List of most expensive association football transfers

The following is a list of most expensive association football transfers, which details the highest transfer fees ever paid for players, as well as transfers which set new world transfer records. The first confirmed record transfer was of Willie Groves from West Bromwich Albion to Aston Villa for £100 in 1893 (equivalent to £14,000 in 2023), made just eight years after the introduction of professionalism by the Football Association in 1885.

The current transfer record was set by the transfer of Neymar from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain for €222 million (£200 million) in August 2017. While the current record for women was set by the transfer of Olivia Smith from Liverpool to Arsenal for €1.157 million (£1 million) in July 2025.

Highest transfer records in association football

All selling clubs involved in transfers on this list are under UEFA's jurisdiction. Most players transfer to clubs from the Big Five Leagues, with half of them being Premier League clubs. Saudi Arabian clubs are the only purchasing clubs not under UEFA's jurisdiction. Overall, Manchester United has made the list nine times for player purchases, the most among all clubs.

Romelu Lukaku appears on this list three times for moves to Manchester United, Inter Milan, and Chelsea. Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo appear on the list twice. All of the players on the list are of European (UEFA), South American (CONMEBOL) or African (CAF) origin. There are currently no players on the list from the remaining regions; North America (CONCACAF), Asia (AFC) and Oceania (OFC). Ten French players have made their name on the list, the most among all countries.

Most transfer fees listed are not officially disclosed by the trading clubs and are reported by reliable mainstream media. Different media outlets may report varying transfer fees. The transfer fees are ranked in Euro (€) and based on the exchange rate at the time of the transfer.

