There’s a certain allure to a talented footballer from England, given it's home to the world’s first match and largely considered the birthplace of the game.
Allure and football predictably mix into a strong cash-flavoured cocktail, so it won’t surprise you to learn that some of the most expensive footballers in history grew up on these shores.
But who tops the list of the most expensive English player of all time? Keep scrolling, there are some eye-watering sums ahead…
Who is the most expensive English player of all time?
It’s a tie! Both Declan Rice and Jack Grealish arrived at Arsenal and Manchester City respectively for base fees of £100million.
Rice – ranked second in FourFourTwo’s list of the best defensive midfielders right now – potentially takes the crown on goal difference as his 2023 deal included £5million in unspecified add-ons, but what’s a few million quid between friends?
Either way, you can be sure it’s a sore point for any Republic of Ireland fans, as both men turned out for the Boys in Green in their youth before switching allegiances back to their country of birth – what a coup that could have been.
Who held the all-time record transfer fee for an English player before Rice and Grealish?
Previous to Grealish putting pen to paper in 2021, the most expensive English player was Harry Maguire thanks to his £80million move from Leicester City to Manchester United in 2019 – still a world record for a central defender.
There may be some question marks over the fee, given that Liverpool star Virgil van Dijk went for £5million cheaper a year earlier, but there’s no doubting Maguire has delivered England and the Red Devils some incredible moments in the intervening years.
Notable mentions go to Harry Kane – ranked seventh in FourFourTwo’s list of the best Premier League strikers of all time – and Jude Bellingham, who headed to heavy-hitters Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, respectively, in the summer of 2023, but neither troubled Grealish nor Rice’s initial fees.
However, Bellingham – currently a 10/1 shot to lift the 2025 Ballon d’Or – could wind up being the most expensive when the dust settles, with Los Blancos’ initial outlay of £88.5million potentially rising as high as £115million with add-ons. They’d have to be some pretty outlandish clauses for him not to be in with a shout of hitting them.
