The 50 most expensive football transfers of all time
- 50 most expensive transfers have all occurred in 21st century
- Neymar remains the most expensive footballer ever
- Romelu Lukaku and Cristiano Ronaldo among players who appear on top 50 list multiple times
By 90min Staff
Neymar's move to Paris Saint-Germain in 2017 shocked the world, Gareth Bale waited all summer to switch Tottenham for Real Madrid in 2013, and Cristiano Ronaldo swapped England for Spain to incredible effect.
It is a sign of great faith to spend such a huge amount of money on one player, but it carries with it the expectation that the player will reward that faith with performances - and if they do not, fans will not be forgiving.
Many great players have risen to the pressure of their transfer fee, but others have been crushed under the burden of expectations placed upon them.
Here are the 50 most expensive transfers of all time.
50. Ruben Dias
From: Benfica to Man City, 2020
Fee: €71.6m
Dias may have not been the final piece in the jigsaw at the Etihad, but his addition most certainly aided City in their quest to regain the Premier League title from Liverpool.
An impressive leader who defends his box superbly, Dias is a perpetual league victor in Manchester.
49. Alisson
From: Roma to Liverpool, 2018
Fee: €73m
Loris Karius' disastrous performance in the 2018 Champions League final forced Jurgen Klopp to swallow his pride and dip into the transfer market for a world class goalkeeper in the form of Alisson.
It was money well spent as Alisson quickly glued Liverpool's defence together, shining en route to Champions League and Premier League glory.
48. Rasmus Hojlund
From: Atalanta to Man Utd, 2023
Fee: €73.9m
Manchester United were buying a whole lot of potential when they spent just shy of €75m to sign Hojlund from Atalanta in 2023.
The Danish forward had just 27 senior goals to his name, and his rawness did manifest in year one. However, there's enough to suggest that Hojlund will eventually shine regularly at Old Trafford,
47. Romelu Lukaku
From: Man Utd to Inter, 2019
Fee: €74m
Romelu Lukaku managed just two seasons at Old Trafford and found himself struggling to break into Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's team towards the end of the 2018/19 season. As a result, he began pushing for an exit.
An €74m move to Inter followed, and the Serie A side quickly determined that an undiagnosed digestive issue had been behind his slump in form in England.
That was sorted out, and Lukaku quickly turned back into one of the world's best strikers, winning the Serie A title in 2020/21. He left for Chelsea soon after but was back at the club on loan just a season later.
46. Angel Di Maria
From: Real Madrid to Man Utd, 2014
Fee: €75m
Di Maria had been named Man of the Match in the Champions League final as Real Madrid finally clinched La Decima in 2014, so it looked like United had struck gold broke their transfer record to sign the Argentine a few months later.
*Narrator voice*: They would not strike gold.
A failure to settle in England saw Di Maria's form crumble and he was shipped out to PSG for a loss 12 months later.
45. James Rodriguez
From: Monaco to Real Madrid, 2014
Fee: €75m
James Rodriguez rode the wave of the 2014 World Cup right to the Santiago Bernabeu.
He dominated in his debut season but was soon bitten by the injury bug, and Rodriguez eventually lost his place in the squad.
He spent two years on loan with Bayern Munich before joining Everton in 2020. That didn't go well and he's since been lost to football limbo. So sad, especially if you're one of those who watch his stunning volley against Uruguay daily.
44. Kai Havertz
From: Chelsea to Arsenal, 2023
Fee: €75m
Kai Havertz's three-year stint at Chelsea was eventful to say the least, so it was somewhat surprising when Arsenal stumped up €75m to take him across to north London.
It was a real leap of faith by manager Mikel Arteta, who said at the time of his arrival: "He has great versatility and is an intelligent player. He will bring a huge amount of extra strength to our midfield and variety to our play.
Time will tell.
43. Kevin De Bruyne
From: Wolfsburg to Man City, 2015
Fee: €76m
Two years after Jose Mourinho decided Kevin De Bruyne wasn't good enough for the Premier League, Manuel Pellegrini brought him back to England, paying a hefty sum to sign the Belgian from Wolfsburg.
The Belgian maestro has been one of the world's best creators since returning to England in 2015 and has turned City into one of the scariest sides around.
