Neymar to Ekitike: Top 20 most expensive football transfers of all time

Football as a sport has evolved exponentially over the years, in terms of style, teams, competitions, and transfers. With all the expensive transfers taking place in world football nowadays, it has created a domino effect that has inflated all the prices, with mid-table teams now selling off their talents for amounts close to €70 million (630 crore).

 

Such is the level of inflation that Cristiano Ronaldo’s move from Manchester United to Real Madrid for over €80 million—which was the world-record sum back in the 2009/10 season, is now among the lower ranks, and even less than what Manchester United paid Ajax for Brazilian winger Antony in the 2022/23 season (approximately €85 million). 

 

The current deal that tops the charts is Neymar Jr’s world-record transfer from FC Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), which cost the Parisian club a whopping €222 million (₹1,776 crore) back in the 2017/18 season.

 

Surpassing the €150 million (₹1,440 crore) mark, Kylian Mbappé took the second spot in the table when the French youngster switched clubs from AS Monaco to PSG.

 

Rounding up the top three transfers in world football, French forward Ousmane Dembélé was bought by FC Barcelona for ₹1,184 crore from German heavyweights Borussia Dortmund in the 2017/18 season. 

Top 20 most costliest football transfers of all time
Rank	Player	Position	Season	Nationality	Joined Club	League	Fee (₹ Cr)
1	Neymar	Attacking Midfield	17/18	Brazil	Paris SG	France Ligue 1	₹1,776.00
2	Kylian Mbappé	Centre-Forward	18/19	France / Cameroon	Paris SG	France Ligue 1	₹1,440.00
3	Ousmane Dembélé	Right Winger	17/18	France	FC Barcelona	Spain LaLiga	₹1,184.00
4	Philippe Coutinho	Attacking Midfield	17/18	Brazil / Portugal	FC Barcelona	Spain LaLiga	₹1,080.00
5	João Félix	Second Striker	19/20	Portugal	Atlético Madrid	Spain LaLiga	₹1,018.00
6	Jude Bellingham	Attacking Midfield	23/24	England / Ireland	Real Madrid	Spain LaLiga	₹1,016.00
7	Florian Wirtz	Attacking Midfield	25/26	Germany	Liverpool FC	England Premier League	₹1,000.00
8	Enzo Fernández	Central Midfield	22/23	Argentina	Chelsea FC	England Premier League	₹968.00
9	Eden Hazard	Left Winger	19/20	Belgium	Real Madrid	Spain LaLiga	₹966.00
10	Antoine Griezmann	Second Striker	19/20	France	FC Barcelona	Spain LaLiga	₹960.00
11	Jack Grealish	Left Winger	21/22	England / Ireland	Manchester City	England Premier League	₹940.00
12	Cristiano Ronaldo	Centre-Forward	18/19	Portugal	Juventus FC	Italy Serie A	₹936.00
13	Declan Rice	Central Midfield	23/24	England / Ireland	Arsenal FC	England Premier League	₹933.00
14	Moisés Caicedo	Defensive Midfield	23/24	Ecuador	Chelsea FC	England Premier League	₹928.00
15	Romelu Lukaku	Centre-Forward	21/22	Belgium / DR Congo	Chelsea FC	England Premier League	₹904.00
16	Paul Pogba	Central Midfield	16/17	France / Guinea	Manchester United	England Premier League	₹840.00
17	Gareth Bale	Right Winger	13/14	Wales	Real Madrid	Spain LaLiga	₹808.00
18	Hugo Ekitiké	Centre-Forward	25/26	France / Cameroon	Liverpool FC	England Premier League	₹760.00
19	Harry Kane	Centre-Forward	23/24	England	Bayern Munich	Germany Bundesliga	₹760.00
20	Randal Kolo Muani	Centre-Forward	23/24	France / DR Congo	Paris SG	France Ligue 1	₹760.00

 

2017/18 season: Changing football transfers for the world

 

With three of the top five most expensive signings in world football currently coming in the 2017/18 season, with Neymar’s move shocking world football, the world started viewing transfers in another light and saw inflated price tags become a common sighting from then on. 

 

Changing trends in the market

 

The transfer market saw steady growth from €5.88 billion in 2015 to nearly €10 billion by 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic triggered a sharp dip: spending dropped to €7.51 billion in 2020 and further to €5.99 billion in 2021.  A strong rebound followed: €9.34 billion in 2022, then peaking at €12.24 billion in 2023, the highest on record. Although 2024 saw a 10% decline, total spending remained significantly elevated at €10.96 billion, the second-highest annual total ever. 

Transfer fees spent worldwide, including add-ons from 2015 to 2024:
Year	Fixed Fees (€ bn)	Add-ons (€ bn)	Total (€ bn)
2015	€ 3.71	€ 2.18	€ 5.88
2016	€ 4.25	€ 2.61	€ 6.86
2017	€ 5.51	€ 3.55	€ 9.06
2018	€ 5.61	€ 2.71	€ 8.32
2019	€ 6.46	€ 3.53	€ 9.99
2020	€ 5.01	€ 2.50	€ 7.51
2021	€ 4.11	€ 1.88	€ 5.99
2022	€ 6.20	€ 3.13	€ 9.34
2023	€ 8.82	€ 3.42	€ 12.24
2024	€ 7.33	€ 3.63	€ 10.96