The ten most expensive left-backs of all time

3 Aug 2022 16:08 BST |
Updated: 27 Sept 2026 11:42 BST |
2 min read

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Lucas Hernandez is the most expensive left-back in the world following his move from Atletico Madrid to Bayern Munich for €80million in 2019.

However, he failed to justify his transfer fee at the Allianz Arena, in part due to injury problems, and he left Bayern for PSG in the summer of 2023 after a tough four years.

Some will argue that Josko Gvardiol, who joined Manchester City for €90m in 2023, should occupy first place, but the Croatia international was a centre-back at the time of his transfer and was only converted into a left-back afterwards.

Marc Cucurella became the second most expensive left-back in football history after joining Chelsea in the summer of 2022. Cucurella moved to the Blues for a whopping €65.3m, four times the amount that his former club Brighton paid to bring him to the Amex Stadium on Deadline Day less than 12 months earlier.

And Cucurella made the list for a second time in the summer of 2026 when ending his four-year association with Chelsea by joining Real Madrid. Ahead of winning the World Cup with Spain, he moved to Los Blancos for €55m – meaning the Blues made a €10.3m loss on their investment.

Meanwhile, Benjamin Mendy cost Man City €57.5m in 2017 when he joined from Monaco, a move that in hindsight proved disastrous for the English giants. The player managed just 75 games for City in six seasons and was suspended for a large portion of his spell at the club due to rape allegations, which he was eventually cleared on. He left the club in 2023.

Ben Chilwell cost Chelsea €50.2m when he arrived from Leicester City in 2020 and was a fixture in the side that won the Champions League under Thomas Tuchel during his maiden season at the club. In 2021-22, however, the full-back sustained an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury and he has never quite been the same since. He was sold to sister club Strasbourg in 2025.

The most recent name on this list is Nathaniel Brown, who joined Bayern from Eintracht Frankfurt for €50m in the summer of 2026. After establishing himself as Germany’s first-choice left-back at the 2026 World Cup, Bayern loosened the purse strings to acquire the electric defender.

Alvaro Carreras joined this list in 2025 when he left Benfica to sign for Real for a whopping transfer fee of €50m. He suffered a difficult debut season at the Bernabeu, however, notably struggling against Michael Olise in the Champions League quarter-finals.

Another Real left-back sits in eighth place – Ferland Mendy. The La Liga giants paid €48m to sign him from Lyon in 2019 as the anointed successor to club great Marcelo, but the Frenchman has endured an injury-ravaged eight-year spell in the Spanish capital.

In ninth place is Hungary international Milos Kerkez, who joined Liverpool for €46.9m in 2025 after a stellar two-year stint at Bournemouth.

And like Cucurella, Hernandez – who can also play at centre-back – appears on the list once again after he left Bayern to join PSG in the summer of 2023 for €45m.

The most expensive left-backs of all time

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