Four Liverpool buys feature in the best Premier League signing in each of the last 25 windows | OneFootball

Antoine Semenyo features twice and there are plenty of Chelsea buys here… until Todd Boehly came along.

We have picked the best signing made by a Premier League club in the last 25 windows, starting with a Jose Mourinho favourite.

Winter, 2014 – Nemanja Matic (Benfica to Chelsea, £21m)

Chelsea were busy boys in January 2014, and are busy in this list, occupying the top spot in the first two windows. The Blues signed Bertrand Traore, Kurt Zouma, Mohamed Salah and Matic, while offloading Juan Mata to Man Utd and Kevin De Bruyne to Wolfsburg.

Matic instantly became a mainstay in the starting XI, being named in the PFA Team of the Year in 2015 as Chelsea won the Premier League.

The Serbian defensive midfielder was sold to Man Utd for around £40m in 2017, being reunited with Jose Mourinho. Chelsea got the best three years of Matic’s career before doubling their money for him. What a transfer.

Summer, 2014 – Diego Costa (Atletico Madrid to Chelsea, £32m)

What a window this was. Alexis Sanchez joined Arsenal, Southampton signed Sadio Mane and Hull brought Andy Robertson to England for only £2m. Yet, we have opted for another Chelsea player.

It was a tough choice between Cesc Fabregas and Costa, with the edge given to the striker as he epitomised what that Chelsea side were all about. Costa also had to adapt to the league, which he did straight away. Fabregas had been there before with Arsenal and was world-class at the Blues’ London rivals.

Costa bagged 20 Premier League goals in 26 matches during his maiden season in England as Chelsea won the title. Atletico re-signed the Spanish striker for a rumoured £57m in 2018. Prime years and profit again? Hats off.

Winter, 2015 – Wilfried Zaha (Man Utd to Crystal Palace, £3m)

The debate of who was the better transfer out of Dele Alli to Tottenham for £5m or Wilfried Zaha returning to Crystal Palace for £3m was one we didn’t know we needed; it was very difficult to pick a winner.

Alli became one of the best players in the country almost immediately, going to Euro 2016 and the World Cup in 2018 as well as being named the Young Player of the Year in 2016 and 2017. He has since drastically fallen off.

Zaha, on the other hand, just takes it ahead of Alli due to his consistency, and the fact that Crystal Palace would probably be in the Championship if it wasn’t for him.

He rejoined the Eagles having struggled for game time at Man Utd and has more goals and more assists than any other Palace player in Premier League history.

Summer, 2015 – N’Golo Kante (Caen to Leicester, £5.6m)

Kante came to England an unknown quantity, only to become (arguably) the most important player in the most extraordinary league title win in football history.

The French defensive midfielder was a major hit at the King Power and after his excellent 2015/16 campaign, moved to Chelsea. He won another league title in his debut season, as well as being named PFA Player of the Year.

It is worth mentioning that in this summer Man City signed Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling, Southampton purchased Virgil van Dijk and Tottenham bought Son Heung-min. And it wasn’t even slightly close to being a debate for who the best signing was.

Winter, 2016 – James Maddison (Coventry to Norwich, £2.3m)

We know what you’re thinking, but no, Steven Caulker’s loan to Liverpool does not make top spot for the best transfer in January 2016. But as you can probably guess, this was not the most star-studded window of all time.

Maddison was signed for pennies and sold on for a £22m profit. He has obviously played his best football for Leicester and Tottenham, but kudos to the Norwich scouting department.

Summer, 2016 – Sadio Mane (Southampton to Liverpool, £34m)

Kante’s £32m move to Chelsea has narrowly missed out here. Also in the summer of 2016, Ilkay Gundogan joined Man City for £21m and Zlatan Ibrahimovic moved to a Premier League club for the first time in his career, signing for Man Utd as a free agent and helping them win the League Cup and Europa League.

As for Mane, he was world-class at Anfield from day one and was the first brilliant piece of business Jurgen Klopp produced on Merseyside.

Mane scored 120 goals for the Reds, including one in a Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid, and was superb as Liverpool won their first Premier League crown in 2020, netting 18 times in 35 games.

