Who were the most expensive transfers of the summer?

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 2 Sept 2023 11:27 BST
• 7 min read

Declan Rice’s €116.6 million move from West Ham United to Arsenal is the most expensive transfer of the 2023 summer window so far, but Moises Caicedo's move to Chelsea could end up blowing that out of the water.

The England international was heavily pursued by both Arsenal and Manchester City this summer, but Mikel Arteta won the battle against his former mentor Pep Guardiola to land Rice.

Chelsea had previously shown interest in signing the Hammers midfielder, specifically under Frank Lampard and Thomas Tuchel, but they eventually signed Enzo Fernandez in January and have spent the entire summer chasing Brighton & Hove Albion’s Moises Caciedo, whom they finally signed in what is a British record deal of €134m. However, only €116m of that fee has been paid upfront, meaning that he is, as things stand, cheaper than Rice.

MORE: Premier League 2023/24 summer transfers: All the Done Deals

Jude Bellingham’s transfer from Borussia Dortmund to Real Madrid is the only other move to have exceeded €100m so far this summer window, with Rice’s England team-mate costing Los Blancos a whopping €103m. The deal means Dortmund earned a profit of over €70m on the midfielder, who they signed from Birmingham City in 2020.

He has joined the likes of Eduardo Camavinga, Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Aurelien Tchouameni, Federico Valverde and Dani Ceballos in a stacked Real Madrid midfield roster.

Harry Kane's move to the Bundesliga set Bayern Munich back €100m, and the deal could rise to as high as €120m if performance-related bonuses are reached.

MORE: Saudi Pro League summer transfers 2023: All the Done Deals

Randal Kolo Muani cost PSG a huge €95m as they completed a Deadline Day move for the France forward after weeks of negotiations with Eintracht Frankfurt.

Manchester City made RB Leipzig's Josko Gvardiol the most expensive defender in the history of football when they shelled out €90m for the Croatian - the same fee Al-Hilal paid for Neymar.

Manchester United forked out €75m to land 20-year-old Rasmus Hojlund in their desperate search for a centre-forward, while Arsenal splashed the same amount on Kai Havertz.

Dominik Szoboszlai’s €70m transfer to Liverpool is the ninth most expensive deal of the summer. The Hungary international has joined Jurgen Klopp’s side as part of their midfield rebuild, which has also included the addition of Alexis Mac Allister from Brighton.

Mason Mount’s €64.2m move to Man Utd narrowly edges out Sandro Tonali’s €64m transfer to Newcastle, Romeo Lavia's Chelsea switch for €62.1m and Matheus Nunes €62m move to Man City.

Christopher Nkunku, Manuel Ugarte, Malcom, Otavio and Jeremy Doku are tied, having joined Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, Al-Hilal, Al-Nassr and Man City respectively, for €60m each.

Moussa Diaby (Bayer Leverkusen to Aston Villa), Ruben Neves (Wolves to Al-Hilal) and Brennan Johnson (Nottingham Forest to Tottenham) all switched clubs for €55m.

The 20 most expensive transfers this summer

Trending

Which football managers have been sacked this season?

Premier League top scorers 2023/24: Four-goal Palmer now level with Haaland

Man Utd top scorers 2023/24: In-form Fernandes just one behind Hojlund