42. Zinedine Zidane
From: Juventus to Real Madrid, 2001
Fee: €77.5m
That volley against Bayer Leverkusen in the 2002 Champions League final was almost worth the entirety of the €77.5m Real spent on Zinedine Zidane, although the Spanish side did feel a little short-changed when he retired from playing after just five years at the club.
Nevertheless, he remained close with Los Blancos and eventually enjoyed two successful spells as manager of the club, the most recent of which came to an end in 2021.
41. Victor Osimhen
From: Lille to Napoli, 2019
Fee: €77.5m
Compared to a young Didier Drogba, Victor Osimhen is seen by many as the next great African striker.
He shone in Ligue 1 with Lille, earning himself a blockbuster move to Napoli in 2019. He's been brilliant there, inspiring the Neapolitans to their first Scudetto in 30 years in 2023 by claiming Capocannoniere honours.
40. Kepa Arrizabalaga
From: Athletic Club to Chelsea, 2018
Fee: €80m
Chelsea were scrambling to replace Thibaut Courtois in 2018 and ended up triggering Kepa Arrizabalaga's sky-high release clause.
His debut season was solid, but Kepa's form soon fell off a cliff. The world's most expensive goalkeeper put up some historically poor statistics and was benched by Edouard Mendy in 2020.
The Spaniard continues to fight for his Stamford Bridge career.
39. Nicolas Pepe
From: Lille to Arsenal, 2019
Fee: €80m
Arsenal's lack of transfer funds was being mocked in 2019, but then the Gunners came out and dropped €80m on one of the most in-demand players around at the time, Nicolas Pepe.
Unfortunately, the Ivorian was inconsistent, to say the least, and was loaned back to Ligue 1 during 2022/23. He's since joined Villarreal permanently.
38. Lucas Hernandez
From: Atletico Madrid to Bayern Munich, 2019
Fee: €80m
After shining at the 2018 World Cup, Lucas Hernandez spent the next season proving he was one of the best defenders around, and Bayern Munich were so impressed that they shelled out a cool €80m to sign him.
Injuries have prevented Lucas from matching that form in Germany, and the jury's still out on whether this was actually a good deal.
37. Kai Havertz
From: Bayer Leverkusen to Chelsea, 2020
Fee: €80m
As one of the few sides that remained in a healthy financial state after the COVID-19 shutdown, Chelsea took advantage and swooped in to land German starlet Kai Havertz.
He didn't have the easiest debut season, but he did score the winning goal in the Champions League final. Nevertheless, things never really progressed after a season of playing up front, with Havertz going on to surprisingly join rivals Arsenal.
36. Aurelien Tchouameni
From: Monaco to Real Madrid, 2022
Fee: €80m
Real Madrid's incredible midfield core of Casemiro, Toni Kroos and Luka Modric had to pass to torch on one day, and Aurelien Tchouameni was the first player to step up to the plate.
A breakout few years with Monaco saw the Frenchman receive senior international honours before a move to the Bernabeu in 2022. A six-year deal was penned, despite huge interest from elsewhere, so he's clearly one for the future despite being so talented and experienced already.
35. Wesley Fofana
From: Leicester to Chelsea, 2022
Fee: €80.4m
Chelsea's love of signing centre-backs eventually led them to one of Europe's brightest young prospects, Wesley Fofana.
He'd shown in a short space of time at Leicester just how good he could be, though his time at the King Power was disrupted by a couple of serious injuries. Nevertheless, Chelsea had seen enough to part with just over €80m in order to seal the deal.
34. Arthur
From: Barcelona to Juventus, 2020
Fee: €80.6m
Juventus couldn't believe their luck when they were offered the chance to send an ageing Miralem Pjanic to Barcelona in exchange for Brazilian Arthur in a deal which technically wasn't a swap deal (but definitely was).
Despite getting the best side of the deal, Juventus couldn't get the best out of the Brazilian - so much so that he was loaned to Liverpool as they desperately sought midfield cover in 2022.
33. Luis Suarez
From: Liverpool to Barcelona, 2014
Fee: €81.72m
No price tag would have been enough for Liverpool to happily part with Luis Suarez, but they couldn't stand in the way of his dream move to Barcelona when the Catalans came calling in 2014.
