Most Expensive Football Transfers in history
Most expensive player in football history
All of the Most Expensive Football Transfers above €1oo million have taken place since the start of the 2017th.
At the dawn of the new millennium, Zinedine Zidane’s move from Juventus to Real Madrid in 2001 set a new benchmark, becoming the most expensive football transfer in history at the time.
For years, no other deal matched its scale—until 2013, when Gareth Bale joined Real Madrid from Tottenham, becoming the first player to breach the nine-digit fee.
That record was soon overtaken by Paul Pogba’s transfer from Juventus to Manchester United in 2016, signaling the start of a trend that would see transfer fees rise dramatically year after year.
In 2017, clubs spent a staggering €412 million on just three players — a turning point that reshaped the modern transfer market and pushed valuations into uncharted territory.
In just the last seven years, these blockbuster deals have amounted to more than €5.09 billion, with Premier League clubs and emerging football markets like Saudi Arabia leading the charge in financial dominance.
And the trend continues in 2025. Bayer Leverkusen star Florian Wirtz is reportedly making a move for €117.5 million, positioning himself among the Most Expensive Premier League Transfers of 2025, and the summer window is still open.
| Rank | Player | Clubs | Fee | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Neymar | Barcelona → PSG | €222m | 2017 |
| 2 | Kylian Mbappé | Monaco → PSG | €180m | 2018 |
| 3 | Philippe Coutinho | Liverpool → Barcelona | €135m | 2018 |
| = | Ousmane Dembélé | Dortmund → Barcelona | €135m | 2017 |
| 5 | João Félix | Benfica → Atlético Madrid | €127.2m | 2019 |
| 6 | Enzo Fernández | Benfica → Chelsea | €121m | 2023 |
| 7 | Antoine Griezmann | Atlético Madrid → Barcelona | €120m | 2019 |
| 8 | Florian Wirtz | Leverkusen → Liverpool | €117.5m | 2025 |
| = | Jack Grealish | Aston Villa → Man City | €117.5m | 2021 |
| 10 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid → Juventus | €117m | 2018 |
| 11 | Declan Rice | West Ham → Arsenal | €116.6m | 2023 |
| 12 | Moises Caicedo | Brighton → Chelsea | €116m | 2023 |
| 13 | Eden Hazard | Chelsea → Real Madrid | €115m | 2019 |
| 14 | Romelu Lukaku | Inter → Chelsea | €113m | 2021 |
| = | Jude Bellingham | Dortmund → Real Madrid | €113m | 2023 |