Ipswich Town have paid eight-figure fees for three English players with little Premier League experience this summer - defender Jacob Greaves (£15m with the potential to rise to £18m, Hull City), attacker Omari Hutchinson (£18m with the potential to rise to £22m, Chelsea) and striker Liam Delap (£15m with the potential to rise to £20m, Man City).
Does the potential reward outweigh the risk? Stuart Watson looks at some comparable deals in recent years.
THE HITS
JAMES MADDISON
James Maddison’s experience had come in League One and the Championship, with Coventry and Norwich respectively, when Leicester paid out £20m to sign him in 2018.
The technically-gifted attacker went on to contribute 43 goals and 39 assists in Premier League goals over five seasons before moving to Tottenham for £40m last summer.
OLLIE WATKINS
Striker came through at League Two club Exeter City before kicking on in the Championship with Brentford.
After a 26-goal campaign in the second-tier, Aston Villa paid £28m - with the potential to rise to £33m - for the 24-year-old in the summer of 2020. It was a club-record fee for Villa and a record fee for a Championship player.
Watkins has bagged 59 goals in four Premier League campaigns for Villa, including 19 last season as Champions League qualification was secured, and recently netted England’s winner in the Euro 2024 semi-final.
ADAM WHARTON
The 19-year-old midfielder had started 34 Championship games for Blackburn when Crystal Palace bought him for £18m - with the potential to rise to £22m - back in January.
He hit the ground running in the Premier League, earning plenty of plaudits, and ended up being included in the England squad for Euro 2024.
Such has been his rapid rise that there has been talk of German giants Bayern Munich readying a £60m bid this summer.
JARROD BOWEN
Having scored 52 goals in 117 Championship appearances for Hull City, the direct-running winger joined West Ham in a £22m deal in January 2020.
It’s proved to be a super bit of business for the Hammers, with Bowen scoring 60 goals, including a Europa Conference League winner, over four-and-a-half seasons.
There was talk last winter, with Liverpool reportedly interested, that West Ham valued him at £100m. Newcastle are now being linked.
EBERECHI EZE
The skilful winger had scored 20 goals in 104 Championship games for QPR when Crystal Palace bought him for £16m, with the potential to rise to £20m, in 2020. He was 22 at the time.
Eze has got better and better at the Eagles. After hitting double digits for goals in his last two Premier League seasons, he has broken into the England squad and reportedly had a £65m price tag slapped on him.
MICHAEL OLISE
Palace activated an £8m release clause to sign Olise from Reading in 2021. The 19-year-old had just scored seven goals in the previous Championship season.
The exciting winger, who was at the academies of Arsenal, Chelsea and Man City, is another who flourished at Selhurst Park. So much so that Bayern Munich have just paid £50m to sign him. That’s a very tidy profit.
MATTY CASH
Matty Cash was 23 when Aston Villa paid £16m to sign him from Nottingham Forest in 2020. He’d made 129 appearances in the Championship at that stage.
The right-back has gone on to make 121 appearances in the Premier League for Villa over the last four seasons, picking up their Player of the Year award for 2021/22. The Berkshire-born player has also become a 15-cap Poland international, featuring at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
He’s been linked with a £20m move to AC Milan this summer.
HARRY MAGUIRE
In 2017, Leicester City bought centre-back Harry Maguire from Hull City. They paid £12m (with the potential to rise to £17m) for a 24-year-old who had only started 25 Premier League games at that point.
Two years into his five-year deal, he joined Manchester United for £80m - a world-record fee for a defender at the time – and is now a 63-cap England international.
TYRONE MINGS
When Bournemouth were promoted to the Premier League for the first time ever in 2015 they broke their transfer record to sign Tyrone Mings from Ipswich Town.
£8m was a lot of money for a 22-year-old former non-league defender with just 42 Championship starts under their belt. It paid off though. Despite an injury-hit time with the Cherries, he was still sold to Aston Villa for £20m - with the potential to rise to £25m - in 2019. Now has 18 England caps to his name
MARC GUEHI
Guehi was 21 when Crystal Palace signed him from Chelsea for £18m in 2021. At that stage the centre-back's experience senior experience was limited to two seasons in the Championship on loan for Swansea.
Three years later, he’s just played a starring role at Euro 2024 and is being linked to a host of top European clubs. His price tag is reportedly £70m.
EZRI KONSA
Konsa had played two seasons in League One for Charlton and one in the Championship for Brentford come the summer of 2019.
Aston Villa, freshly off the back of promotion to the Premier League in 2019, saw enough to pay £12m to sign the 21-year-old.
The England international must be worth at least double that now given he’s just helped the Midlands club qualify for the Champions League.
