20 Aug 2026 17:00 BST |
12 min read
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The transfer market has become the dominant football talking point over the past 10 years and with more finances involved than ever, huge fees are being paid for players every single season.
While Neymar remains the most expensive player in history thanks to his €222m move to Paris Saint-Germain in 2017 – a record that may not be broken for a long time – the number of major deals being agreed is increasing with every passing transfer window.
Below, FootballTransfers runs through every player who has moved clubs for a fee of at least €100m.
23. Kai Havertz – €100m (Bayer Leverkusen to Chelsea, 2020)
Whilst the vast majority of top clubs in Europe were financially hampered following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Chelsea continued to splash the cash in the transfer market, with Kai Havertz their marquee signing of 2020.
He arrived as one of the world’s best young players following an excellent spell at Bayer Leverkusen, and he scored the winning goal in the Champions League final during his debut campaign at Stamford Bridge.
Havertz initially joined Chelsea for €80m, but add-on clauses eventually took that fee to €100m. The Germany attacker subsequently joined Arsenal in 2023.
22. Gareth Bale – €101m (Tottenham to Real Madrid, 2013)
Gareth Bale became the first player in football history to move clubs for over €100m when he broke the transfer record following his move from Tottenham Hotspur to Real Madrid in 2013.
The Wales winger arrived at the Bernabeu as one of the best players in the world and while he divided opinion during his time at Los Blancos, he was instrumental in as they cemented themselves as the dominant force in Europe.
Bale won five Champions League trophies across a nine-year spell at Real Madrid, before leaving to join LAFC on a Bosman deal.
21. Paul Pogba – €105m (Juventus to Man Utd, 2016)
After leaving Man Utd in 2012, Paul Pogba became arguably the most sought-after player in world football following a stellar stint at Serie A giants Juventus.
The Red Devils pushed to re-sign him in 2016 and they paid a world-record fee to bring him back to Old Trafford ahead of Jose Mourinho’s first season in charge of the club.
Pogba never quite reached his potential during his second spell at Man Utd and after a largely underwhelming stint, despite flashes of brilliance, he left the club upon the expiration of his contract in 2022.
20. Sandro Tonali – €108m (Newcastle to Tottenham, 2026)
Following a serious flirtation with relegation in the 2025-26 Premier League season, Tottenham went big in the transfer market, splurging over €260m on new recruits.
Their most expensive acquisition was Sandro Tonali, who joined from Newcastle for €108m. This was seen as a coup by some as he was linked with Man Utd and Man City.
The Italian is Spurs’ most expensive player ever and broke the record set by new team-mate Mateus Fernandes, who cost €99m earlier in the window.
19. Romelu Lukaku – €113m (Inter Milan to Chelsea, 2021)
Romelu Lukaku established himself as a world-class striker after leaving Chelsea to join Everton on a permanent deal in 204 and after a mixed stint at Man Utd, he caught the eye at Inter Milan.
So much so that Chelsea paid a whopping €113m to re-sign him in 2021 as they looked to build upon their Champions League success the previous season under Thomas Tuchel.
However, just months after his return, Lukaku confirmed that he missed Inter and his career at Stamford Bridge spiralled before an eventual permanent exit to Napoli in 2024.
18. Moises Caicedo – €116m (Brighton to Chelsea, 2023)
Chelsea beat Arsenal and Liverpool to the signing of Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder Moises Caicedo in 2023 after finally agreeing a €116m deal following lengthy talks over a summer transfer.
The Ecuador star conceded a penalty on his debut for the Blues, but his form soon improved and he cemented his status as one of the world’s best defensive midfielders under former boss Enzo Maresca.
Caicedo remains one of Chelsea’s best signings of the BlueCo era, despite his hefty transfer fee.
17. Declan Rice – €116.6m (West Ham to Arsenal, 2023)
After falling just short of the Premier League title in 2022-23, Arsenal dipped into the market for significant reinforcements and they secured the signing of Declan Rice under the noses of Manchester City.
He had helped win West Ham the Europa Conference League during his final season at the club and he immediately became a pivotal player in Mikel Arteta’s midfield trio.
Rice eventually played a crucial role as Arsenal finally won the Premier League title for the first time in over 20 years in 2026.
16. Cristiano Ronaldo – €117m (Real Madrid to Juventus, 2018)
Cristiano Ronaldo established himself as one of the greatest players in football history during an illustrious nine-year spell at Real Madrid, before opting to leave the club after the 2018 World Cup.
