Every Premier League Club’s Best Bargain Signing Of All-Time

The 2025 summer transfer window is fully underway. While everyone is focusing on the players with massive fees like Florian Wirtz and Martin Zubimendi to Arsenal, I wanted to focus on bargain signings and underrated players. It’s too early to say who will be the bargains of this transfer window, but there have been tons of great examples in recent history. Let’s dive into the best bargain signings in Premier League history for every club.

Arsenal – Kolo Touré

Of all the Premier League clubs on this list, Arsenal might be the hardest to choose a top bargain signing for. And it’s not because there aren’t a lot of options to choose from —it’s because there are so many. The Gunners bought exceptionally well during both George Graham and Arsene Wenger’s eras at the club.

Pretty much every big name from the club’s golden era in the late 90s and 2000s can be described as a bargain signing in hindsight. On the other hand, the fees for Dennis Bergkamp (£7.5m), Thierry Henry (£11m), and Patrick Vieira (£3.5m) were not particularly small for their time. Kolo Touré’s was.

The Gunners paid just £150,000 to sign the Ivory Coast legend from ASEC Mimosas in 2002. He would go on to play a pivotal role in Arsenal’s defense for 8 years before he was sold for £14m to Manchester City in 2009.

Honorable Mentions: Sol Campbell (free), Robin van Persie (£2.75m), Aaron Ramsey (£4.8m)

Aston Villa – Gareth Barry

If you look up Aston Villa’s best signings of all time, you’ll see names like Peter Withe, Dennis Mortimer, and other names from the 70s and 80s. The Villans have been more hit or miss in the modern era, but no one can deny that Gareth Barry is one of the best signings in Premier League history.

Aston Villa signed Barry from Brighton in 1997. They initially offered to pay just a nominal £3,000 fee for the teenager, but the Seagulls wanted more and brought Villa to court. An FA tribunal raised the fee to £150,000 with add-ons. The club ended up paying Brighton just over £1m for Barry. He would have been a bargain at any of those prices.

Barry became a regular for Villa in the 1998–99 season and went on to make nearly 450 appearances for the club in all competitions before being sold for £12m to Manchester City in 2009.

Honorable Mentions: John McGinn (£2.8m), Stiliyan Petrov (£6.5m), Emiliano Martinez (£20m)

Bournemouth – Callum Wilson

Bournemouth don’t have as much Premier League history as many of the other teams they’ll go up against in the 2024–25 season, but they have made a few bargain signings who have contributed massively to their recent rise to become a top-flight team. None of them are better than Callum Wilson.

The Cherries signed the striker for just £3m from Coventry in 2014. He scored 20 goals in his first season for the club and helped them gain promotion to the top division of English football for the first time in their history.

Wilson only scored five goals in Bournemouth’s first PL season, but he would go on to play a pivotal role at the club as they attempted to solidify their status as a PL club. Wilson also netted the Cherries a pretty profit when they sold him to Newcastle for £20m in 2020.

Honorable Mentions: Harry Arter (£4k), Matt Ritchie (£400k), Aaron Ramsdale (£800k)

Brentford – Ivan Toney

Brentford have been one of the savviest teams in European football since 2012, when statistics-guru Matthew Benham bought the club from the Bees United supporters’ trust. They made several amazing signings since then, but I’m not going to overthink it here. Ivan Toney is the best bargain signing in Brentford history.

Yes, the Bees have paid less for players who have played longer for the club, but none of them had the impact that Toney had in his short stint in West London. They signed Toney from Peterborough United for £5m in 2020. He stayed at the club for four seasons and —betting ban aside— he was the best player for the club during that entire period.

Brentford might not even be in the Premier League today if they had not signed Toney. His record-breaking 31-goal season alongside fellow bargain signing Ollie Watkins in the 2020–21 Championship season propelled the Bees to the PL. After that, Toney’s 36 goals between 2021 and 2024 played a major part in keeping Brentford in the first division. To top it all off, the club were able to sell him to Saudi club Al Ahli for £40m in 2024.

Honorable Mentions: Ben Mee (free), Ollie Watkins (£1.8m), Bryan Mbeumo (£5.2m)

Brighton – Pascal Gross

Like Brentford, there are a lot of smart, bargain signings to choose from at Brighton. The Seagulls spent just £4m on Moises Caicedo and sold him to Chelsea for £115m two-and-a-half seasons later. Joel Veltman and Tariq Lamptey cost the club less than £4m combined. One name stands out above the rest though: Pascal Gross.

