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The top 10 revealed
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The January transfer window has enjoyed a somewhat ponderous start with very few major deals going through in the first week of January. However, one transfer that is certainly doing its best to suck up all the oxygen in the room is Manchester City's pursuit of Antoine Semenyo. According to multiple reports, the Bournemouth forward is on the cusp of completing a move to Pep Guardiola's team for an initial fee of €72 million, plus a following €1.7m in add-ons. And not only will that be a record transfer fee for a Bournemouth player, but it will also make Semenyo one of the most expensive African internationals in Premier League history.
The most expensive African players in Premier League history
Leading the way is none other than Ivorian Nicolas Pépé, who joined Arsenal from Lille for €80m back in 2019, but never managed to showcase his potential in the Premier League. He actually left the Gunners on a free transfer four years later. In second place is a new addition to the list in Bryan Mbeumo, who mae a €75m move to Manchester United in the summer transfer window. He joins Man City forward Omar Marmoush on an identical transfer fee. Semenyo, who many expect to be a long-term replacement for the struggling Egyptian talent, will most likely slot into fourth place in the all-time rankings if his transfer fee lines up with the reporting surrounding the move. Fifth place goes to another Man City signing in Riyad Mahrez - the Algerian was signed from Leicester for €68m.
Two more relatively new signings have also entered the top 10 in the last 10 months. Yoane Wissa's €57.7m move from Brentford to Newcastle puts the DR Congo international in ninth place on our list and Mohammed Kudus' €63.8m move from West Ham to Tottenham at the start of the season places the Ghana international just slightly ahead of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's €63.75m move to Arsenal in the 2017/18 season. Naby Keïta's unfortunate spell at Liverpool takes eighth place followig his €60m move to Anfield and rounding up the top 10 is Aaron Wan-Bissaka's €55m move from Crystal Palace to Man Utd.
