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Are £100m midfielders the new normal?
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Before 2023, the highest transfer fees were paid for the top goal scorers and the most creative players. But since then, Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo, Declan Rice and now Elliot Anderson and Sandro Tonali have all made moves for more than £100m - all of whom are central midfielders.
So what’s caused the change?
As Seb Stafford-Bloor writes, the development of granular statistics teamed with the resilience of middle-class football clubs means selling clubs can charge more.
Illustrated by Henry Cooke.
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