Manchester United defender Eric Bailly was the most overpriced signing

Manchester United's Eric Bailly. [PHOTO: COURTESY]

Manchester United defender Eric Bailly was the most overpriced Premier League signing during the summer, a study has claimed.

The Red Devils splurged £32million on the Ivorian centre-half, almost £20million more than his market value, according to CIES Football Observatory.

Bailly was the second most overpriced player across the whole of Europe according to the study, which places £75million Juventus striker Gonzalo Higuain in first place.

Yannick Bolasie was the Premier League's second-most overpriced player, with Everton apparently forking out just short of £19million too much on the winger from Crystal Palace.

Leroy Sane, Granit Xhaka , Michy Batshuayi, Benjamin Mendy, Sofiane Boufal and Christian Benteke complete the 12 Premier League players to make the list of 20 names.

Crystal Palace were credited with having done the best business in the top flight during the summer in which Prem clubs spent over £1billion.

The Eagles were ranked second behind only Sevilla, with data saying they sold assets worth just over £21million for a combined £47.2million, but they did spend more than £7million over the odds on Benteke.