The 10 most expensive strikers of all time

12 Jun 2026 20:13 BST |
4 min read

Cameron Smith
|
Digital Content Producer

Accredited sports journalist covering football since 2020

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Kylian Mbappe is the most expensive striker in football history, owing to his €180 million transfer from AS Monaco to Paris Saint-Germain back in 2018.

The Frenchman originally joined the Parisians on a one-year loan deal, before it was made permanent after one campaign at the Parc des Princes. He is the second most expensive player of all time, behind former PSG team-mate Neymar, and he tops the list for the most expensive strikers ever.

Even though he frequently operates on the left, Mbappe is considered a striker given his attacking tendencies and the fact he typically comes into central areas to find goals. He also often now plays centrally for Real Madrid and France. He is therefore the most expensive striker of all time.

Behind the France international on the list is Alexander Isak. The Swedish No.9 joined Liverpool for a British record €145m in the summer of 2025 after forcing a move away from Newcastle.

Next up is Joao Felix, the Portuguese forward who cost Atletico Madrid a whopping €127.2m when he arrived from his boyhood club Benfica back in 2019.

He was signed by Atleti following an impressive breakout season that included becoming the youngest-ever player to score a hat-trick in the Europa League. Felix is another player who isn’t a typical centre forward, but one who often features centrally.

Antoine Griezmann’s 2019 transfer from Atletico Madrid to Barcelona makes him the fourth most expensive striker of all time. He joined the Blaugrana for €120m, but after a failed spell at Camp Nou, he re-joined Atleti on a permanent basis for just €20m.

Cristiano Ronaldo is next on the list thanks to his €117m transfer away from Real Madrid in 2018. He joined Serie A giants Juventus for a club-record fee, before leaving the Turin club to re-join Manchester United in 2021.

His move to Real Madrid is not included as he was an out-and-out winger at the time, before moving centrally in Spain.

Chelsea’s move to sign Romelu Lukaku in 2021 sees the Belgian appear in sixth place in the top 10 most expensive strikers of all time. He cost the Blues €113m when they re-signed him from Inter Milan, but his return to Stamford Bridge was a complete disaster.

The Belgian was loaned back to Inter for the 2022-23 season and after another loan spell, this time at Roma, he was sold on a permanent deal to Napoli in 2024.

Harry Kane is the seventh-most expensive striker in football history, courtesy of his €95m move from Tottenham Hotspur to Bayern Munich in the summer of 2023. The England legend left Spurs having scored 280 goals in 435 first-team appearances for the club.

In eighth place is Randal Kolo Muani. He joined PSG for an eye-watering fee of €95m after just one season at Eintracht Frankfurt.

Three years later, Frankfurt sold France international striker Hugo Ekitike to Liverpool for the same fee after he had managed to revitalise his career in the Bundesliga following a disappointing spell at PSG.

Gonzalo Higuain’s controversial €90m transfer to Juventus from Napoli completes the top 10. Still scarred by this move a decade later, Napoli included an anti-Serie A clause in Victor Osimhen’s transfer to Galatasaray so that the star striker would not be able to return to Italy for two years and come back to haunt them.

The 10 most expensive strikers of all time