Leicester City most expensive signings – How Foxes spent £620 million on incoming transfers

Exactly how much money have Leicester spent on new players in this millennium?

Leicester City might not be a traditional Premier League heavyweight, but there's no denying they are one of the most iconic teams around in the league following their miraculous title run in 2015-16.

That Premier League title was very much the success of some incredibly shrewd transfer business, with players such as N'Golo Kante and Riyad Mahrez arriving at the club on the cheap as relative unknowns.

Leicester have since been able to show a bit more ambition in the transfer market and they have not hesitated to spend big when they felt the opportunity was right.

The capture of Youri Tielemans was one such moment. The deal that saw them bring in Wesley Fofana was another.

But who have been their most expensive players ever and how much have they been spending on an annual basis this century?

Leicester City most expensive transfers by season

SEASON

MOST EXPENSIVE SIGNING

FEE

TOTAL SPENDING

2022/23

Wout Faes

£15.30M

£15.30M

2021/22

Patson Daka

£27M

£60.84M

2020/21

Wesley Fofana

£31.50

£53.46M

2019/20

Youri Tielemans

£40.50M

£93.87M

2018/19

James Maddison

£22.50M

£103.14M

2017/18

Kelechi Iheanacho

£24.93M

£75.46M

2016/17

Islam Slimani

£27.90M

£82.89M

2015/16

Shinji Okazaki

£9.90M

£44.91M

2014/15

Leandro Ulloa

£9.09M

£20.57M

2013/14

Riyad Mahrez

£450,000

£450,000

2012/13

Ritchie De Laet

£1.13M

£5.28M

2011/12

Matt Mills

£4.77M

£16.16M

2010/11

Martyn Waghorn

£3.24M

£4.94M

2009/10

Richie Wellens

£1.04M

£1.81M

2008/09

Aleksandar Tunchev

£900,000

£1.05M

2007/08

DJ Campbell

£2.84M

£7.79M

2006/07

None

Nil

Nil

2005/06

Iain Hume

£675,000

£1.44M

2004/05

Gareth Williams

£675,000

£1.96M

2003/04

Ben Thatcher

£405,000

£1.03M

2002/03

None

Nil

Nil

2001/02

James Scowcroft/Matthew Jones

£4.05M

£17.28M

2000/01

Gary Rowett

£4.05M

£10.53M

Total

£620.16M

Leicester City top 10 most expensive player signingsGetty Images10Timothy Castagne | £18.81m | Atalanta | 2020

After graduating from Genk's academy and making 80 senior appearances for the Belgian club, Castagne moved to Italian club Atalanta in 2017 for £5.85 million.

In his three-year spell at Atalanta, Castagne made 75 appearances, scoring five goals and coming up with some impressive performances as a full-back.

In 2020, Leicester came calling, signing him for £18.81m.

Castagne scored his first goal on debut against West Bromwich Albion and has been an integral part of their first team.

AdvertisementGetty9Caglar Soyuncu | £18.89m | Freiburg | 2018

Turkish centre-back Soyuncu started his professional journey with Altinordu in the Turkish second division.

In 2016, while he was linked with top Turkish clubs, Soyuncu decided to move to the Bundesliga with Freiburg for £7.13 million.

After just six months at the club, Soyuncu saw himself being linked with top clubs like Manchester City, Roma, Villarreal and Lille.

The towering defender made 50 appearances in his two-year spell in Germany before Leicester snapped him up for £18.89m.

Getty Images8Ricardo Pereira | £19.80m | Porto | 2018

Pereira arrived at Leicester from Porto in the summer of 2018 for £19.80 million.

The Portuguese full-back made his Premier League debut on August 10 in a 2-1 away defeat to Manchester United.

Pereira scored his first goal for Leicester City on his birthday, netting in a 2-1 home defeat to Everton.

At the end of his first season at the club, he was voted Leicester City's Player of the Season and the Players' Player of the Season.

In February 2022, Pereira signed a contract extension with the Foxes keeping him at the club until 2026.

Getty7James Maddison | £22.50m | Norwich | 2018

After featuring for Coventry, Norwich and Aberdeen, Maddison made the move to Leicester City in the summer of 2018 for a premium £22.50 million fee.

The gifted attacking midfielder made an impressive start to his time with the Foxes, scoring in back-to-back Premier League games in August 2018.

Over the years, Maddison went on to improve his technical prowess from set-pieces and came up with incredible performances, becoming one of Leicester's undisputed star men.