Suarez bagged a whopping 195 goals in 283 appearances for Barcelona, who inexplicably decided he would be useless in 2020/21, despite having just scored 16 goals in the previous season.
He was booted out the door to Atletico Madrid for pennies but ended up having the last laugh as he bagged 21 goals in 32 games to fire Atleti to the league title.
32. Dusan Vlahovic
From: Fiorentina to Juventus, 2022
Fee: €83.5m
Fiorentina fans don't like Juventus, mainly because their club is always selling its best players to the Italian giants.
Juan Cuadrado, Federico Bernardeschi and Federico Chiesa are among those who have recently switched from purple to black and white, but Vlahovic became the latest when he joined Juve for €83.5m.
His goalscoring feats at I Viola were terrific but he hasn't quite been able to reach the heights projected of him in Turin.
31. Virgil van Dijk
From: Southampton to Liverpool, 2018
Fee: €84.65m
Some people were sceptical when Liverpool smashed their transfer record to make Virgil van Dijk the world's most expensive defender in January 2018, but it quickly became apparent why they had done that.
Van Dijk transformed Liverpool's defence and led them to the Champions League final, and he went from strength to strength after that, winning both European and English titles soon after.
30. Romelu Lukaku
From: Everton to Man Utd, 2017
Fee: €84.7m
Romelu Lukaku can count himself unfortunate to have attracted so much criticism after joining United in 2017. He averaged nearly a goal every other game in his debut season, but was accused of not being mobile enough and only scoring against lesser sides.
With 27 goals in all competitions, his debut season was actually the most prolific of Lukaku's career up until 2019/20. His form didn't last, and United ended up selling him to Inter in the summer of 2019.
29. Jadon Sancho
From: Borussia Dortmund to Man Utd, 2021
Fee: €85m
It took United well over a year, but they finally landed Jadon Sancho in the summer of 2021.
The €85m fee was considerably lower than the €120m quoted by Dortmund 12 months earlier, so if you ignore the circus that was this entire transfer saga, things probably worked out alright for United.
Sancho's career is yet to take off at Old Trafford, however.
28. Darwin Nunez
From: Benfica to Liverpool, 2022
Fee: €85m
Liverpool don't always spend bucket-loads on one player in particular but broke that trend in 2022 to bring in Benfica hot-shot Darwin Nunez.
The Uruguayan impressed in Champions League fixtures against the Reds in 2021/22, also ending the season with 34 club goals in all competitions.
He remains a divisive figure at Anfield, but there's no denying his ability to cause chaos.
27. Matthijs de Ligt
From: Ajax to Juventus, 2019
Fee: €85.5m
Six months after seeing team-mate Frenkie de Jong agree his blockbuster move away from Ajax, Matthijs de Ligt made the headlines himself by agreeing a switch to Juventus worth in excess of €85m.
Learning from Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci, De Ligt seemed to be in the perfect place to continue his footballing development. But Juve's sharp decline and his failure to command a regular starting spot led to a transfer to Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich in 2022.
26. Frenkie de Jong
From: Ajax to Barcelona, 2019
Fee: €86m
After months of speculation, the Frenkie de Jong transfer saga finally came to an end in January 2019 when the Dutch midfielder agreed to join Barcelona at the end of the season.
De Jong was meant to dominate Barca's midfield for a decade, but much of his spell so far has focussed on the Spanish club potentially shifting the gifted Dutchman off their books to ease their financial woes.
25. Harry Maguire
From: Leicester to Man Utd, 2019
Fee: €87m
Once the most expensive defender of all time, and maybe one of history's patchiest players ever, too.
At times it can look like Harry Maguire has done enough to convince most of his talent, but rocky spells at Old Trafford have been dogged by defensive uncertainty and calamity, with the England star attracting plenty of criticism.
24. Neymar
From: Santos to Barcelona, 2013
Fee: €88m
Barcelona initially claimed their acquisition of Neymar was worth just €90m, but an investigation into the deal revealed the truth.
It turned out that the Blaugrana had shelled out a cool €90m to land the Brazilian, who would eventually make them their money back and then some.
23. Gonzalo Higuain
From: Napoli to Juventus, 2016
Fee: €90m
In their efforts to finally win that elusive Champions League title, Juventus raided Serie A rivals Napoli for Gonzalo Higuain in 2016. It was a fair price for a striker whose 36 goals the previous season was the highest total in Serie A since 1928/29.
