The 2022-23 season has been packed full of big-money deals, with the likes of Mykhailo Mudryk, Antony, Erling Haaland and Darwin Nunez leading the way
Paris Saint-Germain shook up the football world in the summer of 2017 when they signed Neymar from Barcelona and then promptly prised Kylian Mbappe away from Monaco.
They remain the two most expensive players of all time but there is no denying that PSG’s sensational double swoop greatly inflated the transfer market.
Indeed, a number of massive moves quickly followed, with Barcelona looking to try to fill the void left behind by Neymar by signing the likes of Ousmane Dembele, Philippe Coutinho and Antoine Griezmann for nine-figure fees.
Also in Spain, Atletico Madrid splashed €126m on Benfica’s prodigious attacking talent Joao Felix, while Real Madrid finally brought Eden Hazard to Santiago Bernabeu for €100m.
The Covid-19 pandemic briefly had a massive impact on the transfer market, but some clubs, particularly in England, have seemingly now recovered, with the likes of Enzo Fernandez, Jack Grealish, Jadon Sancho, Mykhailo Mudryk, Antony, Darwin Nunez, Matthijs de Ligt, Wesley Fofana and Aurelien Tchouameni moving for huge amounts.
More massive deals now look certain to follow, but you can see the current list of the world’s most expensive footballers below…
On this page
- Most expensive British player
- Most expensive teenager
- Most expensive defender
- Most expensive goalkeeper
- Biggest transfer outside of Europe
Pos.PlayerClubsYearFee1NeymarBarcelona – PSG2017€222m2Kylian MbappeMonaco – PSG2017€145m (+€35m)3Joao FelixBenfica – Atletico Madrid2019€126m4Enzo FernandezBenfica – Chelsea2023€121m=5Philippe CoutinhoLiverpool – Barcelona2018€120m (+€40m)=5Antoine GriezmannAtletico Madrid – Barcelona2019€120m7Jack GrealishAston Villa – Manchester City2021€117m8Romelu LukakuInter – Chelsea2021€115m=9Ousmane DembeleBorussia Dortmund – Barcelona2017€105m (+€45m)=9Paul PogbaJuventus – Manchester United2016€105m11Gareth BaleTottenham – Real Madrid2013€100.8m=12Cristiano RonaldoReal Madrid – Juventus2018€100m=12Eden HazardChelsea – Real Madrid2019€100m (+€40m)=12Mykhailo MudrykShakhtar Donetsk – Chelsea2023€100m14AntonyAjax – Manchester United2022€95m (+€5m)15Cristiano RonaldoManchester United – Real Madrid2009€94m16Gonzalo HiguainNapoli – Juventus2016€90m17Harry MaguireLeicester City – Manchester United2019€87.1m18NeymarSantos – Barcelona2013€86.2m19Jadon SanchoBorussia Dortmund – Manchester United2021€85m20Romelu LukakuEverton – Manchester United2017€84.8m21Virgil van DijkSouthampton – Liverpool2018€84.5m22Luis SuarezLiverpool – Barcelona2014€82.3m23Wesley FofanaLeicester City – Chelsea2022€80.6m=24Aurelien TchouameniMonaco – Real Madrid2022€80m (+€20m)=24James RodriguezMonaco – Real Madrid2014€80m=24Kepa ArrizabalagaAthletic Club – Chelsea2018€80m=24Lucas HernandezAtletico Madrid – Bayern Munich2019€80m=24Romelu LukakuManchester United – Inter2019€80m29Nicolas PepeLille – Arsenal2019€79m30Alvaro MorataReal Madrid – Chelsea2017€78.9m31Zinedine ZidaneJuventus – Real Madrid2001€77.5m=32Darwin NunezBenfica – Liverpool2022€75m (+€25m)=32Matthijs de LigtAjax – Juventus2019€75m (+€10.5m)=32Kevin De BruyneWolfsburg – Manchester City2015€75m=32Frenkie de JongAjax – Barcelona2019€75m=32Dusan VlahovicFiorentina – Juventus2022€75m37Angel Di MariaReal Madrid – Manchester United2014€74.6m38Alisson BeckerRoma – Liverpool2018€73m39Arthur MeloBarcelona – Juventus2020€72m (+€10m)40CasemiroReal Madrid – Manchester United2022€71m (+€11.8m)=41Kai HavertzBayer Leverkusen – Chelsea2020€70m (+€9m)=41Luka JovicEintracht Frankfurt – Real Madrid2019€70m=41RodriAtletico Madrid – Manchester City2019€70m=41Mykhailo MudrykShakhtar Donetsk – Chelsea2023€70m (+€30m)44Zlatan IbrahimovicInter – Barcelona2009€69.5m45Raheem SterlingLiverpool – Manchester City2015€69.1m46Ruben DiasBenfica – Manchester City2020€68m (+€3.6m)47Riyad MahrezLeicester City – Manchester City2019€67.8m48Matthijs de LigtJuventus – Bayern Munich2022€67m (+€10m)49Diego CostaChelsea – Atletico Madrid2018€66m50Marc CucurellaBrighton – Chelsea2022€65.1m (+€8.2m)=51Alexander IsakReal Sociedad – Newcastle United2022€65m (+€5m)=51Thomas LemarMonaco – Atletico Madrid2018€65m=51KakaAC Milan – Real Madrid2009€65m=51Aymeric LaporteAthletic Club – Manchester City2018€65m=51Joao