Below is a summary of the full article. Click here for the full version or go back to LFC Live.net

Jun 21, 2025, 06:25 AM ET

Liverpool have signed 22-year-old midfielder Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen in a blockbuster transfer worth an initial £100 million, with £16m in potential add-ons.

While the British transfer record remains the £106.3m that Chelsea paid Benfica up front to sign Enzo Fernández in 2023, Wirtz will become only the fifth player to move to (or within) the Premier League for over £100m.

Though Wirtz's fee is a long way shy of the world-record transfer -- Neymar's £198m move to Paris Saint-Germain from Barcelona in 2017 -- any deal that reaches nine figures puts huge pressure on the players and, typically speaking, those involved struggle to live up to the expectations created by these astronomical numbers.

Here, we rank the previous four based on how successful they've been, but also what the future holds for them.

Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images4.

His six league strikes this season made him the club's third-top goal scorer, and he's already netted one in the 2025 Club World Cup.

Life is far from easy at Chelsea, what with the constant managerial upheaval (he's played under four already) and over £1 billion of transfer business in a handful of windows, so this is not necessarily the Argentine's fault, but the picture of what Fernández should be as a player has never been completely clear.

He never eclipsed the five-goal mark in the Premier League, and played just 716 minutes in 2024-25.

He was a force to be reckoned with in the Champions League, finishing the tournament with the most shot-creating actions (55) of any player and working hard for the team, while also picking up the Premier League and FA Cup trophies.

This monster season prevents Grealish's time at City from being regarded as a total failure, but if this really is the end of the England international's career at the Etihad Stadium, he didn't really justify the fee in the end.

He registered at least three tackles and interceptions combined in 15 separate Premier League games last season.

Rice has also become one of the league's top set-piece takers, perfecting the art of the in-swinging corner to great effect, then added direct free-kick goals to his game on that famous night against Real Madrid in the Champions League quarterfinals.

His natural fitness levels are off the charts: He has started 32 or more league games in each of the past seven seasons, frequently played entire European campaigns alongside them, and has reached two European Championship finals as a key player for his country in that time too.

A durable, physically imposing, goal scoring, box-to-box midfielder with a penchant taking control of big games?

It was a saga that lasted most of the summer, wrecked his preseason and piled pressure on the Ecuador midfielder's debut for the Blues -- which saw him give away a penalty in a frankly terrible cameo during a 3-1 loss to West Ham United.

That shocking start is a distant memory, as Caicedo soon found his feet and for the past 18 months or so, he's played exceptional football to a ridiculously consistent level, showcasing a remarkable array of skills.

Not only is Caicedo one of the most prolific tacklers and interceptors (third-most in the Premier League last season), he's also an underrated progressive passer (he ranks ninth for progressive passes), a good ball carrier and is tactically smart enough to invert from right back if his team needs him to.
For more news relating to West Ham, visit our sister site WHU Latest Live.