The 10 most expensive Serie A transfers of all time

19 Sept 2024 12:24 BST |
Updated: 6 Oct 2026 14:52 BST |
5 min read

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Serie A was the best league in world football during the late 1990s and early 2000s, and it remains a fiercely competitive division despite losing some of its pedigree.

Juventus’ dominance in the 2010s is over and the Italian top flight is a hotly contested affair every season, with Inter Milan, AC Milan and Napoli winning the title of late.

While Serie A clubs don’t have the financial power of those in the Premier League, Italian teams have still spent huge sums of money on new signings over the years.

Below, FootballTransfers runs through the 10 most expensive Serie A transfers of all time.

10. Teun Koopmeiners – €58.4m (Atalanta to Juventus, 2024)

One of six Juventus players on this list, Teun Koopmeiners remains at the club two years after he left Atalanta for Turin, though the Netherlands international midfielder’s standing has decreased significantly over this period.

He arrived with the reputation of producing elite attacking numbers from midfield, having scored 26 Serie A goals in the three years before his move. In 2023/24 alone, he scored 12 times in the league and weighed in with five assists.

He has not come close to replicating those numbers with Juventus, with just seven goals scored in two years. He has not found a settled role and has even been deployed at centre-back in the past.

9. Nico Paz – €66m (Real Madrid to Como, 2026)

After playing a significant role in helping Como qualify for the Champions League in 2025-26, the club were understandably keen to keep hold of Nico Paz.

However, there was one problem: Real Madrid, his parent club at the time, wanted to sell him to the highest bidder in order to raise funds for Jose Mourinho.

Yet Como surprised everybody when they managed to scrape together an incredible €66m package to sign Paz on a permenent basis in the summer of 2026.

Arsenal were reportedly keen on signing Paz that summer but the Gunners were gazumped by the ambitious Como, who are managed by Cesc Fabregas.

8. Romelu Lukaku – €74m (Man Utd to Inter, 2019)

Romelu Lukaku was widely mocked during his time at Manchester United, but he found a home at Inter in the summer of 2019.

Working under the tutelage of Antonio Conte, the Belgian sparkled at San Siro, firing Inter to the league title in 2020-21 – their first Scudetto since 2010.

Lukaku would go on to join Chelsea ahead of the 2021-22 season, but he returned to Inter on loan the following season after struggling at Stamford Bridge.

7. Goncalo Ramos – €74m (PSG to Milan, 2026)

Unable to usurp Ousmane Dembele at Paris Saint-Germain, Goncalo Ramos joined AC Milan in the summer of 2026 in order to become a regular starter.

And for no small fee either – as the Rossoneri had to cough up a club-record €74m in order to extract the Portugal international from the Ligue 1 side.

6. Victor Osimhen – €78.9m (Lille to Napoli, 2020)

Napoli smashed their transfer record to sign Lille’s Victor Osimhen in 2020, with the Nigerian arriving in Naples for just under €80m.

Injuries impacted his first two campaigns at Napoli, but Osimhen was back to full fitness in 2022-23, scoring 26 league goals as the club won their first title for 33 years.

After constant links with Chelsea and PSG, Osimhen joined Galatasaray on an initial loan in the summer of 2024 before the move became permanent soon after.

5. Arthur Melo – €80.6m (Barcelona to Juventus, 2020)

Arthur Melo was involved in a lucrative swap deal with Miralem Pjanic as Juventus and Barcelona looked to balance the books from a financial perspective.

The transfer was a disaster for Arthur and Juventus, however.

Issues with form and fitness meant Arthur was unable to become a regular in Turin and he was subsequently loaned to Liverpool and Fiorentina – with little success.

The midfielder had further loan spells with Girona and Gremio before joining Santos on a free transfer after his Juventus contract was terminated in August 2026.

4. Dusan Vlahovic – €85.4m (Fiorentina to Juventus, 2022)

Dusan Vlahovic was one of the most wanted strikers in world football when Juventus beat Arsenal and Chelsea to his signature in January 2022.

He immediately hit the ground running, scoring a goal every 182 minutes in all competitions during his first six months with the Bianconeri.

But he failed to live up to the hype over the next three seasons under Juventus managers Massimiliano Allegri and Thiago Motta, despite posting a decent scoring record.

Vlahovic joined Besiktas on a free transfer in the summer of 2026, with the Serbian having scored 68 goals in 168 games for Juventus.

3. Matthijs de Ligt – €85.5m (Ajax to Juventus, 2019)

Juventus fought off competition from a host of top European clubs to sign highly-rated Ajax defender Matthijs de Ligt in the summer of 2019.

The Dutchman played a key role as Ajax reached the Champions League semi-finals in 2018-19 and subsequently sealed an €85.5m move to Juventus.

However, De Ligt struggled to capture the imagination at Juventus and was therefore sold to Bayern Munich in July 2022 – for an €18.5m loss.

After two seasons with Bayern, De Ligt then joined Man Utd in July 2024.

2. Gonzalo Higuain – €90m (Napoli to Juventus, 2016)

Gonzalo Higuain is the second-most expensive player in Serie A history.

After scoring 36 goals in 35 league games in his final season at Napoli, Higuain earned a €90m move to their rivals Juventus in the summer of 2016.

Higuain was a reliable goalscorer for Juventus but he never hit the heights of his last campaign at Napoli, causing the former to loan him out on a couple of occasions.

After taking in temporary spells with AC Milan and Chelsea, Higuain eventually joined Major League Soccer (MLS) side Inter Miami on a free transfer in September 2020.

1. Cristiano Ronaldo – €117m (Real Madrid to Juventus, 2018)

Juventus pulled off a major coup when they signed Real Madrid and Portugal superstar Cristiano Ronaldo after the 2018 World Cup.

After breaking all kinds of records with Los Blancos, Ronaldo sought a new challenge at Juventus, with the forward hoping to end their Champions League drought.

However, despite scoring 101 goals for the club, he was unable to bring European glory to Turin and ended up returning to Man Utd in the summer of 2021.

The 10 most expensive Serie A signings of all time

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Cameron Smith is a Digital Content Producer for FootballTransfers, having joined the team upon its inception in November 2020.

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