Football has been around for about 150 years now and is become a super-successful industry capable of generating billions of Euros every month. The English Premier League by itself brings in around 5 billion Euros on a yearly basis. Meanwhile, smaller but still highly popular leagues like the Campeonato Brasileiro, Ligue 1, Seria A, La Liga, and Bundesliga all bring in one billion or more per year.
A very significant portion of that revenue stream actually comes from player transfers. Needless to say, some transfers are worth more than others. A lot more, actually. Want to know which of them were to most expensive? Well, you’re in luck because we have the perfect list for you. Down below you can find a list of the 5 most expensive football player transfers ever made.
5. Paul Pogba – Juventus to Manchester United (€105m)
A common theme with most of these transfers is that each of them broke some sort of record at the time it was made. In the case of French player Paul Pogba, his transfer from Juventus FC to Manchester United broke it back in 2016. However, that record didn’t last for very long and Pogba’s transfer was dethroned the very next year.
4. Ousmane Dembélé – BVB to Barcelona (€105m)
Sitting in fourth place is yet another French player who broke a record when he was transferred from Borrusia Dortmund to FC Barcelona in 2017. The Spanish club initially paid a €105m transfer fee for the young player, but it’s possible that the sum will grow even larger in the future.
The transfer fee can increase significantly if Dembélé performs well for Barcelona, though it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen anytime soon. The forward only played a few matches so far and has been sidelined for a number of months due to a muscle injury that occurred near the start of the 2017/2018 season.
3. Philippe Coutinho – Liverpool to Barcelona (€120m)
Moving on to third place, we have the first Brazilian player on this list in the form of midfielder Philippe Coutinho. The transfer broke the national league record just earlier this year when Barcelona made yet another very expensive purchase.
It is believed that Dembélé’s injuries lead the Spanish team to look for an additional star player to fill in their ranks. Similar to Dembélé’s transfer fee, this one also has the potential to grow even larger if Coutinho performs particularly well. The deal between the two teams also states that the player’s contract with Barça will last until 2023.
2. Kylian Mbappé – Monaco to PSG (€145m)
The third French player on the list goes by the name of Kylian Mbappé, a 19-year-old forward that broke the record for the most expensive teenager transfer of all time. Technically speaking, the transfer has not been completed just yet but will eventually go through a bit later this year. The fair play regulations put in place by UEFA forced Paris Saint-Germain to postpone the transfer until summer 2018. This was undoubtedly a bit of a hassle for the French club but well worth it as it allowed them to make an even more important transfer back in 2017. Yup, we’re talking about Neymar’s move to PSG, the most expensive transfer to this day!
1. Neymar – Barcelona to PSG (€222m)
By far the most expensive transfer of all time was made in 2017 when Paris Saint-Germain bought Brazilian forward Neymar from Barcelona for a whopping €222m. Needless to say, the massive transfer fee broke all records and chances are that this time the record will stand for at least a few years.
Neymar is no stranger to records as he broke yet another one back in 2013 when he was transferred from Santos FC to Barcelona for €88.2m. That was the highest transfer fee at the time for a South American player.