Higuain didn't quite scale to those heights in Turin, though he did score 40 goals in 73 league appearances before loan spells with both AC Milan and Chelsea led to a permanent exit in 2020.
22. Neymar
From: PSG to Al Hilal, 2023
Fee: €90m
Neymar toppled Romelu Lukaku from his highest career transfer fees perch when his Paris Saint-Germain adventure came to an end in August 2023.
Al Hilal were the team to scoop the Brazilian up, paying him an astronomical wage to link up with the likes of Ruben Neves, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Kalidou Koulibaly.
21. Josko Gvardiol
From: RB Leipzig to Manchester City, 2023
Fee: €90m
Manchester City had to show plenty of patience in their pursuit of Josko Gvardiol, but eventually got a deal over the line for a record fee for a defender.
The Croat was just 21 when he put pen on paper, demonstrating Pep Guardiola's belief in his ability and his immense talent. He played a key role down the stretch during City's 2023/24 Premier League title success.
20. Cristiano Ronaldo
From: Man Utd to Real Madrid, 2009
Fee: €94m
Nothing that costs €94m can be described as a bargain, but this will go down as one of the greatest transfers ever despite the extortionate price. Cristiano Ronaldo arrived at Real as one of the best players in the world and left having established himself as one of the best players of all time.
In nine seasons at the Bernabeu, Ronaldo scored a staggering 450 goals in 438 appearances, won the Ballon d'Or four times, and won every possible trophy at least twice, including four Champions League titles.
19. Antony
From: Ajax to Man Utd, 2022
Fee: €95m
Yes, this bloke really set Manchester United back that much.
18. Randal Kolo Muani
From: Eintracht Frankfurt to Paris Saint-Germain, 2023
Fee: €95m
PSG certainly aren't shy in the transfer market, and they spent big to return Kolo Muani to his place of birth.
The versatile forward proved a reliable marksman in the Bundesliga with Eintracht Frankfurt, but he's yet to completely settle in PSG with Luis Enrique having an array of attacking stars at his disposal.
17. Harry Kane
From: Tottenham to Bayern Munich, 2023
Fee: €95,
Some people thought Harry Kane would never, ever leave Tottenham. But those people were sadly mistaken, as in August 2023 his record-breaking stint in north London came to an end.
The new home of England's captain was Bayern Munich, who was tasked with filling the void left by Robert Lewandowski the season prior. Kane had no issues on the goalscoring front, but silverware continued to elude the trophy-shy striker during his debut season.
16. Gareth Bale
From: Tottenham to Real Madrid, 2013
Fee: €101m
Gareth Bale popped up with some huge goals for Real Madrid - predominantly in important finals - and played his part in some all-time great moments.
But injury struggles and the media storm that followed him turned this one into a comedy skit, and the back end of his career at the club panned out pretty poorly.
He left in 2022 for Major League Soccer with LAFC and has since hung up his boots in favour of 3-woods and nine-irons.
15. Jude Bellingham
From: Borussia Dortmund to Real Madrid, 2023
Fee: €103m
Jude Bellingham's talent was so obvious that Birmingham City retired the number 22 when he departed for Borussia Dortmund aged 17, such was his impact and ability to inspire others.
Three years later, Bellingham was 20 and ready to move on to the biggest stage of all - Real Madrid. The 15-time European Cup and Champions League winners, at the time of his arrival, forked out €103m for the privilege, and it's fair to say the burgeoning Englishman lived up to his price tag in yearone.
14. Paul Pogba
From: Juventus to Man Utd, 2016
Fee: €105m
Sir Alex Ferguson didn't make many mistakes in his illustrious career, but allowing Paul Pogba to leave United for nothing in 2012 may be one of his biggest. Pogba's attitude was called into question, but that did not seem to be a problem at Juventus as he became one of the best midfielders in Serie A.
Four years after letting him leave, United brought Pogba back to Old Trafford for a then-world record sum. He was amazing in spells, but never truly lived up to the billing in a poor era for the Red Devils.
He left for free again in 2022 and returned to Juventus, who may have laughed at signing Pogba for nothing again, but the midfielder is currently serving a lengthy ban.