Brighton bought the Kaiser from FC Ingolstadt for just £3m ahead of their debut Premier League season in 2017. During his seven years at the club, Gross was a talisman for the team and one of the best midfielders in England.

Gross’ 26 PL goals for Brighton is second most in club history. He was named Brighton’s player of the year twice during his time at the club and became a full German international before being sold to Borussia Dortmund for £5.9m in 2024.

Honorable Mentions: Joel Veltman (£900k), Kaoru Mitoma (£2.6m), Alexis Mac Allister (£7.9m)

Burnley – Ben Mee

Because Burnley have such a small budget compared to other Premier League clubs, you can call pretty much all their successful signings bargains. That said, Ben Mee definitely stands out from the rest. The Clarets paid less than £1m to sign the undersized center-back from Manchester City in 2012.

Mee stayed at the club for 11 seasons, seven of which were in the PL. By the time he left to join Brentford on a free transfer, Mee made 332 league appearances for the Clarets and captained the club in their only Europa League campaign to date. He even co-managed the club for a brief stint in 2022 after Sean Dyche was sacked.

When it comes to £1m signings, you can’t ask for much more than what Ben Mee gave to Burnley.

Honorable Mentions: Tom Heaton (free), Michael Duff (£30k), Kieran Trippier (£400k)

Chelsea – Cesar Azpilicueta

Overpaying for players is practically a part of Chelsea’s DNA at this point, but, believe it or not, the Blues have made some pretty smart bargain signings over the years. In my opinion, Cesar Azpilicueta is the best of them.

“Dave” joined the West London club from Marseille in 2012 for just £7m. He was Chelsea’s fifth-most expensive signing that year and the second-most impactful, behind Eden Hazard, who the club paid £32m for.

Unlike Hazard, Azpilicueta stayed at Chelsea for over a decade. During that time, he won the Premier League, FA Cup, EFL Cup, and Europa League twice. He also captained the club in their 2021 Champions League final victory over Man City and later in the 2021 Club World Cup final against Palmeiras.

Honorable Mentions: Ashley Cole (£5m), Petr Čech (£7m)

Crystal Palace – Wilfried Zaha

I normally wouldn’t consider an academy graduate as a “bargain signing” but Crystal Palace’s decision to buy Wilfried Zaha back from Manchester United for £3m in 2015 has to be one of the best moves in club history.

The Eagles sold their homegrown star to the Red Devils for £10m in 2013 after he had already made over 100 appearances for the club. He came back just a year and a half later after falling out with David Moyes and failing to break into the first team under Louis van Gaal. Palace officially bought Zaha back in February 2015, and the rest is history.

Zaha’s second spell at the club lasted nine years. In that time, he scored 72 goals in 315 appearances for the club. He also led the Eagles to a record 10th-place finish in the 2014-15 season, and played for them in the 2015–16 FA Cup final.

Honorable Mentions: Attilio Lombardo (£1.6m), Jordan Ayew (£2.5m), Joel Ward (£400k)

Everton – Seamus Coleman

Everton’s history with bargain signings is a bit mixed but there’s no doubt that Seamus Coleman is one of the best bargain signings in Premier League history. The Toffees signed him from Sligo Rovers in 2009 for just £60k. He’s still at Everton today 16 years later and is the club’s record holder for most PL appearances with 369 matches and counting.

Coleman’s role has declined in recent years, but his versatility, reliability, and leadership arguably played a big part in why Everton have survived in the PL throughout the last few seasons.

The money the Toffees spent on him is surely the best £60k they have ever spent.

Honorable Mentions: Tim Cahill (£1.5m), Mikel Arteta (£2m), Tim Howard (£3m)

Fulham – Tim Ream

Fulham are the only team in the Premier League with an expression named after them for bad transfers. “Doing a Fulham” is when a team spends loads of money on new players after getting promoted from the Championship.

Despite this reputation, the Cottagers have made a lot of smart signings over the years. Which one is the best comes down to what you value most. If we’re talking pure quality for money spent, it’s hard to overlook Dimitar Berbatov being bought for £5m in 2012. In terms of return on investment, buying Chris Smalling for around £30k and selling him for £12m to Man Utd just 1.5 seasons later is hard to beat.

