When Neymar Jr completes his transfer from FC Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain, he will be acknowledged as the player with the most expensive transfer of all time.
At the moment, the record is held by Manchester United’s under-performed Paul Pogba whose transfer fee last year from Juventus was put at €105million, a huge mountain when compared with €44million that the Manchester United paid to pluck Nemanja Matic from Chelsea.
According to the statistics put together by American sports website, Sporting News, Matic is 46th on the list of the most expensive players of all time.
| POS. | PLAYER | CLUBS | YEAR | FEE |
| 1 | Paul Pogba | Juventus – Manchester United | 2016 | €105m |
| 2 | Gareth Bale | Tottenham – Real Madrid | 2013 | €100.8m |
| 3 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Manchester United – Real Madrid | 2009 | €94m |
| 4 | Gonzalo Higuain | Napoli – Juventus | 2016 | €90m |
| 5 | Neymar | Santos – Barcelona | 2013 | €86.2m |
| 6 | Romelu Lukaku | Everton – Manchester United | 2017 | €84.8m |
| 7 | Luis Suarez | Liverpool – Barcelona | 2014 | €82.3m |
| 8 | James Rodriguez | Monaco – Real Madrid | 2014 | €80m |
| 9 | Alvaro Morata | Real Madrid – Chelsea | 2017 | €78.9m |
| 10 | Zinedine Zidane | Juventus – Real Madrid | 2001 | €77.5m |
| 11 | Kevin De Bruyne | Wolfsburg – Manchester City | 2015 | €75m |
| 12 | Angel Di Maria | Real Madrid – Manchester United | 2014 | €74.6m |
| 13 | Zlatan Ibrahimovic | Inter – Barcelona | 2009 | €69.5m |
| 14 | Raheem Sterling | Liverpool – Manchester City | 2015 | €69.1m |
| 15 | Kaka | AC Milan – Real Madrid | 2009 | €65m |
| 16 | Edinson Cavani | Napoli- PSG | 2013 | €64.5m |
| 17 | David Luiz | Chelsea – PSG | 2014 | €62.5m |
| 18 | Angel Di Maria | Manchester United – PSG | 2015 | €61.6m |
| 19 | Oscar | Chelsea – Shanghai SIPG | 2016 | €60.3m |
| 20 | Luis Figo | Barcelona – Real Madrid | 2000 | €60m |
| 21 | Fernando Torres | Liverpool – Chelsea | 2011 | €59m |
| 22 | Hulk | Zenit – Shanghai SIPG | 2016 | €58.6m |
| 23 | Benjamin Mendy | Monaco – Manchester City | 2017 | €58.2m |
| 24 | John Stones | Everton – Manchester City | 2016 | €58m |
| 25 | Kyle Walker | Tottenham – Manchester City | 2017 | €56.7m |
| 26 | Hernan Crespo | Parma – Lazio | 2000 | €55m |
| 27 | Alexandre Lacazette | Lyon – Arsenal | 2017 | €52.4m |
| 28 | Gianluigi Buffon | Parma – Juventus | 2001 | €52m |
| 29 | Eliaquim Mangala | Valencia – Manchester City | 2014 | €51.7m |
| 30 | Alex Teixeira | Shakhtar Dontesk – Jiangsu Suning | 2016 | €50m |
| 30 | Bernardo Silva | Monaco – Manchester City | 2017 | €50m |
| 32 | Anthony Martial | Monaco – Manchester United | 2015 | €49.3m |
| 33 | Christian Vieri | Lazio – Inter | 1999 | €49m |
| 34 | Gaizka Mendieta | Valencia – Lazio | 2001 | €48m |
| 35 | Mesut Ozil | Real Madrid – Arsenal | 2013 | €47m |
| 36 | Juan Sebastian Veron | Lazio – Manchester United | 2001 | €46m |
| 36 | Rio Ferdinand | Leeds – Manchester United | 2002 | €46m |
| 36 | Ronaldo | Inter – Real Madrid | 2002 | €46m |
| 36 | Juan Mata | Chelsea – Manchester United | 2014 | €46m |
| 36 | Douglas Costa | Bayern Munich – Juventus | 2017 | €46m |
| 41 | Christian Benteke | Aston Villa – Liverpool | 2015 | €45.8m |
| 42 | James Rodriguez | Porto – Monaco | 2013 | €45m |
| 42 | Joao Mario | Sporting CP – Inter | 2016 | €45m |
| 42 | Granit Xhaka | Borussia Monchengladbach – Arsenal | 2016 | €45m |
| 42 | Tiemoue Bakayoko | Monaco – Chelsea | 2017 | €45m |
