The best and worst Premier League signings of 2023/24

Now that the 2023/24 Premier League season has reached its end, it’s time to look back on all of the best and worst signings that this season had to offer. We are going from the most expensive deals that pushed clubs' budgets to their limits and the “what were they thinking?” moments, to the most successful signings and club wins that will set the standard for next season.

The best premier signings in the 23/24 season

In order to know who the best signings of the 23/24 season were, we need to calculate the cost of the player signings versus how many goals they scored. Starting with the most expensive players - we’re going to go through all the best signings and how they were worth their weight in gold.

Declan Rice - Arsenal (£105m) 

Rice signed into the Premier League for £105m as a midfielder for Arsenal and scored 7 goals with a whopping 28 wins to 5 losses. Having such a high price tag means that there’s a lot of pressure to perform well, however, the footballer handled it well and turned out to be a fundamental reason why Arsenal improved so much and secured their highest points since their invincible seasons.

Kai Havertz - Arsenal (£65m)

Kai Havertz joined Arsenal for £65m and, while he dealt with some initial judgment, Havertz put those challenges behind him and put together an outstanding performance throughout the season. He’s now well into double figures for goals with a huge 13 goals this season alone as well as upping his assists. Havertz has managed to impress even those who were once skeptical.

While leading the line in the final third of the season he has helped those around him to thrive, making it hard to argue that this signing wasn’t a success.

Cole Palmer - Chelsea (£42m)

This Chelsea midfielder signed on for £42m and, at first, it looked like this was a bad idea on Chelsea's part - however, he turned out to be one of the best signings they’ve done in years. With 22 goals, 17 wins and only 9 losses this season, there's no doubt that Palmer is a pivotal addition to the team.

Palmer has still managed to shine among the rest and, when he missed a trip to Arsenal in April due to an injury, Chelsea would go on to lose 5-0 - underlining just how much they would have struggled this Premier season without their talented midfielder.

Mohammed Kudus - West Ham (£38m)

Mohammad Kudus joined West Ham for the Premier League season for £38m after impressing them with his outstanding hat trick in the Europa League. Despite the frustration of some fans, Kudus has become a staple in the team and his ability to keep impressive people with unexpected feats and scoring 8 thrilling goals has helped keep fans engaged during the challenging 2023/24 Premier League season, ultimately making this signing a success.

Alexis Mac Allister - Liverpool (£35m)

With a Liverpool signing of £35m Mac Allister would go on to score 5 goals and come out with 21 wins and only 4 losses - and in a season where midfielders were being exchanged for over £100 snapping Mac Allister up for less than half is a pretty amazing feat for Liverpool. 

While not as expensive as someone like Declan Rice, he still made a sizable impact on his team's wins and Liverpool stated that he exceeded their expectations with his ability to keep a cool head under pressure, not to mention his impressive control over core moments in the game.

The worst signings in the 2023/24 season

While some signings are a raging success, others can become a club's worst investment. Every season there will always be some signings that will have us scratching our heads and wondering what they were thinking. Next, we’re going to dive into what signings in the 23/24 season were deemed to be failures and left clubs with some huge losses.

Sandro Tonali - Newcastle (£60m)

Sandro Tonali Joined Newcastle for £60m and became the most expensive signing in Newcastle's history. Tonali started strong, standing among the finest players in Italy and was exactly what Newcastle was looking for at the time. 

However, after ending the season with only 1 goal and a suspension in October for breaching gambling rules during his time at Milan, it became clear that Newcastle had blown their budget and lost their place in the Champions League.

Moises Caicedo - Chelsea (£115m)

Chelsea smashed the British transfer record getting Moises Caicedo on their side and away from Brighton. However, despite needing Caicedo to be a game changer - he unfortunately couldn’t hold up under the pressure and expectations. As a defensive midfielder, his primary role isn’t to score so, even though he achieved 0 goals it’s not the worst outcome, but even his tackles and interceptions weren’t being played effectively during this season. 

Ceicedo was, however, dealing with the fear of his family's safety during a wave of violence in his homeland. This understandably made an impact on his performance this season, but there is no escaping such a big price tag and the expectations that come with it.

Beto - Everton (£30m)

Beto joined Everton for £30m, however, Everton lost their first three games without making a single goal. Across the season, Beto scored just 3 goals in the 29 games, leaving fans unimpressed with his performance while he missed out on a total of eight 'big chances' to score. Beto finished the season with 9 wins and 12 losses, making this signing feel like a failure to fans.

Ibrahim Sangare - Nottingham Forest (£30m) 

Despite being so sought-after in the 2022-23 season, Sangare didn’t live up to expectations this time around. With a £30m deal with Nottingham Forest, the 26-year-old player didn’t keep up with his team and looked to be out of place in the Premier League, from taking too long with the ball to giving it away too easily. 

Even though injuries haven’t helped him, some fans have still called him “a waste of money” as he finished the season with 0 goals and 8 losses to only 3 wins.

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