#3 Frank Lampard - From West Ham to Chelsea for £13.60m in 2001
Back in 2001, £13.60m was surely a fee that raised eyebrows but it was not too expensive either because in the same summer Juventus signed Gianluigi Buffon for €52m (roughly £45m in 2001) making him the most expensive goalkeeper on the planet even today, and Real Madrid broke the world transfer record by signing Zinedine Zidane for £50m.
Zidane was 29 years old then and Lampard was 23, so there is no doubting that Chelsea got a bargain deal. Think about it, if you compare the impact the two players had at their respective clubs without comparing the players, the Lampard deal looks like a masterstroke.
The Englishman was signed before the Abramovich era began but he was one of the very few who stayed on and became a crucial member of the team.
Lampard spent 13 seasons at the club, winning as many honours, while also scoring 211 goals from midfield. This makes him Chelsea’s all time leading goalscorer and also the fourth highest goalscorer in Premier League history.