Mane, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino blossomed into one of the finest frontlines in English football history. The Senegal forward was the first of the famous three to leave Anfield, joining Bayern Munich in 2022.

Winter, 2017 – Wilfred Ndidi (Genk to Leicester, £15m)

The Foxes tried to replace Kante – an impossible task – by signing Nampalys Mendy from Nice, which never quite worked out. Ndidi was the closest they came to filling the void left by the 2018 World Cup winner.

In a straight battle with Gabriel Jesus to Man City, the Nigerian midfielder was the best deal of January 2017 due to his consistency, transfer fee, superb ability and sell-on potential (which was never exercised).

Summer, 2017 – Mohamed Salah (Roma to Liverpool, £37m)

Another very strong window, but another very easy decision. Salah was the first of Liverpool’s big three to get them over the Champions League and Premier League hump. You’ll know the other members of said big three soon, if you don’t already.

The Egyptian beats the likes of Ederson, Bernardo Silva, Andy Robertson and Antonio Rudiger here.

Winter, 2018 – Virgil van Dijk (Southampton to Liverpool, £75m)

Liverpool were chasing Van Dijk for an eternity before eventually getting their man, spending a monumental amount of money to push the deal over the line.

The Netherlands defender has been one of the most important players for any top-flight side in Premier League history. His presence made teams fear Liverpool again, and he helped the Reds reach the Champions League final in his first season, having only featured in the knockout rounds.

Klopp’s side would previously drop silly points against relegation fodder, but that was no more after Van Dijk joined; he sorted the shaky defence out seamlessly. £75m ended up being, dare we say, an absolute bargain. They had one last position to sort out before the Klopp jigsaw was complete…

Summer, 2018 – Alisson (Roma to Liverpool, £65m)

…and complete it was. £65m was a lot to spend on a goalkeeper, but just like Van Dijk, Alisson was worth it.

This was a difficult window to find a definitive answer for, though. Brighton also bought Yves Bissouma, Man City brought in Leicester legend Riyad Mahrez, the Foxes replaced him with James Maddison and Chelsea signed the apparent third-best player in the world in 2021, Jorginho.

Alisson addressed a position that desperately needed a permanent fix, coming in and having the same fear-factor impact as Van Dijk. The Reds became European champions in Alisson’s maiden season in England, and Premier League winners a year later.

The 33-year-old’s best moment for Liverpool was scoring a goal to secure them a top-four finish. What a moment.

Winter, 2019 – Youri Tielemans (Monaco to Leicester, loan)

Tielemans joined Leicester on loan, making his move to the King Power permanent in the summer. If it wasn’t for the loan, Leicester would probably not have paid £32m for the Belgian. His winning goal in the 2021 FA Cup final wins him this particular accolade all by itself – not to undermine his largely terrific performances in the Premier League.

Summer, 2019 – Rodri (Atletico Madrid to Manchester City, £62.6m)

Ballon d’Or. Ballon d’Or. Ballon d’Or. Ballon d’Or.

Winter, 2020 – Bruno Fernandes (Sporting Lisbon to Man Utd, £47m)

United have made some very questionable signings since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson, but Fernandes was a rare piece of good business post-Fergie.

The Portugal star needed no time to settle into life in the Premier League and didn’t lose a single game in the top flight during his first half-season, scoring eight and assisting seven in 14 matches.

United finished second in Fernandes’ first full season, as he contributed to 29 goals. He slowed down after Cristiano Ronaldo returned to Old Trafford, but at his absolute best, he was keeping Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in a job at times.

Summer, 2020 – Thiago Silva (PSG to Chelsea, free)

After initially choosing Raphinha’s £17m move to Leeds, we changed to Thiago Silva, who joined Chelsea for nothing from PSG. Silva has been brilliant for the Blues and is one of the few excellent signings made by the Londoners in recent years. Aged 41, the former AC Milan captain is still going strong.

Winter, 2021 – Moises Caicedo (Independiente to Brighton, £2m)

Jesse Lingard joined West Ham on loan for the second half of 2020/21 and was incredible as the Hammers narrowly missed out on the Champions League places. Caicedo, though, was immense for Brighton after signing for peanuts and then joined Chelsea for what could be a British record fee. What a piece of business.

