The transfer record for a British footballer has been smashed twice in the space of three weeks: First Manchester City struck a £116 million ($155.5m) deal to sign Nottingham Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson, then Chelsea agreed a £117 million ($156.9m) deal for Aston Villa attacker Morgan Rogers.
World Cup 2026
Both players are English, 23 years old, have been mainstays in the England national team since Thomas Tuchel took over in 2025, and they enjoyed stellar seasons for their respective clubs. Anderson played a big part in saving Forest from relegation, while Rogers powered Villa to a fourth-place finish (and a spot in the UEFA Champions League) and scored a goal to help the club win the UEFA Europa League final.
It became clear by the end of the season that a) both players were going to move to an elite club, and b) their transfers were going to cost a lot of money.
Rogers and Anderson slot straight in as the fourth- and fifth-most expensive players of all time. They become the 12th and 13th players whose transfers have cost £100 million or more — eight of which have all moved since 2020, as inflation continually drives fees up.
Match Details
But when you look at the list of most expensive deals in history and get a sense for the company Rogers and Anderson now keep, it begs two questions: Is it worth spending this much to sign a single player? And if so, are there lessons to be learned from previous deals to make sure it is a success?
Why the transfers of Rogers and Anderson cost record fees
Before we delve into the cross-comparisons, we should first establish the logic for paying record fees to sign these two players.
Tournament Impact
Yes, there’s an obvious “English tax” being applied here when signing homegrown players, which is vital to consider when talking about clubs who regularly need to register UEFA competition squads with a certain amount of domestic players. There’s also a “Premier League-proven tax” at play, as clubs increasingly recruit from inside the league — at a major premium — to remove any question marks over whether a new signing can adapt.
And then there’s their undoubted qualities.
Anderson won by far the most duels (297) in the Premier League last season, while also racking up the most touches of the ball (3,308). That’s a rare combination and marks him out as a complete midfielder, capable of calmly recycling the ball as well as winning it back voraciously. He also takes a good set piece and can hit a shot from range — as City found out to their detriment when he scored for Forest against them in March.
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