In the wake of Angel Di Maria’s impending transfer to PSG, it’s hard not to feel like that whole thing was a bit of a waste. He turned up at Manchester United as a real statement signing. Fresh from a player of the match award in a victorious Champions League final, fresh from helping his nation to the World Cup final (if only he’d been fit…) but edged out of Real Madrid by James Rodriguez.

So Manchester United pounced, unleashing a British record transfer fee and letting the world know that they were back. Legitimate contenders. A club that can sign world class players at their peak.

Initially it seemed a huge success as Di Maria scored a goal and had three assists in his first four games and even though he picked up a couple injury niggles, it was as if he was adjusting flawlessly to English football. But it didn’t last. Now less than 12 months later he’s on the verge of an exit.

Maybe this is a blow to the marketability of the English Premier League in the eyes of top players or maybe it’s just a singular case of things not working out. That’s not really a question that can be answered (in fact, it’s not even a question).

So in the age of ever-increasing transfer fees, where talent abounds but the very best of it is almost never available, here’s a little investigation into how many of the top ten transfer fees paid by Premier League clubs turned out to be worth the cash.

Curiously, the three highest global transfer fees ever recorded all came from players moving to Spain from the Premier League (Ronaldo, Bale and Suarez).

Angel Di Maria – Real Madrid to Manchester United - £59.7m (2014/15)

The man of the moment. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly where this went wrong. He was one of many players to start the season without much of a preseason thanks to the World Cup, but he was worse in that he came back injured. Plus he didn’t actually sign for United until a couple of games into the season. Injury and fatigue were constant issues. So was instability, ADM was tried all over the park by Louis Van Gaal as he tried to figure out his best formation. He played on both wings, up front, in a central attacking midfield role and even in proper central midfield. It’s said that the biggest problem was an attempted break-in at his Manchester home, which shook up his family and led to them moving to a city apartment. Safe to say he never settled.

Plenty of foreign players have been the same in their first English season, though. It can take a while to adjust and there were plenty of hopeful fans who believed that big improvements were imminent in his second season. However with his family’s unrest and with strong interest from PSG in France, both parties seem to have decided to cut their losses. For the record, PSG were favourites to sign him from Madrid in the first place, but financial fair play rules meant they couldn’t match the fee. It’s not unlikely that ADM would have preferred to move to Paris from the start.

Verdict: Definitely a bust. With a slight tinge of what might have been.

Fernando Torres – Liverpool to Chelsea - £50m (2010/11)

Haha, well now. This one doesn’t need too much of an explanation. 65 goals in 102 Premier League games for Liverpool had him as one of the best in the business. A World Cup winner, a European Championship winner. The appointment of Roy Hodgson at Liverpool certainly didn’t seem to suit him as his performances noticeably slipped for the first half of the 2010/11 season… but nothing suggested what was to come.

Chelsea stumped up a then-British-record fee to pry the Spaniard away from the Merseyside. The Blues (managed then by Carlo Ancelotti, who bought David Luiz on the same day) saw him as a superstar strike option, someone who could score 20-30 goals a season and take over from Didier Drogba in time. But it was over 900 minutes on the park before he finally scored for Chelsea and within a couple of months, Ancelotti was sacked. In came Andre Villas-Boas, who didn’t fare so well either. By the time Roberto Di Matteo and Rafa Benitez had come and gone, Jose Mourinho was appointed and Torres’ blue days were already numbered. 81 goals in 142 total games for Liverpool, 45 goals in 172 games for Chelsea. It was bad.

Verdict: Torres himself called it a success because of the trophies he won. But he didn’t do much to earn them. This was a terrible flop of a transfer.

Raheem Sterling – Liverpool to Manchester City - £49m (2015/16)

Hey, it all remains to be seen. The youngster has done plenty to suggest that he’ll be brilliant for years to come, but the whole saga of his leaving Liverpool was messy. So messy.

However a change of scenery at this point should do him good. He’s looked impressive in friendlies so far and should see lots of opportunities in this City squad. They have a reputation for signing average English talent and never playing them but Sterling legitimately fills a need as a fast, attacking winger. The price was excessive for a player his age, sure. The thing is, that’s the way things go when you buy a 20 year old: you have to pay for both his current ability and his potential ability, as the football manager scouts would say. Plus Liverpool played hardball on the fee knowing that City probably wouldn’t see it as much of an obstacle. Fair play to them.

