After Manchester City completed the £52m signing of Benjamin Mendy from Monaco just before the new season kicked off, the deal meant Pep Guardiola's side have now paid five of the 10 biggest fees ever spent on defenders in the history of football and the Premier League.
However, that figure was smashed on Wednesday night when Liverpool confirmed they had reached an agreement with Southampton for the signature of Virgil Van Dijk for £75m.
The figure is a world record fee for a defender and will see him move to Anfield after two and a half years at the St Mary's with the Saints.
Here, we take a look at the top ten most expensive defenders in the history of the Premier league.
10. Eric Bailly (Villarreal to Manchester United (2015/16) for £30m)
Eric Bertrand Bailly (French pronunciation is an Ivorian professional footballer who plays for English club Manchester United and the Ivory Coast national team.
On June 8, 2016, Bailly joined the Red Devils for a reported fee of £30 million, signing a four-year contract, with the option of an additional two. He was the first player signed by Jose Mourinho when he was appointed United's manager.
9. Eliaquim Mangala (Valencia to Manchester City (2014/15) for £32m)
Eliaquim Hans Mangala is a French professional footballer who plays for English club Manchester City and the France national team as a central defender.
On August 11, 2014, Mangala signed for City on a five-year contract for a reported £32 million transfer fee. It was however reported 18 months into his contract that the fee was more in the region of £42m due to spiralling costs as a result of Mangala's split ownership at Porto, with City having to pay in the region of £18m to two companies which owned over 40% of Mangala's economic rights.
8. Shkodran Mustafi (Valencia to Arsenal (2016/17) for £35m)
Shkodran Mustafi is a German professional footballer who plays as a central defender for English club Arsenal and the Germany national team.
On August 30, 2016, Mustafi joined Arsenal for an undisclosed fee, reported to be in excess of £35 million.
7. Davidson Sanchez (Ajax to Tottenham Hotspur (2017/18) for £36.6m)
Davinson
Sánchez Mina is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur and for the Colombian national team.
On August 18, 2017, Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur announced that they had agreed a move for Sánchez signing a six-year contract subject to a work permit, for a reported transfer fee of up to £36.6 million, smashing their club record.
6. Nicolas Otamendi (Valencia to Manchester City (2015/16) for £40m)
Nicolas Hernan Otamendi is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a central defender for English club Manchester City and the Argentina national team.
On 20 August, he joined Manchester City on a five-year deal after refusing to train or play with Valencia late into the 2015 pre-season.
5. Rio Ferdinand (Leeds United to Manchester United (2002/03) for £41m)
Rio Ferdinand is a retired English professional footballer who played as a centre back. He played 81 times for the England national football team between 1997 and 2011.
On 22 July 2002, Ferdinand joined fellow Premier League side Manchester United on a five-year deal to become the most expensive British footballer in history at the time and the world's most expensive defender for a second time, a title he had lost in 2001 to Lilian Thuram.
4. John Stones (Everton to Manchester City (2016/17) for £49.7m)
John Stones is an English professional footballer who plays for Premier League club Manchester City and the English national team. Mainly a centre-back, he can also play as a right back.
Stones joined Premier League club Everton for around £3 million in January 2013 and amassed 95 appearances for the Merseyside club over four seasons. In August 2016, he signed for Manchester City for an initial £47.5 million with a potential extra £2.5 million in add-ons.
3. Kyle Walker (Tottenham to Manchester City (2017/18) for £50m)
Kyle Andrew Walker is an English professional footballer who plays as a right back for Premier League club Manchester City and the English national team.
On 14 July 2017, Walker signed a five-year contract with Tottenham's Premier League rivals Manchester City, in a transfer reported to be worth an initial £45 million fee, rising to £50 million with add-ons.
2. Benjamin Mendy (Monaco to Manchester City (2017/18) for £52m)
Benjamin Mendy is a French professional footballer who plays as a left back for Premier League club Manchester City and the France national team.
On 24 July 2017, it was announced that Premier League side Manchester City had signed Mendy on a five-year contract,[24] for a fee reported to be £52m. The transfer fee eclipsed the previous record for a defender, set 10 days prior by City on teammate Kyle Walker.
1. Virgil Van Dijk (Southampton to Liverpool (2017/18) for £52m)
Virgil van Dijk is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Premier League club Southampton and the Netherlands national team.
On 27 December 2017, it was announced that Van Dijk would join Liverpool when the winter transfer window opens on 1 January 2018 for a fee of £75m.
What's even more interesting is that Rio Ferdinand was bought for £41m as at 02/03 season. Now that's what I call expensive
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