The 10 most expensive defenders in Premier League history.
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With the news that Eliaquim Mangala has signed for Premier League champions Manchester City for a huge reported fee of £42.9 million, the Premier League has a new entrant into its list of all-time most expensive defenders.
The former Porto man is in illustrious company on this list of English football’s ten most costly defensive buys, and will be hoping to emulate a number of them having arrived at Eastlands from FC Porto are a relatively unheralded player.
He joins these other nine defensive stalwarts in the list of the Premier League’s top ten most expensive defenders:
10) Jose Bosingwa (FC Porto to Chelsea)
The 10th most expensive Premier League defender was Jose Bosingwa, with Chelsea signing the Portuguese right back for a fee of £16.2m in 2008.
9) Glen Johnson (Portsmouth to Liverpool)
Liverpool spent a cool £17.5m on bringing right back Glen Johnson to Anfield from then Premier League rivals Portsmouth in 2009.
8) Yuri Zhirkov (CSKA Moscow to Chelsea)
Another relative flop at Stamford Bridge who cost a huge sum was Russian left back Yuri Zhirkov, who Chelsea signed from CSKA Moscow for £18.6m in 2009.
7) Ricardo Carvalho (FC Porto to Chelsea)
Chelsea got excellent value out of centre back Ricardo Carvalho, although the Portuguese international did cost them a whopping £19.85m back in 2004.
6) Dejan Lovren (Southampton to Liverpool)
In an attempt to strengthen a leaky back line, Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers splashed £20m on centre back Dejan Lovren from Southampton this summer.
5) David Luiz (Benfica to Chelsea)
Yet another costly Chelsea defensive signing from Portugal, the Blues lavished £21.3m on Brazilian David Luiz from Benfica – although they did make a huge profit when selling him on to Paris Saint Germain this summer.
4) Joleon Lescott (Everton to Manchester City)
In what was an extremely protracted move, Manchester City eventually secured the signing of England international Joleon Lescott from Everton for £22m in 2009.
3) Luke Shaw (Southampton to Manchester United)
Another new addition to the list this summer, Manchester United were so keen to secure the long term services of teenage Southampton left back Luke Shaw for a huge fee of £27m.
2) Rio Ferdinand (Leeds United to Manchester United)
An extremely controversial move at the time, Manchester United made Rio Ferdinand the most expensive defender in the world when they signed him from rivals Leeds United for £30m.
1) Eliaquim Mangala (FC Porto to Manchester City)
Manchester City’s signing of French centre back Eliaquim Mangala for an unofficial fee of £42.9 makes him the new most expensive defender in Premier League history.