Verdict: Time will tell. Lots to be optimistic over.

Carlos Tevez – Media Sports Investment to Manchester City - £45m (2009/10)

This was a weird one. Tevez arrived with Javier Masherano in England at West Ham in what was a very shady dealing involving third party owners MSI. He then helped West Ham avoid relegation with some extraordinary performances before getting caught up in a real legal clutter as Manchester United tried to sign him. Basically, he was contracted to West Ham but owned by MSI, and the Hammers wanted a transfer fee to let him leave. It was settled out of court and he became a United player, winning a Champions League and two Premier League’s, though he was effectively only playing on loan.

At the end of that deal Tevez became frustrated by the lack of a permanent offer and was dropped at one stage by Sir Alex Ferguson for his attitude. Eventually they did arrange talks and it was believed that MUFC had agreed to meet the £25.5m option in the loan deal to sign him full time. Except that Tevez’s advisers then told the club that he no longer wished to play for them. While he ruled out moving to Liverpool on account of the relations between the clubs, he had no issue signing with cross-town rivals Manchester City on a five year deal.

The actual cost of the deal is disputed. Some say City matched the £25.5 option, others say it was as high as £47m. Both the club and MSI denied that number, though it’s believed to be somewhere around that general area. It’s even been debated as to whether MSI even owned his rights at that point of time, some alleging that the fee was paid elsewhere after MSI had sold him. This 2011 Guardian article gives a good run down of it all.

Tevez’s first season for City was a storming success. Player of the year, as voted for by both fans and teammates, he scored 29 times in 42 games. Roberto Mancini made him club captain early in the next campaign and the goals continued to flow. However a transfer request was written in December of that season, citing his frosty “relationship with certain executives and individuals at the club”. It was rejected and withdrawn but there were clearly family issues there too, he’d taken compassionate leave to return to Argentina at a point in the previous season. Still, Tevez bagged 23 goals in 44 games in 2010/11.

There was more drama when he was left on the bench by Mancini for a Champions League game, then refused to come on in the second half. He was stood down by the club and his manger said he’d never play for City again, however he returned full of apologies within about four months later to play a role in City’s Premier League winning run of 2011/12. Carlos Tevez would play one further season before leaving for Juventus for around about £10-12m (though with wages and add-ons due for the remainder of his MCFC contract, it actually saved the Sky Blues around £27m).

Verdict: Of his four years at City, two were fantastic and two were disastrous. But given the role that Tevez played in helping establish City as a force in the English game, you’ve gotta say he was worth it… just. Especially since they can eat the extra cost with less care than any other team on the planet.

Mesut Ozil – Real Madrid to Arsenal - £42.4m (2013/14)

Luka Modric more or less ended Ozil’s Real Madrid career by pushing him back in the pecking order. Ozil’s the kind of player that isn’t always easy to fit into a side and that never really helped him given that he’s clearly a player who thrives on confidence and support. He said as much when moving to Arsenal. While he earned criticism among pundits on occasion, it’s pretty telling that teammates (such as Ronaldo) weren’t too happy with his leaving.

He had a wonderful start to his Gunners career until he picked up a couple injuries as the 2013/14 campaign went on and his form disappeared with his interrupted appearances. By this time he was a lightning rod for criticism and that continued for his country despite Germany winning the World Cup. He was solid enough to start the next run but then hurt his knee against Chelsea and was out for three months. Still, by the end of last season he was starting to get back to his peak form and receiving specific praise from Arsene Wenger. There are high hopes for the coming season for Arsenal and this bloke will be a big part of that.

Verdict: It’s been a rollercoaster so far. Can’t say he’s justified the price tag yet but he could well soon.

Sergio Aguero – Atletico Madrid to Manchester City - £38m (2011/12)

City could have paid twice this for Aguero and they still would have gotten their money’s worth. One of the major points of glee over the Di Maria thing from the neutrals was that a world class player was signing for a Premier League team in their prime. Apparently that doesn’t happen often, but Sergio Aguero is evidence to the contrary.

