Premier League clubs invested over £2 billion ($2.7bn) in new players across the two transfer windows of the 2024-25 campaign as England once again proved to be the No.1 destination for the top talents on the continent. However, many of those teams have not seen their marquee signings live up to their hefty price tags and sterling reputations.
Some have flopped spectacularly, while others are yet to prove they can deliver consistently. Joao Felix and Jadon Sancho both fall into the first camp at Chelsea, Manchester United's Dutch duo Joshua Zirkzee and Matthijs de Ligt sit firmly in the second, and the less said about Federico Chiesa's first year at Liverpool after his summer move from Juventus, the better.
But it's not only the super clubs who have made costly missteps. Niclas Fullkrug and Eddie Nketiah have been major disappointments at West Ham and Crystal Palace, respectively, with plenty of others having offered very little to the collective cause.
There have also been a host of disastrous loan deals, including Kalvin Phillips to Ipswich Town and Raheem Sterling to Arsenal, but the top-flight recruitment over the last 12 months hasn't been all bad. A few of the big-money additions are now established stars at their new homes, and this has been one of the best years for shrewd business in the recent history of the English top flight.
Real value has been found in unexpected places; a refreshing change in an era that has typically seen the richest clubs dominate. With all that in mind, GOAL has ranked the top 10 signings of the season...