CanceloJuventus – Manchester City2019€65m (inc. Danilo)56Edinson CavaniNapoli – PSG2013€64.5m57Christian PulisicBorussia Dortmund – Chelsea2019€64m58Pierre-Emerick AubameyangBorussia Dortmund – Arsenal2018€63.75m59David LuizChelsea – PSG2014€62.5m60Angel Di MariaManchester United – PSG2015€61.6m61OscarChelsea – Shanghai SIPG2017€60.3m=62Achraf HakimiInter – PSG2021€60m (+€11m)=62Miralem PjanicJuventus – Barcelona2020€60m (+€5m)=62Erling HaalandBorussia Dortmund – Manchester City2022€60m=62Naby KeitaRB Leipzig – Liverpool2018€60m=62Luis FigoBarcelona – Real Madrid2000€60m=62Tanguy NdombeleLyon – Tottenham2019€60m=68RaphinhaLeeds United – Barcelona2022€59m (+€6m)=68Fernando TorresLiverpool – Chelsea2011€59m=70FredShakhtar Donetsk – Manchester United2018€58.9m=70JorginhoNapoli – Chelsea2018€58.9m=70HulkZenit – Shanghai SIPG2016€58.6m=70Ben WhiteBrighton – Arsenal2021€58.6m74Benjamin MendyMonaco – Manchester City2017€58.2m=75RicharlisonEverton – Tottenham2022€58m (+€12m)=75John StonesEverton – Manchester City2016€58m77Kyle WalkerTottenham – Manchester City2017€56.7m78Raheem SterlingManchester City – Chelsea2022€56.2m79Ben ChilwellLeicester City – Chelsea2020€55.8m80Lisandro MartinezAjax – Manchester United2022€55.3m (+€12.5m)=81Bruno FernandesSporting C.P. – Manchester United2020€55m (+€25m)=81Hernan CrespoParma – Lazio2000€55m=81Ferran TorresManchester City – Barcelona2021€55m=84Alexandre LacazetteLyon – Arsenal2017€53m (+€7m)=84Timo WernerRB Leipzig – Chelsea2020€53m86Gabriel JesusManchester City – Arsenal2022€52.3m87Gianluigi BuffonParma – Juventus2001€52m88Eliaquim MangalaPorto – Manchester City2014€51.7m89Jules KoundeSevilla – Barcelona2022€50m (+€10m)=90Alex TeixeiraShakhtar Donetsk – Jiangsu Suning2016€50m=90Bernardo SilvaMonaco – Manchester City2017€50m=90FabinhoMonaco – Liverpool2018€50m=90Eder MilitaoPorto – Real Madrid2019€50m=90Aaron Wan-BissakaCrystal Palace – Manchester United2019€50m=90Thomas ParteyAtletico Madrid – Arsenal2020€50m=90Victor OsimhenLille – Napoli2020€50m97Anthony MartialMonaco – Manchester United2015€49.3m98Gylfi SigurdssonSwansea City – Everton2017€49.2m=99Leroy SaneManchester City – Bayern Munich2020€49m (+€11m)=99Christian VieriLazio – Inter1999€49mMost expensive British player
Manchester City
Jack Grealish became the most expensive British player in football history when Manchester City agreed to meet the buy-out clause of €117m in the England international’s Aston Villa contract.
The record had previously belonged to Wales winger Gareth Bale, who joined Real Madrid from Tottenham in 2013 for €100.8m.
Before Grealish’s move to the Etihad, Harry Maguire was the costliest English player ever, on account of his €87.1m move from Leicester to Manchester United in 2019.
Most expensive teenager
Kylian Mbappe is the most expensive teenager ever, as he joined PSG on a loan-to-buy deal in 2017 that will be worth €180m after bonuses.
Joao Felix is the second-most expensive teenager, having been signed by Atletico from Benfica for €126m in 2019.
Most expensive defender
Harry Maguire became the most expensive defender of all time when Manchester United forked out €87.1m the England centre-half’s services in 2019.
Maguire overtook Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk in the process, but only marginally, as the Netherlands international set the Reds back €84.5m when he arrived from Southampton the year before.
Most expensive goalkeeper
Kepa Arrizabalaga is the most expensive goalkeeper in history. Chelsea spent €80m to meet his Athletic Club release clause in 2018.
For a long time, former Juventus captain Gianluigi Buffon held this mark, having joined the Turin outfit from Parma for €52m, which is a colossal fee when inflation is taken into account.
Then, within a matter of weeks, Buffon’s record was shattered twice. First, Liverpool brought in Roma’s Alisson Becker for €73m, to temporarily take the mark as the world’s most expensive keeper.
Not to be outdone, Chelsea snapped up Kepa not even a month later, propelling the Spain international into top spot.
Biggest transfer outside of Europe
The most a non-European club has ever paid for a player is €60.3m, which Shanghai SIPG handed over to Chelsea for Brazil midfielder Oscar in 2016.
However, with the way the market is going, who knows which record will be shattered next?!
