The 10 most expensive centre backs of all time

27 Nov 2022 20:22 GMT |
Updated: 28 Sept 2026 15:48 BST |
3 min read

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Josko Gvardiol is the most expensive centre-back in football history thanks to his €90 million move to Manchester City from Leipzig in the summer of 2023.

Gvardiol had emerged as arguably the best young defender on the planet before his transfer and he had been one of the stars of the 2022 World Cup as Croatia made it all the way to the semi-finals. Interestingly, Pep Guardiola converted him into a left-back upon his arrival at the Etihad Stadium, although he has fluctuated between the two positions throughout his career at City.

He overtook Harry Maguire as the most expensive centre-back ever, and the Englishman now sits in second place after his €87m transfer from Leicester City to Manchester United in 2019.

Maguire impressed at the 2018 Russia World Cup and after a further season at the King Power Stadium, Man Utd were persuaded to make Maguire the most expensive defender of all time.

Earlier in the same summer transfer window as Maguire’s big-money move to Man Utd, Matthijs de Ligt briefly became the most expensive centre-back of all time after leaving Ajax to join Juventus for €85.5m.

The Dutchman was heavily sought-after following his role in Ajax’s run to the 2018-19 Champions League semi-finals and he chose to join Juventus amid interest from across Europe.

De Ligt’s international team-mate Virgil van Dijk previously held the title of the world’s most expensive centre-back before the 2019 summer transfer window.

The former Celtic star left Southampton to sign for Liverpool during the 2018 January transfer window, signing for the Reds for a fee of €84.65m after impressing on the south coast.

He has proved to be one of Liverpool’s best signings of all time. He helped the Anfield-based side reach the Champions League final in his first six months at the club and then win the competition in 2019, while he captained them to just their second ever Premier League title in 2025.

The 2022 summer transfer window saw Wesley Fofana move from Leicester City to Chelsea, costing the Stamford Bridge outfit €80.4m. This made him the fifth most expensive centre-back in football history. It means that Leicester have been the selling club for two of the five most expensive centre-backs ever.

Ruben Dias is the sixth most expensive centre-back of all time. He joined Manchester City from Benfica for a fee of €71.6m. He developed into one of the best defenders in the world at City under Pep Guardiola.

The aforementioned De Ligt appears in the top 10 most expensive centre-backs of all time for a second time thanks to his €67m transfer from Juventus to Bayern Munich in 2022. However, just like at Juventus, De Ligt struggled at Bayern.

Aymeric Laporte’s €65m transfer from Athletic Bilbao to Man City in 2017 also makes the list, meaning the Premier League is responsible for the vast majority of the 10 most expensive centre-backs ever.

Indeed, the ninth-most expensive deal was also completed by a Premier League club, with Liverpool announcing the €63.6m signing of Stade Rennais centre-back Jeremy Jacquet in January 2026 for the subsequent summer window.

Former Bournemouth star Ilya Zabarnyi completes the top 10 courtesy of his €63m move to PSG in 2025. He had been courted by a host of top English clubs, but he opted to move to Ligue 1 instead.

The 10 most expensive centre-backs of all time