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Current transfer records for all 20 Premier League clubs

By Nicholas MendolaAug 8, 2019, 6:51 PM EDT
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More than half of the Premier League’s teams broke transfer records in 2019. Half!

Arsenal, Brighton, Newcastle, Watford, Spurs, West Ham, Man City, Wolves, Leicester City, and Aston Villa all have new top record holders, but where do those (reported) fees line up in comparison to other clubs’ records?

[ MORE: PL transfer grades ]

Wait no further, friends. Here are all the club transfer records for all 20 teams, with all transfers over $70 million included in the interest of perspective.

Fees are rounded to the nearest American million, using the current exchange rate. Values for Top 100 all-time transfers come from Transfermarkt, the rest via reports:

Manchester United – Paul Pogba (2016) – $108M

Manchester United – Harry Maguire (2019) – $99M

Manchester United – Romelu Lukaku (2017) – $97M

Liverpool – Virgil Van Dijk (2018) – $91M

Chelsea – Kepa Arrizabalaga (2018) – $91M

Arsenal – Nicolas Pepe (2019) – $88M

Man City – Rodri (2019) – $80M

Man City – Riyad Mahrez (2018) – $77M

Chelsea – Alvaro Morata (2017) – $75M

Man City – Joao Cancelo (2019) – $74M

Man City – Aymeric Laporte (2017) – $74M

Chelsea – Christian Pulisic (2019) – $73M

Arsenal – Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (2017) – $73M

Man City – Raheem Sterling (2015) – $73M

Liverpool – Alisson Becker (2018) – $71M

Man City – Kevin De Bruyne (2015) – $70M

Spurs – Tanguy Ndombele (2019) – $68M

Everton – Gylfi Sigurdsson (2017) – $56M

Leicester City – Youri Tielemans (2019) – $51M

Newcastle United – Joelinton (2019) – $50M

Watford- Ismaila Sarr (2019) – $49M

West Ham – Sebastien Haller (2019) – $46M

Wolves – Raul Jimenez (2019) – $43M

Crystal Palace – Christian Benteke (2016) – $33M

Bournemouth – Jefferson Lerma (2017) – $30M

Southampton – Jannik Vestergaard (2018) – $29M

Aston Villa – Wesley (2019) – $27M

Brighton – Neil Maupay and Adam Webster (2019) – $24M each

Sheffield United – Oli McBurnie (2019) – $24M

Burnley – Ben Gibson (2018) and Chris Wood (2017) – $18M each

Norwich City – Steven Naismith (2016) and Tim Klose (2016) – $12M each

Man City lose John Stones to injury

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By Joe Prince-WrightSep 17, 2019, 11:00 AM EDT
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Reigning Premier League champions Manchester City are down to the bare bones at center back.

John Stones will be out “four to five weeks” with a muscle injury, according to City boss Pep Guardiola.

Speaking ahead of City’s UEFA Champions League clash at Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday, City’s manager confirmed the injury happened in training.

With Aymeric Laporte out until January at the earliest, Man City have a real problem at center back with Nicolas Otamendi their only experienced central defender left.

The Argentine defender has struggled early this season and was awful in their shock defeat at Norwich on Saturday.

Midfielder Fernandinho will likely slot in at center back in the coming weeks, and that was likely going to the case anyway with Stones and Otamendi playing so poorly together. After losing Vincent Kompany this summer and then failing to sign Harry Maguire, not adding a new center back was a massive oversight by City.

That sound you can hear is Liverpool’s fans celebrating, as Jurgen Klopp’s side already have a five point lead atop the Premier League table.

Neymar’s Champions League ban reduced

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By Joe Prince-WrightSep 17, 2019, 10:29 AM EDT
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Neymar will be able to feature in four of Paris Saint-Germain’s UEFA Champions League group stage games.

[ MORE: UCL score picks ]

PSG, who kick off their Group A games against Real Madrid on Tuesday, appealed against Neymar’s ban after he took to social media to criticize the officials following their Round of 16 second leg defeat to Manchester United last March.