Juventus won the race for his signature after finalising a €117m deal with Los Blancos and while he failed to deliver a Champions League title, Ronaldo remained one of the best strikers in the world during his time in Turin.
He eventually left in 2021 to re-join Man Utd.
15. Jack Grealish – €117.5m (Aston Villa to Man City, 2021)
Jack Grealish was one of the most exciting players in England during his time at Aston Villa and after impressing at the delayed Euro 2020, he earned a British record move to Man City.
He helped Man City win the treble in 2022-23, but he never quite managed to replicate his electric Villa form under the management of Pep Guardiola, who was accused of stifling Grealish’s natural flair.
The Englishman joined Everton on loan for the 2025-26 season.
14. Antoine Griezmann – €120m (Atletico Madrid to Barcelona, 2019)
After several years of consistent form for Atletico Madrid, Barcelona stumped up a whopping €120m to sign Antoine Griezmann in a bid to secure a long-term replacement for Lionel Messi.
Griezmann netted 35 goals in 102 games for Barca, but he never quite fit in at Camp Nou and he jumped at the opportunity to rejoin Atleti on loan in 2021.
His move back to Diego Simeone’s side then became permanent for a mere €22m in 2023.
13. Eden Hazard – €120.8m (Chelsea to Real Madrid, 2019)
Eden Hazard established himself as one of Chelsea’s greatest ever players following his arrival from Lille in 2012, with the Belgium superstar quickly cementing his place as a fan’s favourite.
Hazard helped Chelsea win two Premier League titles during his time at the club and he guided them to Europa League glory in his final match for the Blues, before completing a dream €120.8m switch to Real Madrid.
However, his career in Spain was stunted by multiple injury problems and after just seven goals in 76 games for Los Blancos, he left in 2023 and retired shortly afterwards.
12. Enzo Fernandez – €121m (Benfica to Chelsea, 2023)
Just months after joining Benfica, Enzo Fernandez played a starring role as Argentina won the 2022 World Cup and he quickly emerged as a key transfer target for every elite club in Europe.
Free-spending Chelsea soon emerged as the frontrunners for his signature and after a lengthy saga with Benfica, they finally reached an agreement to sign him for €121m in January 2023.
Fernandez has been a shining light for Chelsea since his arrival in west London and he helped the Blues win the Club World Cup under Enzo Maresca in 2025.
11. Florian Wirtz – €125m (Bayer Leverkusen to Liverpool, 2025)
Florian Wirtz’s talent at Bayer Leverkusen was undeniable and he was a key figure in the side that broke Bayern Munich’s dominance to win their first ever Bundesliga in 2024.
In 140 Bundesliga games, he scored 35 goals and recorded 47 assists and it was those numbers that alerted the likes of Liverpool and Real Madrid to his talents.
Liverpool eventually won the race for his signature after breaking the Premier League transfer record to bring him to Anfield for €125m.
His first season was disappointing as the Reds, as defending English champions, won nothing but he was coming into a fresh system in a fresh environment. Wirtz did show glimpses of his class and, in the eyes of many, he could reach the heights of his Leverkusen days as his time at Liverpool goes on.
10. Yan Diomande – €125m (RB Leipzig to Real Madrid, 2026)
One of the biggest transfer sagas of the summer was not Yan Diomande to Real Madrid but rather Yan Diomande to Paris Saint-Germain.
As RB Leipzig stayed firm on their €125m asking price for the Ivorian winger, PSG left the negotiating table which allowed Los Blancos to step in and steal the deal.
His rise has been meteoric, as he only signed for the German giants in 2025 for €20m before he cost €105m more a year later.
9. Jude Bellingham – €127m (Borussia Dortmund to Real Madrid, 2023)
It was clear to see that Jude Bellingham was going to become one of true superstars of world football while he was at Borussia Dortmund.
Elegance, power, and a maturity well beyond his years put him on the shopping list of every elite club in the world.
But, a player of Bellingham’s stature was only ever going to go to one place and that was Real Madrid, who saw enough talent and potential in the Englishman to spend €127m to bring him to the Santiago Bernabeu.
He helped them to a Champions League and La Liga double in his first campaign.
8. Joao Felix – €127.2m (Benfica to Atletico Madrid, 2019)
After star player Griezmann was sold to Barcelona for a massive fee in 2019, Atletico Madrid needed an elite replacement.
