Declan Rice has become the most expensive British player in Premier League history.
Arsenal have smashed their club record to sign the England midfielder from West Ham, parting with an initial £100million plus a potential £5m to follow in add-ons.
Here, the PA news agency compares the transfer with previous big-money signings.
Most expensive British players
The initial £100m fee paid for Rice is a joint-record for a British player, alongside Manchester City’s signing of Jack Grealish from Aston Villa in August 2021.
Jude Bellingham’s move from Borussia Dortmund to Real Madrid is next at £88.5m, although this could eventually exceed the Rice deal by rising to £115m including add-ons.
Gareth Bale – in whose footsteps Bellingham will follow by walking out at the Bernabeu – was ranked number one for eight years until Grealish signed for City, with Madrid having paid £85.1m to sign the Welshman from Tottenham in 2013.
Meanwhile, Harry Maguire remains the most expensive British defender of all-time, following his £80m switch from Leicester to Manchester United in 2019.
Highest transfer fees paid by British clubs
Rice’s move from West Ham to Arsenal falls just short of breaking the British transfer record, which stands at the £106.8m paid for Benfica’s Enzo Fernandez by Chelsea in January.
However, the Gunners smashed their own record outlay – previously £72m for Nicolas Pepe – to land Rice ahead of Premier League champions Manchester City, who were unwilling to surpass the £100m figure they paid for Grealish two years ago.
The fourth and fifth most expensive buys by British clubs involved re-signing players who were released for a fraction of the price earlier in their careers.
Chelsea almost breached the nine-figure mark to bring Romelu Lukaku back to the club from Inter in 2021, having sold him to Everton for £28m seven years beforehand, while Manchester United spent £89m on Paul Pogba from Juventus having allowed him to leave for free four years earlier.
Highest transfer fees received by British clubs
West Ham’s protracted negotiations with Arsenal saw them become the third British club to receive £100m or more up front for an individual player.
Liverpool’s sale of Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona in January 2018 remains the most expensive in Premier League history, with the Reds receiving an initial fee of £105m and a further £37m in add-ons.
Former Aston Villa captain Grealish, who – like Rice at West Ham – joined the club as a youth player before being given the armband, is the only other Premier League player to attract a nine-figure bid.
The remaining two sales in the all-time top five were both to Real Madrid, with Chelsea’s Eden Hazard and Tottenham’s Bale going for an initial £88.3m and £85.1m respectively.
Hazard – whose fee was reported to be worth up to £130m including add-ons – became a free agent at the start of July after agreeing to cancel his Madrid contract 12 months early.
Sessegnon rejoins boyhood club Fulham after Tottenham departure
Ryan Sessegnon has resigned for Fulham on a free transfer, five years after leaving the club.
The 24-year-old signed a two-year contract with the Cottagers with the option to extend for a further year following his departure from Tottenham last month.
In his first spell at the club, Sessegnon worked his way through the academy over 11 years, scoring 25 goals in 120 first-team appearances.
He then moved to Spurs in a £25million deal in 2019, though struggled to nail down a place in North London, making just 57 appearances in all competitions, and scoring three goals.
"It's amazing to be back. Emotional, as well," he told FFCtv. "It's where it started for me, where everything began, and it's amazing to be back.
"It will always be home for me. I think it had the feeling that it was meant to be, coming back here, so I'm delighted to get it done."
Sessegnon is Fulham's first signing of the transfer window, though they have seen plenty of first-team departures already, with Joao Palhinha, Tosin Adarabioyo and Bobby De Cordova-Reid all leaving the club.
Dewsbury-Hall: Maresca will surprise people at Chelsea
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall believes new Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca will "surprise a lot of people" when they watch the Blues this season.
The Italian led Leicester City straight back to the Premier League as Championship winners in his only season in charge and succeeds Mauricio Pochettino at Stamford Bridge.
The Foxes topped the second division table with 98 points, with Dewsbury-Hall a key figure in his squad as he netted 12 goals and provided 14 assists last season – his best tally in a single campaign.
Dewsbury-Hall was also named Leicester's Player and Players' Player of the Year.
The midfielder made the switch to West London earlier this month for £30million and is confident that Maresca will have Chelsea challenging for trophies in no time.
"The manager was a big catalyst in wanting me to come," Dewsbury-Hall told BBC Sport.
"I knew from Leicester, a club that went down and had a lot of problems, how he managed to galvanise that if everyone manages to buy into the system.
"I genuinely think in a short space of time we can be pushing for minimum top four - but more than that.
"He may be unknown for a lot of people, but he is top, top level. He will surprise a lot of people."
Chelsea's pre-season got off to a frustrating start as they were held to a 2-2 draw by League One side Wrexham in Maresca's first game in charge on Wednesday.
Dewsbury-Hall did not play in that match but is training with the squad in the United States and could feature in their next outing against Celtic on Saturday.
The 25-year-old is confident the manager's tactics will come across soon, with the players buying into his style.
"We've only been doing it for two or three weeks, but the combination plays are really quick and tidy," he added.
"That's after two weeks. I remember he said to us at Leicester after six months or a year, there might be teething problems at the start, but it will improve.
"Within the first week at Leicester, I was convinced this was top, top level. I felt a bit stupid; I thought I knew a lot about football, but he was teaching me things on a daily basis that I didn't really know before. He has an aura, he can be strict, or gentle and soft - he has both sides.
"I am getting the same feedback here with the lads. They've bought into it here from minute one which is exciting. With a system and philosophy, you need everyone to buy in because, if they do, you can really achieve something."
Ederson slams reports of rift with Man City backup Ortega
Ederson has hit out at reports of a rift between himself and fellow Manchester City goalkeeper Stefan Ortega.
The Brazilian was substituted after suffering a fractured eye socket in City's penultimate game of the Premier League season, a vital 1-0 win over Tottenham.
Ortega replaced him and made a brilliant save to deny Son Heung-min as City maintained their slender lead over Arsenal at the top of the table, sealing an unprecedented fourth straight title by beating West Ham five days later.
Ortega was widely lauded for his role in that triumph, and an article published by The Athletic this week suggested Ederson took issue with that praise.
However, the goalkeeper – who missed the Copa America as a result of his injury – has now moved to shut down those suggestions with a post to his Instagram story.
"I would like to clarify that the note published by The Athletic yesterday, referring to my alleged dissatisfaction with a co-worker, is completely false," he wrote.
"The alleged day reported was, without a doubt, one of the most difficult days of my career, when I suffered a fracture that prevented me from playing in the final stretch of the season and, consequently, from representing my country in the Copa America.
"At the time of the injury, my only thought was to continue in the match, defending City in the fight for the title.
"But the emotion of the match would be greater than the reality and, inevitably, I would not be able to continue as I would have liked due to the damage it caused, completely blocking my field of vision. I remain focused on preparing for the season."
Ederson has been linked with a transfer in recent days, reportedly attracting interest from Saudi Pro League clubs.
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