£100m Transfer Barriers Fall in Premier League

Grealish's move from Aston Villa to Manchester City for £100 million marked the first time a British player crossed the 100‑million‑pound threshold. The deal set a precedent that the Premier League has since followed, with large‑value transfers becoming the norm. rocore.sbs

Over the last five seasons, the league’s spending on new players has surged, raising the average transfer fee and deepening the divide between the 'Big Six' clubs—Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea, and Tottenham Hotspur—and the other fourteen clubs. In the past decade, transfer spending has increased almost 175 %.