Initially he was banned three games by UEFA, but after a successful appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), he will now be available for four of their six UCL group games as they also face Galatasaray and Club Brugge.

After scoring a sensational overhead kick goal in stoppage time on his return to action for PSG on Saturday, all of a sudden things are looking a lot rosier for Neymar.

That said, his wishes to move on this summer haven’t been forgotten by PSG’s Ultras. During their win against Strasbourg at the Parc des Prince they hurled abuse at him and held up banners lashing out at the Brazilian superstar.

Schedule for 2019 Club World Cup announced

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By Joe Prince-WrightSep 17, 2019, 9:42 AM EDT
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The schedule for the 2019 FIFA World Club Cup has been confirmed.

Liverpool will represent UEFA in the global competition in Qatar from December 11-21, as Jurgen Klopp‘s side will play at least two games.

The Premier League side will face either Liga MX side Monterrey or the winner of Al Saad SC/Hienghene Sport in the semifinal on Dec. 17, then four days later will play in either the third-place match or the final.

Below is the schedule in full.

First round
Match 1: Al Sadd SC v Hienghene Sport – December 11

Second round
Match 2: Monterrey v. Winner of Match 1 – December 14
Match 3: AFC Champions v. Esperance Sportive de Tunis – December 14

Fifth-place match
Match 4: Loser Match 2 v. Loser Match 3 – December 17

Semifinals
Match 5: CONMEBOL champions v. Winners of Match 3 – December 17
Match 6: Winners Match 2 v. Liverpool – December 18

Third-place match
Match 7: Loser Match 6 v. Loser Match 5 – December 21

Final
Match 8: Winners Match 6 v. Winners Match 5 – December 21

Rooney lambasts MLS over domestic salaries

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By Joe Prince-WrightSep 17, 2019, 8:48 AM EDT
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It is quite clear Wayne Rooney is leaving Major League Soccer in December to head back to England.

Before he leaves for a player-coach role at Derby County, he’s hellbent on having his say. He is keen to air some grievances.

Like a free-spirited floor manager who is working out his notice before moving on, Rooney has once again taken a shot at MLS. This time he has hit out over salaries domestic players in the U.S. and Canada receive.

In an interview with ESPN, Rooney, 33, doubled down after his recent criticism of travel issues regarding charter flights not being available for all away trips.

“I feel that American players get underpaid,” Rooney said. “I feel they deserve to get more money to stay in line with football in the rest of the world and in terms of the American sports. I’m not saying it to benefit me, I obviously won’t be in the league next season. I think it’s only fair to those players who are putting in the same work as all have to earn the right to earn more money for doing it.”

Has Rooney got a point? He has, but it is a complex area to delve in to.

With more money set aside in recent seasons for Targeted Allocation Money (TAM), it is easier for MLS franchises to spend more money on overseas additions, and they often do that rather than use it on domestic players.

If you are a non-Designated Player in MLS, the maximum salary you can earn is $10,192-a-week. Rooney, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and others clearly don’t have to worry about their salary as DPs, but it is commendable that they are lending their voices to the cause. Rooney could just sit their and take his DP salary, but he’s not. So, he’s obviously seen something that needs to be addressed.

Do MLS players deserve to be paid higher? Of course. But it is still a growing league and is far away from the average salary in Europe’s top leagues. The average wage in MLS is around $7,000 per week, while in the Premier League it is around $70,000 per week.

With MLS expanding to new markets and attracting new interest from all over the globe, you’d expect the players who helped make the league what it is, the veteran U.S. and Canadian players, to be rewarded for their loyalty. But in the current system, it doesn’t work like that.

Why is Rooney speaking out now? The current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) runs out on Jan. 31, 2020 and there is talk of a strike unless more charter flights and freedom of movement between MLS teams is granted.

Given his profile, having Rooney lead the charge makes sense. Expect to hear a lot more about the MLS’ upcoming CBA talks with the MLS Players Association (MLSPA).