THE MISSES
BEN GODFREY
Everton paid £20m - with the potential to rise to £25m - when they signed Godfrey from Norwich City in 2020. The 22-year-old had just been part of a Canaries side relegated from the Premier League.
The Toffees got close to 100 appearances out of the youngster over four seasons. They got half of their money back - £10m - when selling him to Atalanta last month.
BEN GIBSON
Burnley paid a club-record £15m to sign the 25-year-old centre-back from Championship club Middlesbrough in 2018.
Gibson made just one Premier League appearance over three years for the Clarets. He described the move as a ‘disaster’.
A loan spell at Norwich eventually turned into an £8m switch as the Lancashire club cut their losses. The 31-year-old is now at Stoke.
DJED SPENCE
Tottenham paid an initial £12.5m - with the potential to rise to £20m - when signing the England Under-21 right-back from Middlesbrough in 2022. At that stage, the 21-year-old had three Championship seasons under his belt.
Spence made just four Premier League appearances in his debut campaign for Spurs, all off the bench, and has since had loan spells at Rennes, Leeds and Genoa.
Faces an uncertain future with three years left on his deal at the North London club.
RHIAN BREWSTER
Having just finished ninth in their first season back up in the Premier League, Sheffield United paid a club-record £23.5m to sign striker Rhian Brewster from Liverpool.
The 20-year-old had just burst on the scene with 10 goals for Swansea during a first senior loan spell in the Championship. Blades boss Chris Wilder labelled him ‘one of the country’s hottest prospects’. Liverpool insisted on a £40m buy back clause.
The former England youth star has had a nightmare time with injuries at Bramall Lane though, scoring five goals in 34 starts and 43 sub appearances. He still has 12 months left on his five-year contract.
AARON RAMSEY
Burnley, freshly promoted to the Premier League, paid a fee ‘in the region of £14m plus add-ons' to sign the England Under-20 midfielder from Aston Villa last summer. He’d just scored eight Championship goals during loan spells at Norwich and Middlesbrough.
On his fifth Premier League start for the Clarets he was stretchered off with a nasty knee injury that ruled him out for the remainder of the campaign.
Burnley were relegated. Ramsey still has four years left on his contract.
JURY'S OUT
FLYNN DOWNES
West Ham paid around £12m to sign Flynn Downes from Swansea in 2022. The 23-year-old had only just stepped up from League One club Ipswich the previous summer.
The combative midfielder was restricted to seven Premier League starts in his debut season for the Hammers, the team he grew up supporting, but did feature a lot in their run to winning the Europa Conference League.
He spent last season on loan at Championship club Southampton and, after playing a key role in them getting promoted via the play-offs, signed permanently for £18m.
JAMES TRAFFORD
Burnley also went out and paid £15m, plus a potential £4m in add-ons, to sign England Under-21 goalkeeper James Trafford from Man City last summer.
The 20-year-old's only senior experience had come in League One during loan spells at Accrington Stanley and Bolton.
Trafford conceded 62 goals in 28 Premier League appearances before losing his place to Arijanet Muric for the final 10 games of the campaign.
Still, the Clarets look like they’ll make their money back on the young shot-stopper this summer. He’s been linked with both Newcastle and Chelsea for around £15-20m.
ALEX SCOTT
The 19-year-old midfielder had enjoyed two impressive seasons in the Championship for Bristol City when Bournemouth paid a £25m fee for his services last summer.
The England U21 international was restricted to 11 starts and 12 sub appearances during his debut campaign in the Premier League due to knee injuries.
CAMERON ARCHER
Following promotion to the Premier League, Sheffield United paid £18.5m to sign England U21 international striker Cameron Archer from Aston Villa. At that stage he’d made 10 sub appearances in the Premier League and had two seasons in the Championship, on loan at Preston and Middlesbrough.
Archer scored four goals in 29 Premier League appearances last season. Following the Blades’ instant relegation, Villa activated a buy back clause of £14m.
KEANE LEWIS-POTTER
Keane Lewis-Potter made an impressive 122 appearances for Hull City by the 21. Off the back of that, Brentford paid a club-record £16m to sign the versatile forward in 2022.
In the Premier League, he’s scored three goals in 18 starts and 22 sub appearances. Still has four years left on the six-year contract signed.
JAMES GARNER
James Garner had made two Premier League sub appearances for Manchester United and played two seasons in the Championship with Watford and Nottingham Forest.
That was enough for Everton to pay out £9m, with the potential to rise to £15m, to sign the 21-year-old in 2022.
The England U21 international has made 41 starts and 12 sub appearances for the Toffees in the top flight. He was labelled ‘terrific’ by manager Sean Dyche last season.
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