As of 1 September 2025
  Fee broke the world record at the time of the transfer
  Fee broke the record for a teenager at the time of the transfer
  Fee broke the national league record at the time of the transfer
  Fee broke the record for a South American player at the time of the transfer
  Fee broke the record for an African player at the time of the transfer
  Fee broke the record for a goalkeeper at the time of the transfer
  Fee broke the record for a defender at the time of the transfer
Top 50 most expensive association football transfers
Rank Player From To Position Fee
(€ million)
Fee
(£ million)
Year Ref.
1 Neymar (1) Barcelona Paris Saint-Germain Forward €222 £200 2017
2 Kylian Mbappé Monaco Paris Saint-Germain Forward €180 £165.7 2017
3 Alexander Isak Newcastle United Liverpool Forward €144.5 £125 2025
4 João Félix Benfica Atlético Madrid Forward €126 £113 2019
5 Enzo Fernández Benfica Chelsea Midfielder €121 £106.8 2023
6 Antoine Griezmann Atlético Madrid Barcelona Forward €120 £107 2019
7 Philippe Coutinho Liverpool Barcelona Midfielder €118.4 £105 2018
8 Jack Grealish Aston Villa Manchester City Midfielder €117.7 £100 2021
9 Florian Wirtz Bayer Leverkusen Liverpool Midfielder €117.5 £100 2025
10 Declan Rice West Ham United Arsenal Midfielder €116.5 £100 2023
11 Moisés Caicedo Brighton & Hove Albion Chelsea Midfielder €116.3 £100 2023
12 Romelu Lukaku (3) Inter Milan Chelsea Forward €115 £97.5 2021
13 Ousmane Dembélé Borussia Dortmund Barcelona Forward €105 £96.8 2017
Paul Pogba Juventus Manchester United Midfielder €105 £89.3 2016
15 Jude Bellingham Borussia Dortmund Real Madrid Midfielder €103 £88.5 2023
16 Eden Hazard Chelsea Real Madrid Forward €100 £89 2019
Cristiano Ronaldo (2) Real Madrid Juventus Forward €100 £88.3 2018
Harry Kane Tottenham Hotspur Bayern Munich Forward €100 £86.4 2023
Gareth Bale Tottenham Hotspur Real Madrid Forward €100 £85.3 2013
20 Antony Ajax Manchester United Forward €95 £81.3 2022
21 Cristiano Ronaldo (1) Manchester United Real Madrid Forward €94 £80 2009
22 Joško Gvardiol RB Leipzig Manchester City Defender €90 £77 2023
Neymar (2) Paris Saint-Germain Al-Hilal Forward €90 £77.6 2023
Gonzalo Higuaín Napoli Juventus Forward €90 £75.3 2016
25 Harry Maguire Leicester City Manchester United Defender €86.6 £80 2019
26 Jadon Sancho Borussia Dortmund Manchester United Midfielder €85 £73 2021
27 Romelu Lukaku (1) Everton Manchester United Forward €84.8 £75 2017
28 Virgil van Dijk Southampton Liverpool Defender €84.4 £75 2018
29 Luis Suárez Liverpool Barcelona Forward €82.3 £65 2014
30 Wesley Fofana Leicester City Chelsea Defender €80.9 £70 2022
31 Romelu Lukaku (2) Manchester United Inter Milan Forward €80 £74 2019
Nicolas Pépé Lille Arsenal Midfielder €80 £72 2019
Kepa Arrizabalaga Athletic Bilbao Chelsea Goalkeeper €80 £71.6 2018
Hugo Ekitike Eintracht Frankfurt Liverpool Forward €80 £69 2025
Aurélien Tchouaméni Monaco Real Madrid Midfielder €80 £68.3 2022
Lucas Hernandez Atlético Madrid Bayern Munich Defender €80 £68 2019
James Rodríguez Monaco Real Madrid Midfielder €80 £63 2014
38 Zinedine Zidane Juventus Real Madrid Midfielder €77.5 £46.2 2001
39 Jhon Durán Aston Villa Al-Nassr Forward €77 £64.5 2025
40 Benjamin Šeško RB Leipzig Manchester United Forward €76.5 £66.3 2025
41 Kevin De Bruyne VfL Wolfsburg Manchester City Midfielder €75.7 £55 2015
42 Ángel Di María Real Madrid Manchester United Forward €75.6 £59.7 2014
43 Kai Havertz Chelsea Arsenal Midfielder €75.3 £65 2023
44 Matthijs de Ligt Ajax Juventus Defender €75 £67.8 2019
Frenkie de Jong Ajax Barcelona Midfielder €75 £65 2019
Bryan Mbeumo Brentford Manchester United Forward €75 £65 2025
Nick Woltemade VfB Stuttgart Newcastle United Forward €75 £64.9 2025
Victor Osimhen Napoli Galatasaray Forward €75 £64.8 2025
Julián Álvarez Manchester City Atlético Madrid Forward €75 £64.4 2024
Randal Kolo Muani Eintracht Frankfurt Paris Saint-Germain Forward €75 £64.2 2023
Darwin Núñez Benfica Liverpool Forward €75 £64 2022
Rasmus Højlund Atalanta Manchester United Forward €75 £64 2023
  1. The player's buyout clause was activated in the transfer
  2. Initial £125 million plus £5 million in possible add-ons
  3. Initial £105 million plus £37 million in possible add-ons
  4. Initial £100 million plus £16 million in possible add-ons
  5. Initial £100 million plus £5 million in possible add-ons
  6. Initial £100 million plus £15 million in possible add-ons
  7. Initial €105 million plus €40 million in possible add-ons
  8. Initial €105 million plus €5 million in possible add-ons
  9. Initial €103 million plus €30.9 million in possible add-ons
  10. Initial £89 million plus £60 million in possible add-ons
  11. Initial €100 million plus €10 million in possible add-ons
  12. Initial €95 million plus €5 million in possible add-ons
  13. Initial £73 million plus £5 million in possible add-ons
  14. Initial £75 million plus £15 million in possible add-ons
  15. Initial £70 million plus £5 million in possible add-ons
  16. Initial £69 million plus £10 million in possible add-ons
  17. Initial €80 million plus €20 million in possible add-ons
  18. Initial £64.5 million plus £6.5 million in possible add-ons
  19. Initial €76.5 million plus €8.5 million in possible add-ons
  20. Initial €75 million plus €10.5 million in possible add-ons
  21. Initial €75 million plus €11 million in possible add-ons
  22. Initial £65 million plus £6 million in possible add-ons
  23. Initial €75 million plus €5 million in possible add-ons
  24. Initial €75 million plus €20 million in possible add-ons
  25. Initial €75 million plus €15 million in possible add-ons
  26. Initial £64 million plus £21 million in possible add-ons
  27. Initial £64 million plus £8 million in possible add-ons