13. Romelu Lukaku
From: Inter to Chelsea, 2021
Fee: €113m
Chelsea decided they were sick of struggling without a star striker, so they splashed a whopping €115m to bring Romelu Lukaku back from Inter.
He returned as one of the game's deadliest forwards, but talk of his unhappiness in England and desire to return to Italy was rife in his first season back at Stamford Bridge.
A badly timed interview with Sky Italia did him no favours and he soon dropped out of favour with manager Thomas Tuchel.
Chelsea forked out €113m for the Belgian, but he managed only 15 goals in 44 appearances during the 2021/22 campaign and has since enjoyed loan spells at Inter and Roma.
12. Jack Grealish
From: Aston Villa to Manchester City, 2021
Fee: €116m
Manchester City broke the bank in the summer of 2021 to sign England cult hero and Aston Villa captain Jack Grealish, adding even more quality to their already unbelievable senior squad.
He won the Premier League title in his first season with the Citizens, and was immense during their treble-winning campaign of 2022/23.
11. Moises Caicedo
From: Brighton to Chelsea, 2023
Fee: €116m
The Declan Rice saga was quickly followed by a heavyweight transfer tussle involving Liverpool, Chelsea and Moises Caicedo.
Brighton didn't want to sell their prized asset, for obvious reasons, and benchmarked the Ecuadorian's price based on what Arsenal had bought Rice for.
Liverpool made an British-transfer record offer but it was clear Caicedo only had eyes for Chelsea - he joined them in mid-August on a eight-year contract with option, staggeringly, for a ninth.
10. Declan Rice
From: Arsenal to West Ham, 2023
Fee: €116.6m
The transfer headlines during the first two months of the 2023 summer transfer window were dominated by Declan Rice and where he'd end up after winning the Conference League with West Ham.
Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool were all interested at one time for another, with a bidding war ensuing between 2022/23 Premier League title challengers Arsenal and City.
It was the former who would get the deal done, making Rice the most expensive British player of all time.
9. Cristiano Ronaldo
From: Real Madrid to Juventus, 2018
Fee: €117m
Guess who's back?
Juventus watched Real Madrid win three consecutive Champions League titles and decided they wouldn't mind a piece of the action, and they were prepared to spend big to get it.
Goals flooded in with Ronaldo but at the detriment of the team. A rebuild in Turin was needed and the Portugal legend returned to Manchester United in 2021. They too learned that having Ronaldo on the books is not always as fun as it sounds.
8. Antoine Griezmann
From: Atletico Madrid to Barcelona, 2019
Fee: €120m
The Antoine Griezmann transfer saga had literally everything.
He rejected Barcelona in 2018 using a documentary produced by Gerard Pique's company, only to sign for the club 12 months later amid a tapping-up scandal that led to a formal complaint from Atletico.
All of that for a transfer that was pretty rubbish from start to finish. He's now back at Atletico.
7. Eden Hazard
From: Chelsea to Real Madrid, 2019
Fee: €120.8m
Real Madrid weren't prepared to wait an extra 12 months to sign Eden Hazard on a free and instead agreed to pay what could have ended up being €145m for the Belgian winger.
Sadly, injuries plagued Hazard from the off and prevented him from coming anywhere close to the elite form which convinced Madrid to make the move - leaving the transfer to be remembered as one of the worst of all time.
6. Enzo Fernandez
From: Benfica to Chelsea, 2023
Fee: €121m
Enzo Fernandez became one of the many faces of Todd Boehly's Chelsea revolution when he joined the Blues in January 2023 for €121m.
The midfielder had just won the World Cup in Qatar with Argentina, inflating his price tag at former club Benfica, and after some early negotiations Chelsea returned at the end of January to force the deal over the line.
They've paid over the odds for Fernandez's potential, so he has plenty of convincing to do.
5. Joao Felix
From: Benfica to Atletico Madrid, 2019
Fee: €127.2m
One of the world's most exciting prospects, Joao Felix sealed a move to Atletico in 2019 despite being courted by almost all of Europe's biggest clubs in the months before the move was made official.
Felix burst onto the scene at Benfica, and Atletico fancied him so much that they decided to pay his entire €126m release clause as they attempted to replace the outgoing Antoine Griezmann.
