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Manchester City have smashed their transfer record by signing Enzo Fernandez from Chelsea in a staggering £125 million deal.

Granted, this has been a summer in which Elliot Anderson has cost Manchester City £116 million and Sandro Tonali has cost Tottenham £92.5 million. Even so, there is still value available lower down the market.

To underline that point, here is an XI of Premier League players who were all signed for less than £125 million.

Of all the money Chelsea have spent this summer, they may not have made a smarter signing than Emiliano Martinez.

Landing one of the Premier League’s top goalkeepers for £7 million looks excellent business, even if Martinez is now 34.

Suggestions that he is the outright best goalkeeper in the world have always felt slightly overblown, but there is no question he represents a huge improvement on Robert Sanchez.

Sunderland embarked on a sizeable spending spree last summer after winning promotion to the Premier League. It is fair to say it paid off, with the club not only staying up but also sealing European qualification by the end of the campaign.

Nordi Mukiele was one of their best value additions at £9.5 million, proving a useful option at both right-back and centre-back.

Newcastle have had eight years of service from Fabian Schar, which makes their £3 million outlay on him look even more of a steal.

Triggering his Deportivo release clause was a smart move by the Magpies, and he has since made more than 200 Premier League appearances.

Nottingham Forest often appeared to take a scattergun approach to recruitment in the years following their return to the Premier League, but they got it absolutely right when they identified Murillo.

By bringing the Brazilian over from Corinthians while he was still only 21, Forest have since reaped the rewards as he has developed into a regular starter.

You might have expected Bournemouth to struggle after losing Milos Kerkez last summer, but they actually managed to recruit someone who performed even better.

Adrien Truffert played in all 38 of their Premier League matches last season and settled immediately following his move from Rennes.

Aston Villa were still stuck in their Championship years when they decided to take a chance on John McGinn, signing him from Hibernian.

Just one year later, Villa were back in the Premier League. Three years on from that, McGinn became club captain. Then, four years later again, he was lifting the Europa League trophy.

What a journey it has been.

Returning to Sunderland’s transfer business from the summer of 2025, Granit Xhaka had to be the standout choice.

He is the most expensive player in this XI, but £17.3 million for someone of his quality and experience, in the current market, was a bargain.

Xhaka instantly became Sunderland’s midfield leader and was a major driving force for them last season.

Ismaila Sarr might easily have been the subject of a far more expensive transfer this summer if Liverpool had managed to strike a deal with Crystal Palace for him.

But he remains a Palace player, having joined the club from Marseille in 2024.

With 33 goals in all competitions across his first two seasons at Selhurst Park, he has offered strong value for money as a winger.

This is now the fifth season of Mikkel Damsgaard’s Premier League career, and he has been an outstanding signing for Brentford.

One of the Premier League’s more underrated attacking midfielders, he does not score heavily but compensates with plenty of assists.

The cheapest player in this line-up, Kaoru Mitoma’s stock has dipped a little over the past year or so, but there can be no argument that £2.5 million was an absolute bargain for him.

Brighton have now enjoyed four years of his quality, with Mitoma showing himself to be an excellent dribbler who can chip in with goals as well.

Strikers are usually the ones who command the biggest fees, but Crystal Palace managed to sign Jean-Philippe Mateta for a relatively modest amount.

He has developed into a dependable goalscorer for them over the past few seasons, although matters turned a little sour this summer when he attempted to leave on a free transfer.