Who is the greatest signing in Premier League history?
It’s a topic that has been debated for years, and while there is no definitive answer, there’s the same crop of names that will always come up.
Eric Cantona, Thierry Henry, Roy Keane and Sergio Aguero are all more than acceptable answers, but one player who has to get a mention is Riyad Mahrez at Leicester City.
Costing just £400k at the time, Mahrez went on to be a title-winner and PFA Player of the Year at Leicester before being sold for £60m to Manchester City – truly one of the great Premier League signings.
However, according to Yaya Toure, speaking on the BBC Match of the Day Africa Top 10, Liverpool made a signing a few years ago that was even better than Mahrez to Leicester.
Indeed, according to Toure, the signing of Mohamed Salah was actually a better piece of business than Mahrez to Leicester.
Toure gave his verdict when listing the 10 best African signings of all-time.
“Ok, at number seven I went for Mahrez to Leicester, at number six I went with Salah from Roma to Liverpool, number five I went with Sadio Mane from Southampton to Liverpool, and at number four myself, Barcelona to Man City,” Toure said.
“I put Salah at number six because Roma is already a good time, already really good.”
Difficult
Is Mo Salah a better player than Mahrez? Probably, but was he a better signing for Liverpool? Not in our view.
Salah cost £35m while Mahrez cost £400k, you could buy almost 100 Salah’s for the price it cost to sign one Mahrez at the time.
Salah still provided unbelievable value at that price, but in terms of a return on investment and value for money, there really aren’t many out there than can compete with Mahrez to Leicester.
The Algerian’s move to the Foxes may well be the best signing in English football history.
