#3 Ruben Neves
In many respects the £15 million paid by Wolverhampton Wanderers for Ruben Neves underpins the extent to which football has changed; a second division side is now forking out a sum which significantly eclipses the £12 million Cristiano Ronaldo cost Man United in 2003. The 20-year-old becomes the most expensive Championship player of all time and is heavily backed to catalyse Wolves' transformation from a mid-table club to serious promotion candidates.
Wolves beat off big competition for Neves namely due to the fact new manager Nuno Esperito Santo coached the midfielder at FC Porto. Neves has earned the reputation of a relentless record-breaker, also holding the title for the youngest ever captain in a UEFA Champions League game after he led Porto out against Maccabi Tel-Aviv at the age of 18.
Porto's lingering financial headaches were the primary reason they had to offload a special talent like Neves, who made 67 appearances for the Portuguese outfit and proved to be a vital part of his nation's U21 European Championship campaign this summer. Wolves have got themselves one of the most exciting talents in Europe and expectations have seldom been higher for a Championship player.
