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Which summer signing has proved the worst value for money - Grealish, Lukaku or Sancho?

Planet Sport crunches the numbers to see how the three biggest deals of last summer's transfer window have fared in the Premier League.

Even before the cost of living crisis, £100million didn't get you much in Britain as Manchester City have found out with Jack Grealish.

The former Aston Villa talisman has contributed just two Premier League goals since his move in the summer, while his two assists is one less than former Villans team-mate Matty Cash.

He's not the only big-money summer signing to have flopped in the Premier League this season, however.
Planet Sport looks at the stats to see which of the Premier League's big three summer signings has proved the worst value.

Jack Grealish - £100million

Grealish has made just 20 Premier League starts and three substitute appearance starts since his high-profile move to the Etihad, clocking up 1,728 minutes on the pitch.

It is only one more start than he made in an injury-interrupted 2020/21 campaign with Aston Villa. However, as the Villans' main man, he contributed six goals and 12 assists last season.

He still retains his ability to draw fouls, however, and ranks fourth with whoscored.com for the most fouled player, drawing an average of 2.2 per game. Nevertheless, that is also some way down on the previous campaign when he topped the charts with an average of 4.2.
The Manchester City midfielder has also slid down the key passes table from second last year (3.1) to tenth (1.9).
A goal and an assist in his first-ever Champions League appearance promised much, but he has failed to add a goal involvement in five subsequent appearances in the competition and has watched City's last two knockout games from the bench (though he was still very central to the action in the second leg against Atletico Madrid).
Still, for £100million City were expecting a playmaker, not a provocateur.

Cost per Premier League assist: £50million

Manchester City's finish position last season: 1st

Manchester City current league position: 1st

Romelu Lukaku - £97.5million

This time last year Lukaku was firing Inter Milan to Serie A glory, scoring 24 goals in 36 games. This season he's not even trusted to come off the bench with his Chelsea side 1-0 down to relegation-threatened Everton.

The Belgian striker has failed to score in the Premier League this year and had just two in his last 20 top-flight appearances for the Blues and five in all.
His shots per game average of 1.3 places him 75th in the top flight, while his lack of involvement, even when selected, is reflected by his pass average of just 11.26. In his previous six Premier League campaigns, Lukaku has averaged 24, peaking with 29.68 for Everton in 2015/16.
He has featured in all five of Chelsea's FA Cup games in the run-up to the final, scoring three times, with two goals coming in the Club World Cup, too.
However, for close to £100million, you want your striker to banging them in against Liverpool and Manchester City not Chesterfield.

Cost per Premier League goal: £19.5million

Chelsea's finish position last season: 4th

Chelsea's current league position: 3rd

Jadon Sancho - £76.5million

Manchester United finished five points clear of Liverpool last season, splashed out £76.5 million on Sancho from Borussia Dortmund and now find themselves 27 behind their great rivals.

You'd be hard-pressed to pin all the blame on Sancho but his contribution to the Red Devils' woes are reflected in an £18million drop in his market value since his Bundesliga peak in 2021.

Eight goals and 12 assists in 26 Bundesliga games in 2020/21 - not to mention 17 goals and 17 assists the previous campaign - earned the England international a long-awaited move to Old Trafford.
However, in 20 Premier League starts and nine substitute appearances in 2021/22 Sancho has contributed just three goals and three assists to the United cause.

Brought in to create havoc on the flank, his successful dribble average of 1.6 puts him 22nd in the top flight and some way off leader Allan Saint-Maximin (4.3). He had been fourth in the Bundesliga in 2020/21 with three successful dribbles per game.

His passes per game has also dropped off, from 50.2 last season to 32.2 this campaign, with key passes falling from 2.6 to 1.4.

Three goals and two assists in the space of six league games between early February and March did suggest he was finally getting to grips with the pace and physicality of the Premier League.

However, he has failed to register a goal involvement in his five games since and has subsequently been ruled out with tonsillitis. Ironic, as United fans are finding his transfer fee increasingly hard to swallow.

Cost per Premier League assist: £25.2million.

Manchester United's finish position last season: 2nd

Manchester United's current league position: 6th

READ MORE: Leeds now favourites to fill final relegation spot after Everton grab Premier League lifeline

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