.5m)
Brendan Rodgers might have been onto something when he said that new Leicester signing Fofana “looks like he’s played for a lot longer,” considering the centre-half had barely racked up 100 senior career appearances yet still earned transfers worth around £111.5m.
A single season at Saint-Etienne – the premature 2019/20 at that – was enough to persuade the Foxes that Fofana was worth comparatively silly money, much like his one full campaign at the King Power Stadium tempted Chelsea into making him then one of the most expensive defenders ever less than two years later despite the Frenchman suffering a long-term injury in the interim.
The most games Fofana has played for any one club remains the 52 he managed at Leicester. Next is 34 at Chelsea, 30 at Saint-Etienne and one with France.
3) Anthony Martial (£44.7m)
“It was a ridiculous amount of money, but it’s the crazy world we are in,” said Louis van Gaal. “I have not bought Martial for me – I have bought him for the next manager of Manchester United.“
That he went on to vouch for the candidacy of Ryan Giggs to that role remains hilarious.
Martial did at least have some first-team pedigree when a panicking Man Utd came calling in September 2015. The Frenchman had played 70 games and scored 15 goals. But as French football journalist Philippe Auclair said at the time: “This amount of money leaves people speechless in France.”
With Monaco banking an initial fee of £36m, add-ons made up the rest of the £57.6m total possible payment. Martial triggered one clause by scoring well over 25 goals in his first four seasons, but he failed to hit the requisite number of France caps and – somehow – did not win the Ballon d’Or to activate another instalment.
Little did Van Gaal know that he had bought Martial for the next few managers of Manchester United, nor that he would become a burden to each of them.
2) Leny Yoro (£52m)
United need to hope their latest French prodigy lives up to the billing rather better.
Yoro wanted to join Real in summer 2024 but their reluctance to get close to the amount United were willing to pay for a player a year from free agency was perfectly understandable. As was Lille’s insistence on Yoro moving to United given the mental sum of money being dangled before them.
It could yet turn out to be a stroke of genius on United’s part. The first season was a disaster, but a tiny fraction of the responsibility can be apportioned to the defender.
1) Romeo Lavia (£53m)
A player so young that even if he serves the entirety of his compulsory seven-year contract with Chelsea, Lavia will still only be 26 and hitting his prime when it expires.
The Blues had been enamoured with Lavia for a while, bidding £50m on deadline day of the summer 2022 window, just five games into the Belgian’s Southampton career.
Hell, Lavia’s whole career consisted of just seven matches by that point, so prodigious was his excellence in the Manchester City youth set-up.
Premier League relegation did little to dim that light as Lavia was the silver lining to that miserable Saints cloud. And while Liverpool sniffed around, Arsenal and Manchester United were linked and Manchester City held first dibs, Chelsea were not to be deterred.
Injuries continue to blight Lavia’s development but he has shown plenty in short bursts.
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