Atletico are now spending their summers attempting to find a buyer for the luxury Portuguese performer.
4. Ousmane Dembele
From: Borussia Dortmund to Barcelona, 2017
Fee: €135m
Barcelona took a leap of faith when they spent over €100m to sign Ousmane Dembele from Dortmund in 2017. The Frenchman had only had one season in the Bundesliga, but Barça scouts were convinced that this was a player who could become one of the world's best.
On the whole, it didn't go well because of a raft of injuries. However, Dembele was brilliant in the second half of the 2021/22 season and had established himself as one of Xavi's primary starters - he also commanded a place in the France side that reached the World Cup final.
3. Philippe Coutinho
From: Liverpool to Barcelona, 2018
Fee: €135,
Philippe Coutinho joined Barcelona from Liverpool in January 2018 in search of trophies and acclaim, and he got what he desired - winning two league titles in a row. But he could only watch on as former club Liverpool lifted the big one in 2019, smashing Coutinho's Barcelona en route to the Champions League final itself.
Coutinho has struggled. So much so, in fact, that if you were to label this one of the worst transfers of all time, you'd actually have a strong case.
2. Kylian Mbappe
From: Monaco to PSG, 2018
Fee: €180m
There's no disputing that the most frightening forward on the planet is Kylian Mbappe.
The Frenchman has won the World Cup already, scooped the Golden Boot in another, and is a Parisien icon as a result of his body of work at the Parc des Princes.
PSG paid big money for Mbappe in 2018, knowing how good he would be, and he became their all-time leading goalscorer in 2023. He couldn't however, inspire the French club to their ultimate goal of Champions League glory.
1. Neymar
From: Barcelona to PSG, 2017
Fee: €222m
Neymar's move from Barcelona to PSG in 2017 didn't so much break the world transfer record as smash it into a million pieces. He became the first player to command a nine-figure sum, with the £198m fee being more than double the previous record of Pogba.
Was it worth it? Neymar was prolific in front of goal and PSG won the domestic treble in his first season. League titles have been a breeze (except for last season) but the Champions League eluded the Brazilian in Paris.
Despite his immense output, the PSG faithful seemingly never took to Neymar before he departed for the riches of the Gulf.
Most expensive goalkeeper
The most expensive goalkeeper ever bought is Kepa Arrizabalaga. The Spaniard joined Chelsea from Athletic Club for €80m in 2018 as the Premier League heavyweights sought to replace Thibaut Courtois after he joined Real Madrid.
Kepa broke the record that Alisson Becker briefly held after joining Liverpool - Italian legend Gianluigi Buffon had previously been the most expensive goalkeeper of all time for close to two decades.
Most expensive defender
There's some uncertainty over whether Josko Gvardiol became the most expensive defender of all-time when Manchester City forked out €90m to prise him away from RB Leipzig in 2023.
The Croatian may have just done enough to pip Harry Maguire to the honour, and he'll be hoping for a more prosperous career in Manchester than the England international.
Most expensive midfielder
He's not in the picture to be ranked among the world's best midfielder just, but it'll take one hefty bid to displace Enzo Fernandez as the world's priciest midfielder ever.
Benfica were reluctant to let him leave halfway through the season but recouped an incredible fee for the Argentina World Cup winner to ensure he joined Chelsea.
Most expensive teenager
There were plenty of eyebrows raised when Paris Saint-Germain decided to fork out €145m + €35m in add-ons for teenager Kylian Mbappe, but it didn't take long for the world to work out that it may have actually been good value.
Clearly a player with the potential to become one of the best ever, Mbappe's closest competition in the most expensive teenager stakes is Joao Felix - though his move cost Atletico over €50m less.
Most expensive British player
Gareth Bale became the first British player to breach the €100m mark when he joined Real Madrid from Tottenham in 2013, and that record stood for eight years until Manchester City paid Aston Villa €116m for Jack Grealish.
Just two years later, Arsenal offered the same amount plus an extra €6m in add-ons for Declan Rice, marking a new British record €117m package.
Most expensive career transfer fees
The player who has racked up the highest transfer fees in their career is Neymar.
The Brazilian has been on the move three times to date, joining Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Al Hilal after kicking off his career at Santos.
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