Joe Willock’s loan to Newcastle is also worth a mention, as his goals played a huge part in the Magpies’ survival in 2020/21.

Summer, 2021 – Michael Olise (Reading to Crystal Palace, £8m)

For the player he has become, the scouting from Crystal Palace, and the £42m profit they made from his sale, Olise is actually a fairly easy choice in a very strong transfer window.

Martin Odegaard, Pape Matar Sarr, Cristian Romero, Marc Cucurella, Marc Guehi, Yoane Wissa, Kaoru Mitoma, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Emmanuel Dennis all miss out here.

Winter, 2022 – Bruno Guimaraes (Lyon to Newcastle, £36m)

Christian Eriksen’s move to Brentford was in with a shout. Luis Diaz, Rodrigo Bentancur and Julian Alvarez all deserve a mention. Kieran Trippier was our original choice. But Guimaraes is the one for us.

£36m for the Brazilian midfielder quickly became a steal for Newcastle.

Summer, 2022 – Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund to Manchester City, £51m)

Looking at other deals in this window wasn’t even necessary, was it?

Winter, 2023 – Antoine Semenyo (Bristol City to Bournemouth, £10.5m)

A strong window for attackers, this one. Kevin Schade and Matheus Cunha moved from abroad, while Newcastle signed Anthony Gordon and Arsenal completed the bargain acquisition of Leandro Trossard.

Pound for pound, there is no beating Semenyo. He was an outstanding player for Bournemouth and earned them a £62.5m fee in January 2026.

Summer, 2023 – Declan Rice (West Ham to Arsenal, £100m)

A strong, strong window, headlined by Arsenal’s record buy. Declan Rice for £100m didn’t seem like too much at the time, and looking back, they might have paid half price.

Cole Palmer for £40m, Tielemans on a free, Joao Pedro and Carlos Baleba to Brighton, Dejan Kulusevski and Micky van de Ven to Spurs, and Liverpool’s signings of Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch are all worthy honourable mentions.

Winter, 2024 – Morgan Rogers (Middlesbrough to Aston Villa, £8m)

Brighton signed a cracking player in Valentin Barco for only £7.9m, but he didn’t show his talent in the Premier League, only in France with Strasbourg.

This window was quiet, but there were a few coups. Crystal Palace also signed Daniel Munoz and Adam Wharton for a combined £28.8m, while Villa landed Rogers for a measly £8m. What a player he has become, and if he is sold this summer, he would likely cost ten times what the Villans paid for him.

Summer, 2024 – Elliot Anderson (Newcastle to Nottingham Forest, £30m)

The fee says £30m, but it was essentially only £15m as Odysseas Vlachodimos went in the opposite direction for £20m. It was all a PSR ploy, and while Newcastle avoided punishment, they gave up one of the best midfielders in England for a measly fee.

Anderson is currently England’s first-choice defensive midfielder and is valued at £100m, with Man City expected to sign him.

This summer, Arsenal signed David Raya, Everton signed Iliman Ndiaye, Maxence Lacroix joined Crystal Palace and Spurs bought Lucas Bergvall.

Winter, 2025 – Eli Junior Kroupi (Lorient to Bournemouth, £9.9m)

Slim pickings here, for sure. Kroupi is a superb talent. The next Kylian Mbappe? Let’s see…

Summer, 2025 – Granit Xhaka (Bayer Leverkusen to Sunderland, £13m)

What a summer transfer window for Sunderland this was, by the way. Robin Roefs, Nodri Mukiele and Omar Alderete were all standout additions, but Xhaka is the best. He is a huge reason for Sunderland’s success in their first season back up in the Premier League. The fact he was instantly given the captaincy says all you need to know.

Winter, 2026 – Antoine Semenyo (Bournemouth to Manchester City, £62.5m)

Rayan is looking good for Bournemouth, but it’s the man he replaced who gets the nod for the most recent window. As a result, Semenyo features twice here. Even if this transfer window feels like it closed yesterday, Semenyo is an easy choice.