They looked towards Benfica and obliterated their transfer record to sign the Joao Felix for €127.2m.
Though the Portuguese forward had his moments in the Spanish capital, he proved nowhere near that outrageous outlay. He was sent out on loan to Chelsea and Barcelona and then moved to Stamford Bridge permanently before another loan to Milan.
He failed to prosper at any of these clubs and moved to Saudi Arabia in 2025.
7. Philippe Coutinho – €135m (Liverpool to Barcelona, 2018)
After number three on our list failed to immediately emerge as the heir apparent to Neymar at Camp Nou, Barcelona splurged on another €100m+ deal to sign Philippe Coutinho from Liverpool in January of 2018.
Undoubtedly a very good player who excelled in the freedom given to him at Liverpool, that freedom was a lot harder to come by at Barca.
Unfortunately for him, he regularly fought with space in the same areas as Messi, and as we would find out with Griezmann, that puts you on a path to nowhere in Catalunya.
He would eventually be sent out on loan to Bayern Munich and then Aston Villa, where he moved permanently in 2022.
6. Elliot Anderson – €135m (Nottingham Forest to Man City, 2026)
In the back of their minds, Man City must have been expecting the departure of Rodri in the summer of 2026 as they went big, very big, in the market to land a potential replacement.
Anderson was linked with numerous clubs, including Man Utd, but when Man City flexed their financial muscle, there was only one place he was going.
He is the most expensive central midfielder of all time.
5. Morgan Rogers – €138m (Aston Villa to Chelsea, 2026)
In the 18 months prior to his blockbuster switch from Aston Villa to Chelsea, Rogers became one of the most exciting attacking midfielders in the Premier League and was also key to Villa’s Europa League final victory in 2026.
He was linked with every elite club in the Premier League during that period and, for a while, it appeared that Arsenal would be his most likely destination.
However, Chelsea didn’t mess about and ultimately paid Villa’s enormous €138m asking price.
4. Alexander Isak – €145m (Newcastle to Liverpool, 2025)
Liverpool continued their unprecedented transfer market splurge by breaking the league transfer record twice in one window – first for Wirtz, as mentioned above, then with Isak.
This was the transfer saga of the summer as Isak allegedly went on strike to push through a switch to Anfield.
What came was numerous bids and rejections from Newcastle before the Magpies eventually succumbed and sold their player for €145m.
3. Ousmane Dembele – €148m (Borussia Dortmund to Barcelona, 2017)
The summer of 2017 will go down as a sliding doors moment in the history of football when transfer spending went into the stratosphere.
Barca found themselves unexpectedly flush after selling Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain for a record fee and were keen to spend, spend, spend to replace him.
The replacement they identified was Ousmane Dembele, fresh off an impressive season with Borussia Dortmund after joining them a year previous.
It would be slightly hard to call him a disaster, but for €148m he was certainly a flop.
If you told Barca that Dembele would go on to win the Ballon d’Or, they would have laughed, but that’s exactly what he did after eventually leaving the club for PSG.
2. Kylian Mbappe – €180m (Monaco to PSG, 2018)
Kylian Mbappe was a PSG fan growing up so it seemed almost inevitable that he would end up there after he and his usurper team-mates at Monaco broke the dominance of the capital club by winning Ligue 1.
In the summer of 2017, PSG had already broken the world transfer record, as you’ll see below, but with some creativity they brokered a deal with Monaco to sign Mbappe on loan with an obligation to purchase a year later for €180m.
Though he became the club’s highest ever goalscorer, the manner of his free transfer to Real Madrid left a sour taste in the mouth of the club’s supporters – especially since he never brought the Champions League home.
1. Neymar – €222m (Barcelona to PSG, 2017)
It goes to show just how monumental the deal was that saw Neymar make the move to PSG that the record it set still stands nearly a decade later.
The Brazilian, keen to step away from the shadow of Lionel Messi at Barcelona in the hopes of one day winning the Ballon d’Or, made a €222m transfer to Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2017.
It was a statement signing from the Parisians that they could attract the top talent in the world to Ligue 1. That transfer policy actually turned out to be a poor one, as it was only when Luis Enrique was appointed and they started building an actual team, rather than a set of individuals, that they finally managed to conquer the Champions League.
To put the level of that fee into perspective, it is over €40m more than the second highest-fee ever (Mbappe), and the only deal in excess of €200m in the history of football.
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