Statistics

Country Player Selling clubs Purchasing clubs
France 10 5 3
England 6 19 26
Belgium 5 0 0
Brazil 4 0 0
Argentina 4 0 0
Germany 3 10 2
Netherlands 3 3 0
Portugal 3 3 0
Colombia 2 0 0
Uruguay 2 0 0
Spain 1 6 14
Cameroon 1 0 0
Croatia 1 0 0
Denmark 1 0 0
Ecuador 1 0 0
Ivory Coast 1 0 0
Nigeria 1 0 0
Slovenia 1 0 0
Sweden 1 0 0
Wales 1 0 0
Italy 0 6 4
Saudi Arabia 0 0 2
Turkey 0 0 1

Most expensive player by confederation

Confederation Player From To Position Fee
(€ million)
Fee
(£ million)
Year Ref.
CONMEBOL Neymar Barcelona Paris Saint-Germain Forward €222 £200 2017
UEFA Kylian Mbappé Monaco Paris Saint-Germain Forward €180 £165.7 2018
CAF Nicolas Pépé Lille Arsenal Forward €80 £72 2019
CONCACAF Christian Pulisic Borussia Dortmund Chelsea Midfielder €64 £57.6 2019
AFC Kim Min-jae Napoli Bayern Munich Defender €50 £43 2023
OFC Chris Wood Burnley Newcastle United Forward €29 £25 2022
  1. The player's buyout clause was activated in the transfer

World football transfer record

The first player to ever be transferred for a fee of over £100 was Scottish striker Willie Groves when he together with Jack Reynolds (£50) made the switch from West Bromwich Albion to Aston Villa in 1893, eight years after the legalisation of professionalism in the sport. It took just another twelve years for the figure to become £1,000, when Sunderland striker Alf Common moved to Middlesbrough. It was not until 1928 that the first five-figure transfer took place. David Jack of Bolton Wanderers was the subject of interest from Arsenal, and in order to negotiate the fee down, Arsenal manager Herbert Chapman got the Bolton representatives drunk. Subsequently, David Jack was transferred for a world record fee when Arsenal paid £10,890 to Bolton for his services, after Bolton had asked for £13,000, which was double the previous record made when Sunderland signed Burnley's Bob Kelly a fee of for £6,500.

Diego Maradona and Ronaldo (pictured) were twice transferred for world record fees.

The first player from outside Great Britain to break the record was Bernabé Ferreyra, a player known as La Fiera for his powerful shot. His 1932 transfer from Tigre to River Plate cost £23k, and the record would last for 17 years (the longest the record has lasted) until it was broken by Manchester United's sale of Johnny Morris to Derby County for £24k in March 1949. The record was broken seven further times between 1949 and 1961, when Luis Suárez Miramontes was sold by Barcelona to Inter Milan for £152k, becoming the first ever player sold for more than £100k. In 1968, Pietro Anastasi became the first £500k player when Juventus purchased him from Varese, which was followed seven years later with Giuseppe Savoldi becoming the first million pound player when he transferred from Bologna to Napoli.

After Alf Common and David Jack, the third player to twice be transferred for world record fees is Diego Maradona. His transfers from Boca Juniors to Barcelona for £3m, and then to Napoli for £5m, both broke the record in 1982 and 1984 respectively. In the space of 61 days in 1992, three transfers broke the record, all by Italian clubs: Jean-Pierre Papin transferred from Marseille to A.C. Milan, becoming the first ever £10m player. Almost immediately, rivals Juventus topped that with the signing of Gianluca Vialli for a fee of £12m from Sampdoria. Milan then completed the signing of Gianluigi Lentini for a fee of £13m which stood as the record for three years.

The 1996 transfer of Alan Shearer from Blackburn Rovers to Newcastle United, for a fee of £15m, kickstarted a year-by-year succession of record breaking transfers: Ronaldo moved the following year to Inter Milan from Barcelona for a fee of £17m, which was followed in 1998 by the shock transfer of his fellow countryman Denílson from São Paulo to Real Betis for a fee of approximately £21m. In 1999 and 2000, Italian clubs returned to their record-breaking ways, with Christian Vieri transferring from Lazio to Inter Milan for £28m, while Hernán Crespo's transfer from Parma to Lazio ensured he became the first player to cost more than £30m. The transfer prompted the BBC to ask "has the world gone mad"? It took two weeks for the record to be broken when Luís Figo made a controversial £37m move from Barcelona to rivals Real Madrid. A year later, Real increased the record again with a signing of Zinedine Zidane for £48m (150 billion lire).