| 46 | Nemanja Matic | Chelsea – Manchester United | 2017 | €44.7m |
| 47 | Leroy Sane | Schalke – Manchester City | 2016 | €44m |
| 48 | Andriy Shevchenko | AC Milan – Chelsea | 2006 | €43.9m |
| 49 | Robinho | Real Madrid – Manchester City | 2008 | €43m |
| 49 | Radamel Falcao | Atletico Madrid – Monaco | 2013 | €43m |
| 51 | Alexis Sanchez | Barcelona – Arsenal | 2014 | €42.5m |
| 52 | Rui Costa | Fiorentina – AC Milan | 2001 | €42m |
| 52 | Javier Pastore | Palermo – PSG | 2011 | €42m |
| 52 | Thiago Silva | AC Milan – PSG | 2012 | €42m |
| 52 | Jackson Martinez | Atletico Madrid – Guangzhou Evergrande | 2016 | €42m |
| 52 | Henrikh Mkhitaryan | Borussia Dortmund – Manchester United | 2016 | €42m |
| 52 | Mohamed Salah | Roma – Liverpool | 2017 | €42m |
| 52 | Leonardo Bonucci | Juventus – AC Milan | 2017 | €42m |
| 59 | Lilian Thuram | Parma – Juventus | 2001 | €41.5m |
| 59 | Corentin Tolisso | Lyon – Bayern Munich | 2017 | €41.5m |
| 61 | Andy Carroll | Newcastle – Liverpool | 2011 | €41.3m |
| 62 | Pavel Nedved | Lazio – Juventus | 2001 | €41.2m |
| 62 | Shkodran Mustafi | Valencia – Arsenal | 2016 | €41.2m |
| 62 | Sadio Mane | Southampton – Liverpool | 2016 | €41.2m |
| 65 | Roberto Firmino | Hoffenheim – Liverpool | 2015 | €41m |
| 65 | Marc Overmars | Arsenal – Barcelona | 2001 | €41m |
| 67 | David Villa | Valencia – Barcelona | 2010 | €40m |
| 68 | Sergio Aguero | Atletico Madrid – Manchester City | 2011 | €40m |
| 68 | Radamel Falcao | Porto – Atletico Madrid | 2011 | €40m |
| 68 | Hulk | Porto – Zenit | 2012 | €40m |
| 68 | Axel Witsel | Benfica – Zenit | 2012 | €40m |
| 68 | Javi Martinez | Athletic Club – Bayern Munich | 2012 | €40m |
| 68 | Eden Hazard | Lille – Chelsea | 2012 | €40m |
| 68 | Fernandinho | Shakhtar Donetsk – Manchester City | 2013 | €40m |
| 68 | Ederson | Benfica – Manchester City | 2017 | €40m |
| 76 | David Luiz | PSG – Chelsea | 2016 | €39.6m |
| 77 | Michy Batshuayi | Marseille – Chelsea | 2016 | €39m |
| 77 | Antonio Rudiger | Roma – Chelsea | 2017 | €39m |
| 79 | Didier Drogba | Marseille – Chelsea | 2004 | €38.5m |
| 80 | Michael Essien | Lyon – Chelsea | 2005 | €38m |
| 80 | Fernando Torres | Atletico Madrid – Liverpool | 2007 | €38m |
| 80 | Dimitar Berbatov | Tottenham – Manchester United | 2008 | €38m |
| 80 | Gonzalo Higuain | Real Madrid – Napoli | 2013 | €38m |
| 80 | Diego Costa | Atletico Madrid – Chelsea | 2014 | €38m |
| 80 | Eric Bailly | Villarreal – Manchester United | 2016 | €38m |
| 80 | Mats Hummels | Borussia Dortmund – Bayern Munich | 2016 | €38m |
| 80 | Andre Silva | Porto – AC Milan | 2017 | €38m |
| 88 | David Beckham | Manchester United – Real Madrid | 2003 | €37.5m |
| 88 | Luke Shaw | Southampton – Manchester United | 2014 | €37.5m |
| 90 | Jackson Martinez | Porto – Atletico Madrid | 2015 | €37.1m |
| 91 | Filippo Inzaghi | Juventus – AC Milan | 2001 | €37m |
| 91 | Wayne Rooney | Everton – Manchester United | 2004 | €37m |
| 91 | Edin Dzeko | Wolfsburg – Manchester City | 2010 | €37m |
| 94 | Mario Gotze | Borussia Dortmund – Bayern Munich | 2013 | €37m |
| 94 | Arturo Vidal | Juventus – Bayern Munich | 2015 | €37m |
| 96 | Hernan Crespo | Lazio – Inter | 2002 | €36m |
| 96 | Arjen Robben | Chelsea – Real Madrid | 2007 | €36m |
| 96 | Ander Herrera | Athletic Club – Manchester United | 2014 | €36m |
| 99 | Javier Saviola | River Plate – Barcelona | 2001 | €35.9m |
| 100 | N’Golo Kante | Leicester City | 2016 | €35.8m |
Source:
Sporting News
