If you’re a die-hard Premier League supporter, you may be aware of the transfer which saw Everton snap up Republic of Ireland right-back Seamus Coleman from Sligo Rovers for just £60k.
The Toffees man since went on to become one of the Premier League’s best full-backs, scoring 26 goals and registering 28 assists for the Merseysiders in 310 outings.
Would there be a deal better than that for a right-back ever again?
Well, Wolves may have surpassed it.
Back in 2010, the Midlands-based club signed an Irish right-back called Matt Doherty from Bohemians for the low cost of just €80k (£73.1k) after he impressed in a friendly game up against Matt Jarvis.
Surely, nobody at Molineux would foresee just how incredible that player would become.
As we type, Doherty has racked up a whopping 291 appearances for Wolves, helping them earn promotion to the Premier League, qualify for the Europa League and also reach the last 16 of that tournament.
The 28-year-old has scored 28 goals and grabbed 39 assists in that time, exceeding Coleman’s record for Everton in fewer games while costing the club an incredible £252 per appearance – the full-back probably earns that same amount in less than an hour nowadays.
Additionally, Doherty has been involved in the joint-most Premier League wins for Wolves, sharing the title alongside Raul Jimenez, Conor Coady and Joao Moutinho who all have 26 victories to their name.
The Wolves No.2 has cost the club just £1.09k per goal involvement at Molineux, and each Premier League win that he has partaken in has cost Wolves only £2.8k – in terms of value-for-money signings, it is a serious struggle to think of a better one than Doherty.
The Irishman is still going strong to this day under Nuno Espirito Santo with six goals and two assists to his name in all competitions this season – as time goes on, his capture will look more and more cost efficient with each passing day.
Call yourself a Wolves expert? How much did each of these January signings cost?
In other news, an update on this long-term Wolves target proves Fosun dodged a bullet…