Beyond The Top 5: Rating the 5 most expensive Primeira Liga to Premier League transfers as Luis Diaz joins Liverpool

Colombian winger, Luis Diaz has become the latest English Premier League big signing from the Portuguese Liga Nos as he joins Liverpool from Porto for €45 million.

That fee makes him the joint-third most expensive Premier League signing out of the Portuguese League.

Let us take a closer look at the top five (top six excluding Luis Diaz) players on that list of Liga Nos to EPL transfers and see how they turned out in ascending order of transfer fee.

Manchester City signed Brazilian goalkeeper in the summer of 2017 from Benfica for €40 million which at the time was a lot for a goalkeeper.

Ederson was a big deal in Portugal but the 23-year old was a complete unknown in the Premier League, a situation he has since corrected by contributing immensely to Manchester City’s dominance.

In four full seasons, Ederson has won three Premier League titles, four EFL Cups, two Community Shields and one FA Cup trophy. On a personal note, he has won two Premier League Golden Gloves and twice been included in the team of the season.

Now in his fifth season, Ederson looks certain to add to his silverware collection both with the team and individually as well, all of which makes the €40 million fee a massive bargain in hindsight.

VERDICT: Success!

Wolves decided to shell out €40 million to sign 18-year old Fabio Silva in September 2020, as the rest of the world dealt with the crippling economic effects of the pandemic which means they must have really believed he was special.

Five goals in 13 games for Porto B and three goals in 21 total appearances for the Porto senior team was all it took to convince Wolves to pay a club-record fee for the golden-haired teenager.

The only logical explanation for this transfer was that the Wolves scouting team saw how good Fabio Silva was on Football Manager and thought they were stealing a march on Europe’s elite clubs.

They would soon find out that being listed as a ‘wonderkid’ on a coaching simulator video game is entirely different from playing against grown men in the most competitive league in the world.

The pressure of being the most expensive signing in the club’s history and the seventh most expensive teenager in football history would also have played a part in Silva’s underwhelming spell so far. 

He has scored four goals in 50 games for Wolves so far and is no doubt a flop but because he is still only 19 years old with over three years left on his contract, Silva still has a lot of time to come good.

VERDICT: Jury is still out.

Manchester City signed French centre-back Eliaquim Mangala for €45 million in August 2014 making him the most expensive defender in British transfer history at the time.

It did not take very long for them to find out what a big mistake this was as Mangala scored an own-goal and conceded a penalty against Hull City in what was his second game for the club.

He went on to make 79 appearances for Manchester City and had two loan spells at Valencia and Everton before leaving as a free agent at the expiration of his five-year contract.

VERDICT: Colossal Flop.

There are not many signings in football history who can boast of such an instant impact as Bruno Fernandes did at Manchester United. The Portuguese midfielder joined in January 2020 for €63 million from Sporting Lisbon and instantly became the star of the team, injecting new life and leading the charge for a top-four finish.

Despite not making his United debut till February (more than halfway into the 2019/20 season) Fernandes scored 12 goals and provided eight assists in 22 games to end the season.

He followed that with 28 goals and 21 assists in 58 matches in his first full season at Manchester United where he has since established himself as one of the best players in the world.

VERDICT: Success!

The most expensive and also the most recent of these transfers (before Luis Diaz of course), Ruben Dias also has a case as the most successful despite only playing one full season of English football.

Manchester City signed Dias from Benfica for €68 in September 2020 and has been a mainstay in the team ever since. The then 23-year old centre-back took to English football like a duck to water with his physicality and aggression working to his advantage.

Dias was named the FWA Footballer of the year, Premier League player of the season, UEFA Champions League defender of the season as well as an appearance each in the UEFA team of the season and the Premier League team of the season.

VERDICT: Resounding success!