THAT winning goal at QPR in 2011–12 was worth more than £38m on its own, not to mention the other 106 goals that he’s scored for the club. Single-handedly getting them out of the group stages in the Champions League last season. PL golden boot in 2014-15. He’s the best centre forward in the league currently, there’s not a team in the world that wouldn’t be improved by him.

Verdict: A dead-set bargain.

Juan Mata – Chelsea to Manchester United - £37.1m (2013/14)

One of two major signings that David Moyes contributed to Manchester United. The other, Marouane Fellaini, isn’t too far off this list either.

Mata was an opportunistic buy. A player that didn’t really fit what they were doing yet a player that was of undoubted class and that was enough for the Red Devils (pretty desperate for a statement buy) to splash out when the two-time Chelsea player of the season became available. It was Jose Mourinho that exiled Juan Mata, chucking him on the transfer list after struggling to find a place in his formation for him. He had similar issues at Man Utd, tending to be played out wide, though he had a couple of nice moments before the ship that Moyes sailed finally sank. Under Louis Van Gaal he was initially marginalised again, except that as the season progressed he started to impress in his limited chances, earning more and more as a result. By the back half of the season he was first choice as an infield-drifting right winger.

His is a case for why using transfer fees as judges of a player (like this article is doing…) is so flawed. Had he cost a third of the price then he’d have been a bargain. Mata’s a glorious player on his day, a valuable squad member and a fan favourite. The only drawback is that he was overpaid for at a time when the club had few other options.

Verdict: A soft pass mark, with the potential to rise. His brace against Liverpool counts for a lot among Man Utd fans.

Alexis Sanchez – Barcelona to Arsenal - £35m (2014/15)

Another genuinely elite player who found himself on an English team. After years of fans complaining about Arsene Wenger’s dusty chequebook, he went and made two massive deals in two years. Sanchez found himself on the outer at Barca as a player who didn’t quite fit the way that they did things on the field. Yet his ability was always clear and a fine World Cup showing did no damage to that. It’s rare that players like Sanchez immediately fit in to new clubs but he did just that at Arsenal. He’s only been there a year and already his goals, flair and creativity have established him as one of the best in the league. Arsenal’s player of the year, he scored an absolute thunderbolt to help them claim the FA Cup. A few more years like that and his fee will seem like loose change.

Verdict: It’s early days but so far so very, very good.

Andy Carroll – Newcastle United to Liverpool - £35m (2010/11)

Oh dear Lord. The Reds may have fleeced Chelsea in offloading Fernando Torres to them, but they got done by Newcastle just the same with Andy Carroll. Both deals were made on the same January transfer deadline day in 2011, Carroll a direct replacement for Torres. He was one of a number of curious singings made under the reign of Roy Hodgson and his fate was hinted at from the start when an injury sustained while still at Newcastle meant he wouldn’t make his Liverpool debut for over a month. He struggled to find the net in his time at Anfield, often seeming out of place as his physical, aerial style clashed with how the side had played with Torres.

Carroll did score the winner against Everton in an FA Cup semi, as well as scoring in a 2-1 final loss to Chelsea, however he never quite settled. The emergence of Luis Suarez as an even better striker than Torres had ever been meant his services were no longer necessary. He went on loan to West Ham before eventually moving permanently for around £15m in 2013 after two and a half seasons, 58 games and 11 goals for Liverpool.

Verdict: Umm… at least the damage was limited.

Fernandinho – Shakhtar Donetsk to Manchester City - £34m (2013/14)

To be honest, this lad’s on this list simply because teams tend to charge Man City a little extra knowing that they aren’t exactly phased by dollar values. Two seasons so far, he’s been a regular at the back of that midfield where his ball-winning is a huge advantage. He’s chipped in with the odd goal too and passes the ball around well. Not a player who’s gotten that many plaudits, more of an underrated presence as defensive midfielders tend to be. He’s another one of these players who is still playing to justify their cost and if he sticks around long enough then he’ll do so. Take him out of the City midfield and they look a whole lot worse. He’s a damn sight better than Fernando.

Verdict: If they stick around long enough then most players eventually make worth of their transfers. Fernandinho oughta do that