For me though, I value consistency and longevity. With that in mind, Tim Ream has to be Fulham’s best bargain signing. The Cottagers signed him from Bolton for around £2m in 2015. Ream stayed at the club for nine seasons, where he became a beloved figure and team captain before leaving to join Charlotte FC in 2025.

Honorable Mentions: Chris Smalling (£30k), Clint Dempsey (£2m), Dimitar Berbatov (£5m)

Leeds – Lucas Radebe

Leeds United famously made a number of bad signings during their first spell in the Premier League that led to one of the biggest downfalls in footballing history. Lucas Radebe was not one of those signings.

The Whites signed Radebe from South African side Kaizer Chiefs for £250k in 1994. He would go on to become club captain and a rock in the club’s back line for almost five seasons before severe knee and ankle injuries derailed his last few years in England.

Radebe ended his career as a Leeds player in 2004, the first of what would be 15 successive seasons outside of England’s top flight for the Whites. In total, Radebe made 256 appearances for Leeds.

Honorable Mentions: Tony Yeboah (£3.4m), Mark Viduka (£6m)

Liverpool – Philippe Coutinho

Liverpool broke their 30-year championship curse in 2020, when they convincingly won their first Premier League title. That success and their winning season last year would not have been possible without the signing of Philippe Coutinho. The Reds signed the Vasco da Gama-academy graduate for £8.5m from Inter Milan in 2013.

Coutinho went on to have a great five-year stint in the north-west, where he racked up 77 goal contributions in 152 league appearances. But that’s not why he’s my pick for Liverpool’s best bargain signing since 1992 —it’s the profit they made when they sold him.

In January 2018, Barcelona paid an absolutely enormous £105m fee for the Brazilian. This £96.5m profit enabled Liverpool to buy club legends Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah, and Alisson for large fees.

Honorable Mentions: Joel Matip (free), James Milner (free), Andy Robertson (£8m)

Manchester United – Eric Cantona

It’s a common belief nowadays that Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United teams were only successful because they spent more money than everyone else. They definitely spent money, but not nearly to the extent most people think. Like Arsenal, the Red Devils spent wisely in the 1990s and early 2000s as they helped establish the Premier League as the best league in world football.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Roy Keane, and even Cristiano Ronaldo could all be considered bargains, but none of them come close to the impact Eric Cantona had when he joined the club. Man United paid just £1m to buy the Frenchman from Leeds. If you ask former players, Cantona’s arrival changed everything.

Paul Ince described Cantona as having an “aura and presence” that transformed the Red Devils’ locker room instantly. “He took responsibility away from us. It was like he said: ‘I’m Eric, and I’m here to win the title for you’,” Ince said.

Ryan Giggs said of Cantona, “Gary and Phil Neville, Nicky Butt, Paul Scholes, David Beckham and myself – we all followed his lead.” Roy Keane said something similar. “Eric glided into the arena as if he owned the place,” the Irishman recalled.

Being able to buy such a transformational character for just £1m is borderline unbelievable.

Honorable Mentions: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (£1.5m), Nemanja Vidic (£7m), Cristiano Ronaldo (£12m)

Manchester City – Vincent Kompany

Manchester City spent money like crazy after Sheikh Mansour took over the club in 2008, but their best signing during those early days was actually one of their cheapest. The Sky Blues paid only £6m to sign Vincent Kompany from Hamburg in 2008.

Kompany was a good Bundesliga center-back before signing for City. In England though, Kompany would turn into one of the best defenders in Premier League history. He made nearly 400 appearances for the club over 11 seasons and won four PL titles, two FA Cups, and four EFL Cups.

Kompany left the club in 2019 to start his coaching career as a player-manager at Anderlecht. He will likely be a contender to take over at City when Pep Guardiola leaves. Even if Kompany never returns to Manchester, fans get to see him at the Etihad whenever they want. Kompany is one of just six players who have been honored with a statue outside the ground.

Honorable Mentions: Joe Hart (£100k), Pablo Zabaleta (£6.75m), Sergio Agüero (£35m)

Newcastle – Fabian Schär

Newcastle signed Fabian Schär at the tail end of the club’s bad times under Mike Ashley in 2018. A lot of the players signed during that period were bought for way too much money, but I don’t think anyone can say that about Schär.

The Magpies paid just £3m to buy the defender from Deportivo de La Coruña. He immediately improved the club’s back line under Rafael Benítez and is now a part of one of the most formidable center-back pairings in the league with Sven Botman.