Zidane's record stood for 8 years, the longest since the 1940s. Real Madrid continued with the Galácticos policy by buying Kaká from Milan for €67m (£56m), which was the world record in pound sterling. However, both world record in euro and in pound sterling were broken by Real themselves when signing Cristiano Ronaldo for £80m (€94m) from Manchester United in the same transfer window, Four years later Real Madrid broke the record again after completed the signing of Gareth Bale from Tottenham Hotspur in 2013. Although Real initially insisted that the transfer cost €91.59m, slightly less than the Ronaldo fee, the deal was widely reported to be around €100m (around £85.1m). Documents leaked in 2016 by Football Leaks revealed that instalments brought the final Bale fee up to a total of €100,759,418. In 2016, Manchester United eventually took the record away from Real Madrid, signing French midfielder Paul Pogba for €105m (£89m), four years after having released him to Juventus for training compensation.

A year after the Pogba transfer, however, there was a major jump in the record fee. Paris Saint-Germain matched the €222m buyout fee of Barcelona's Neymar, converted to a reported £198m by different sources, or £200m more than double the previous record. This was the first time that the record fee was paid by a French club.

Overall, Barcelona has broken the record for the highest transfer fee received four times, while Real Madrid has broken the record for the highest transfer fee paid for a player five times.

Historical progression

The transfer fees fluctuate due to exchange rate variations and are based on the exchange rate at the time of the transfer.

Year Player From To Fee (£)
1893 Willie Groves West Bromwich Albion Aston Villa 100
1896 Fred Wheldon Small Heath Aston Villa 350-500
1903 Ben Green Barnsley Small Heath 500
1904 Alf Common (1) Sheffield United Sunderland 520
1904 Andy McCombie Sunderland Newcastle United 700
1905 Alf Common (2) Sunderland Middlesbrough 1,000
1913 Daniel Shea West Ham United Blackburn Rovers 2,000
1913 Tommy Barber Bolton Wanderers Aston Villa 2,000
1914 Percy Dawson Heart of Midlothian Blackburn Rovers 2,500
1920 David Jack (1) Plymouth Argyle Bolton Wanderers 3,500
1921 Tom Hamilton Kilmarnock Preston North End 4,600
1922 Syd Puddefoot West Ham United Falkirk 5,000
1922 Warney Cresswell South Shields Sunderland 5,500
1925 Bob Kelly Burnley Sunderland 6,500
1928 David Jack (2) Bolton Wanderers Arsenal 10,890
1932 Bernabé Ferreyra Tigre River Plate 23,000
1949 Johnny Morris Manchester United Derby County 24,000
1949 Eddie Quigley Sheffield Wednesday Preston North End 26,500
1950 Trevor Ford Aston Villa Sunderland 30,000
1951 Jackie Sewell Notts County Sheffield Wednesday 34,500
1952 Hans Jeppson Atalanta Napoli 52,000
1954 Juan Schiaffino Peñarol Milan 72,000
1957 Omar Sivori River Plate Juventus 93,000
1961 Luis Suárez Barcelona Inter Milan 152,000
1963 Angelo Sormani Mantova Roma 250,000
1967 Harald Nielsen Bologna Inter Milan 300,000
1968 Pietro Anastasi Varese Juventus 500,000
1973 Johan Cruyff Ajax Barcelona 922,000
1975 Giuseppe Savoldi Bologna Napoli 1,200,000
1976 Paolo Rossi Juventus Vicenza 1,750,000
1982 Diego Maradona (1) Boca Juniors Barcelona 3,000,000
1984 Diego Maradona (2) Barcelona Napoli 5,000,000
1987 Ruud Gullit PSV Eindhoven Milan 6,000,000
1990 Roberto Baggio Fiorentina Juventus 8,000,000
1992 Jean-Pierre Papin Marseille Milan 10,000,000
1992 Gianluca Vialli Sampdoria Juventus 12,000,000
1992 Gianluigi Lentini Torino Milan 13,000,000
1996 Ronaldo (1) PSV Eindhoven Barcelona 13,200,000
1996 Alan Shearer Blackburn Rovers Newcastle United 15,000,000
1997 Ronaldo (2) Barcelona Inter Milan 19,500,000
1998 Denílson São Paulo Real Betis 21,500,000
1999 Christian Vieri Lazio Inter Milan 32,000,000
2000 Hernán Crespo Parma Lazio 35,500,000
2000 Luís Figo Barcelona Real Madrid 37,000,000
2001 Zinedine Zidane Juventus Real Madrid 46,600,000
2009 Kaká Milan Real Madrid 56,000,000
2009 Cristiano Ronaldo Manchester United Real Madrid 80,000,000
2013 Gareth Bale Tottenham Hotspur Real Madrid 86,000,000
2016 Paul Pogba Juventus Manchester United 89,000,000
2017 Neymar Barcelona Paris Saint-Germain 200,000,000

