The 10 most expensive centre midfielders of all time

28 Nov 2022 17:37 GMT |
Updated: 29 Sept 2026 15:06 BST |
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Enzo Fernandez is the most expensive centre midfielder of all time after Manchester City paid Chelsea €145million to secure his services.

Fernandez had established himself as one of the best midfielders in the Premier League at Chelsea but made it clear he wished to join Man City in the summer of 2026.

In the same summer transfer window, City also broke the bank to sign England international Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest for €135m.

Anderson appeared on the radar of the Cityzens after helping keep Forest in the Premier League in 2025-26, while he also shone for England at the 2026 World Cup.

Sitting third on the list is Fernandez again, with the Argentina star having originally joined Chelsea from Benfica for €121m in the 2023 January transfer window.

Positioned just behind Fernandez is Declan Rice after Arsenal loosened the purse strings to sign the England ace from West Ham United for €116.6m in the summer of 2023.

After helping West Ham win their first major silverware for 43 years via the Conference League, the Gunners went all-out to land the midfield powerhouse.

Trailing Rice by a mere €600,000 is Moises Caicedo, who joined Chelsea from Brighton and Hove Albion for a whopping €116m – also in the summer of 2023.

Having developed a reputation as one of the finest No. 6’s around, Chelsea and Liverpool were keen to sign Caicedo, who decided to join the former.

Keen to revamp their midfield in the summer of 2026, Tottenham Hotspur shelled out €108m to acquire Italy international Sandro Tonali from Newcastle United.

A key cog in a powerful Newcastle midfield which included Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton, Tonali helped the Magpies win the Carabao Cup in March 2025.

The oldest transfer on this list involves Paul Pogba, who returned to Manchester United when they stumped up €105m to sign him from Juventus in the summer of 2016.

Frustrated at a lack of game time at Old Trafford, Pogba moved to Juventus in July 2012 and he became one of the best centre midfielders in the world in Turin.

In the same summer that saw Spurs splash the cash on Tonali, the north London club also gave West Ham €99m to secure the signature of Mateus Fernandes.

After Rice left the Hammers to join Arsenal, they had a massive void in midfield until Portugal star Fernandes arrived – and sparkled – in east London.

Not content with signing Fernandez and Anderson, Man City completed their midfield rebuild in the summer of 2026 when signing Ayyoub Bouaddi from Lille.

After catching the eye for Morocco at the 2026 World Cup, City signed the elegant No. 6 as a replacement for Rodri, who joined Barcelona in the same summer.

And the last name on the list is the aforementioned Brazil international Guimaraes, who joined Arsenal from Newcastle for €87.5m in August 2026.

At one stage it looked like the deal was not going to happen, with mixed messages emerging from both clubs, but eventually Guimaraes got the move he wished for.

The 10 most expensive centre midfielders of all time

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