In total, Schär has made 230 appearances for the Magpies in seven seasons. To top off all his successes at the club, Schär also played a key role for Newcastle’s EFL Cup win last season, which was the club’s first domestic trophy win in 70 years.

Honorable Mentions: Demba Ba (free), Rob Lee (£700k), Ayoze Perez (£1.5m)

Nottingham Forest – Ola Aina

A lot of people would describe Nottingham Forest’s transfer strategy since Evangelos Marinakis took over the club in 2017 as “scattershot.” Those people would be right. The Reds have signed 49 players since returning to the Premier League in 2022. Chelsea, who signed 48 players during that same period, are the only club who even comes close to Forest in terms of player turnover.

Of those 49 permanent signings, quite a few have been bargains with hindsight. In my opinion, Ola Aina is the best of them. Forest signed the Nigerian international on a free transfer from Torino in 2023. During his two years at the club so far, he has been one of the most consistent full-backs in the PL and was pivotal to the club securing Europa League qualification in the 2024–25 season.

Honorable Mentions: Callum Hudson-Odoi (£3m), Chris Wood (£15m)

Sunderland – Kevin Phillips

One year after Newcastle signed Alan Shearer in a record-breaking £15m deal, Sunderland signed Kevin Phillips to much less fanfare for just £325k. Shearer went on to have the better career after that, but there was a brief time where Phillips was arguably the better striker.

The Southampton academy graduate scored 60 goals for the Black Cats in his first two seasons at the club and helped them gain promotion back to the PL. He then scored an astonishing 30 goals in his inaugural top-flight campaign and won the 1999–2000 Premier League Golden Boot.

Phillips’ production tailed off after his phenomenal first season, but he was still a solid striker for two more years at Sunderland before rejoining his boyhood club Southampton for a £3.25m fee in 2003.

Honorable Mentions: Don Hutchison (free), Jermain Defoe (free + Jozy Altidore), Patrick Van Aanholt (£1.5m)

Tottenham – Dele Alli

Unlike their North London rivals Arsenal, Tottenham haven’t made quite as many bargain signings in their Premier League history. However, it’s hard to overstate how great the club’s signing of Dele Alli was. Spurs brought in the former English international for just £5m from his boyhood club MK Dons in 2015.

It’s easy to forget now since his career has unfortunately taken a turn for the worse, but Dele was once one of the most exciting players in Europe. He was a key part of Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham team that finished runner-up in the 2018–19 Champions League. Dele also helped Spurs finish in the top four in each of his first four seasons at the club.

Dele left Tottenham on a free transfer to Everton. The deal contained add-ons, which were never met, Spurs didn’t profit on Dele. In my opinion though, he was still a great bargain signing for the club.

Honorable Mentions: Kyle Walker (£9m), Jan Vertonghen (£9.5m), Gareth Bale (£10m)

West Ham – Paolo Di Canio

Paolo Di Canio’s reputation as a player has been largely overshadowed by his off-the-field beliefs and some of his extreme antics on it, but he was a very good player and definitely the best bargain signing in West Ham history.

The Hammers signed Di Canio for £1.5m from Sheffield Wednesday in 1999. Part of the reason they were able to get him for this cut-rate fee is because he was serving an 11-match ban for pushing referee Paul Alcock to the ground in his final match for the Owls.

Di Canio’s time at West Ham wasn’t without controversy, but he did make 141 appearances and score 51 goals for the club, making him well worth his fee.

Honorable Mentions: Aaron Cresswell (£3.75m), Michail Antonio (£7m), Scott Parker (£7m)

Wolves – Matt Doherty

Wolverhampton Wanderers have signed loads of Portuguese players since Fosun International purchased the club in 2016, but their best bargain signing is actually an Irishman. Wolves signed Matt Doherty from Bohemians for just £75k in 2010. He was at the club for a decade, making 260 league appearances and playing in three divisions for the West Midlands side.

It’s easy to overlook the role a defender can play, but Doherty was the exact kind of the player Wolves needed to provide security at the back as they rose from the lower leagues to the Premier League. He even played for them in the Europa League after the club’s surprising 7th-place finish in the 2018–19 PL season.

If Doherty’s accomplishments at Wolves weren’t enough for you, he also netted the club a pretty profit when they sold him for £13.4 to Tottenham in 2020 before returning to Wolves on a free transfer in 2023.

Honorable Mentions: Karl Henry (£100k), Joao Moutinho (£5m), Pedro Neto (£18m)