Number of record players by country

Country Player records Record selling Record buying
England 16 20 20
Italy 8 14 18
Argentina 5 3 1
Brazil 5 1 0
France 3 1 1
Scotland 3 2 1
Netherlands 2 3 0
Wales 2 0 0
Portugal 2 0 0
Spain 1 5 9
Uruguay 1 1 0
Denmark 1 0 0
Sweden 1 0 0

Managers

While players are often purchased for high fees, the fee to release a manager from their contract is a lot less. Usually described as a "compensation fee", the amount paid to the manager's current club is based around several factors including the total salary for the current length of his contract, as well as potential bonuses and sponsorship deals, and additional fees if the club also need to pay compensation to hire a new manager.

The transfer fees fluctuate due to exchange rate variations and are based on the exchange rate at the time of the transfer.

Rank Manager From To Transfer fee Year Ref.
€ million £ million
1 Julian Nagelsmann RB Leipzig Bayern Munich €25 £21.7 2021
2 Graham Potter Brighton & Hove Albion Chelsea €23 £20 2022
3 André Villas-Boas Porto Chelsea €15 £13.3 2011
4 Vincent Kompany Burnley Bayern Munich €12 £10.2 2024
5 Thomas Frank Brentford Tottenham Hotspur €11.88 £10 2025
6 Enzo Maresca Leicester City Chelsea €11.75 £10 2024
7 Ruben Amorim (2) Sporting CP Manchester United €11 £9.25 2024
Arne Slot Feyenoord Liverpool €11 £9.4 2024
9 Brendan Rodgers Celtic Leicester City €10.44 £9 2019
10 Ruben Amorim (1) Braga Sporting CP €10 £8.65 2020
11 José Mourinho Inter Milan Real Madrid €8 £6.8 2010

Women

This list only includes transfers where a fee amount is reported publicly. The transfer fees are ranked in Pound (£) and based on the exchange rate at the time of the transfer. Fees are in thousands.

As of 4 September 2025
  Fee broke the women's world football transfer record at the time of the transfer
  Fee broke the national league record at the time of the transfer
  Fee broke the women's record for a South American player at the time of the transfer
  Fee broke the women's record for an Asian player at the time of the transfer
  Fee broke the women's record for an African player at the time of the transfer
  Fee broke the women's record for a North American player at the time of the transfer
  Fee broke the women's record for a European player at the time of the transfer
Rank Player From To Position Transfer fee Year Ref(s).
£ thousand € thousand $ thousand
1 Lizbeth Ovalle Tigres Orlando Pride Forward £1,111 €1,285 $1,500 2025
2 Alyssa Thompson Angel City Chelsea Forward £1,000+ €1,153+ $1,343+ 2025
Olivia Smith Liverpool Arsenal Forward £1,000 €1,160 $1,360 2025
Grace Geyoro Paris Saint-Germain London City Lionesses Midfielder ~£1,000 ~€1,150 ~$1,340 2025
5 Naomi Girma San Diego Wave Chelsea Defender £883 €1,050 $1,100 2025
6 Tarciane Houston Dash Lyon Defender £797 €960 $979 2025
7 Keira Walsh Barcelona Chelsea Midfielder £714 €850 $884 2025
8 Racheal Kundananji Madrid CFF Bay FC Forward £685 €805 $862 2024
9 Barbra Banda Shanghai Shengli Orlando Pride Forward £582 €681 $740 2024
10 Lucía Corrales Barcelona London City Lionesses Forward £433 €500 $585 2025

See also

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