Rating West Ham's top ten most expensive signings ever - including £45m flop and ex-Wolves gem

Several clubs claim to be one of the worst-run in the Premier League. In truth, few have as great a claim to this crown in recent years as West Ham United.

The Hammers have certainly had their recent success on the pitch, said success usually being thanks to the brilliance of former manager David Moyes or star players such as Jarrod Bowen or Michail Antonio. Very rarely has the club’s transfer business greatly helped the cause.

Take last season, for example, where over £100 million was spent on new players and yet the Irons were closer to relegation than to challenging for Europe. They then began this new season with back-to-back defeats and growing concerns for the year ahead, a reflection of how quickly things have changed since winning the UEFA Conference League as recently as 2023.

We decided to have a look back at West Ham’s most expensive signings of all time and how each big-money arrival did in east London.

More flops than successes in Hammers’ top 10 buys

10) Nikola Vlasic: Croatian midfielder Vlasic signed for a fee rising to £33.4m in 2021 from CSKA Moscow but his time at London Stadium was quickly forgotten. Registering just one goal in 552 minutes of Premier League football in his only season with the club, Vlasic was loaned out to Torino the following summer before leaving permanently for a fee believed to be around £10m. Rating: 2/10

9) Edson Alvarez: Another midfielder who failed to live up to his price tag, Alvarez joined up with the Hammers from Ajax for around £35m in 2023 and struggled to adapt to life in England. Now out on loan with Fenerbahce, it is unlikely we see the Mexican back in a Hammers shirt any time soon. Rating: 4/10

8) Gianluca Scamacca: Boasting the word ‘scam’ in his name, it is easy to imagine the kind of nicknames the Italian striker received from fans during his time at West Ham. Signed for £35m from Sassuolo in Summer 2022, Scamacca scored just three Premier League goals and could not displace Antonio, though he did contribute with goals in the Conference League. Joined Atalanta in a £26.8m deal the following summer and instantly returned to the form he was known to have as the Serie A side won the Europa League. Rating: 3/10

7) Felipe Anderson: Mercurial Brazilian winger Anderson arrived from Lazio for £36m with huge expectations back in 2018. He certainly had his moments at West Ham, netting 10 goals in his first season for the club, which still remains one of the best returns of his career. He quickly fell by the wayside thanks in part to injuries, though, and left permanently in 2021. Rating: 5/10

6) Jean-Clair Todibo: Though only signing this summer on a permanent £36.2m deal from Nice, Todibo was able to show what he is about during a loan spell last season. He hardly set the world alight during a poor season for the club and will hope for better fortunes after his permanent move. Rating: 5/10

West Ham’s top 5 most expensive signings of all time

5) Mohammed Kudus: Ghanaian creator Kudus arrived in the East End for £38m in summer 2023 and lit up the London Stadium in his first season in claret and blue with 14 goals in all competitions. Last campaign was more inconsistent, though, and Kudus left the club this summer in a controversial £55m move to rivals Tottenham Hotspur. Rating: 6/10

4) Max Kilman: Former Wolves captain Kilman signed for the Hammers for £40m last summer and his performances left many fans scratching their head as to how he was worth such a huge fee. He was playing in a poor West Ham side, granted, and played every minute in the Premier League except for when he went off injured at Southampton. But a £40m fee for a player without a single England cap still felt extortionate. Rating: 5/10

3) Mateus Fernandes: The most recent signing on this list, the 21-year-old Portuguese signed from relegated Southampton for a reported £42m fee late in this summer transfer window. Could prove to be a decent buy based off his debut at Nottingham Forest. Rating: N/A

2) Sebastien Haller: One of West Ham’s most famous expensive flops, Haller cost a cool £45m when he signed from Eintracht Frankfurt in 2019. Eighteen months and just 10 Premier League goals later, he signed for Ajax for just £18.8m. After a battle with cancer in 2022, Haller returned to action with Borussia Dortmund and now Utrecht. Rating: 4/10

1) Lucas Paqueta: West Ham’s record signing and unironically probably the best buy on this list, Paqueta signed for £51m from Lyon in 2022 and has shone in the Premier League. While a spot-fixing scandal has impacted his time in England and blocked a prospective £85m move to Manchester City in 2023, the Brazil international is sticking around with the Hammers and can hopefully inspire a rise back up the table. Rating: 7/10