Association football’s (soccer) summer transfer window recently closed around Europe. Although some players were involved in big-money transfers, none of the fees troubled the current top 50 most expensive soccer transfers of all time.
The first recorded soccer transfer saw Willie Groves move from West Bromwich Albion to Aston Villa for £100 in 1893, just eight years after the Football Association introduced professionalism in 1885; £100 doesn’t even buy a soccer shirt from some Premier League teams these days!
Soccer’s current five most expensive transfers of all time are worth a combined €794 million. As expected, those transfers involved some of the world’s most famous soccer clubs. Those teams feature heavily with the companies listed in the best online sportsbook reviews sites due to their sheer size and stature and because they can afford astronomical transfer fees for the best players.
1.) Enzo Fernandez – Benfica to Chelsea (€121 million)
Enzo Fernandez‘s transfer from Benfica to Chelsea comes in at number five on our list, tipping the scales at a cool €121 million. The Argentinian midfielder had only played 113 games during his career, but that did not prevent the Premier League club from spending big to acquire his services.
Fernande began his career with River Plate in his native Argentina, making his debut in 2019 as an 18-year-old. He transferred to Portuguese giants Benfica in June 2022 for an initial fee of €10 million plus €8 million in add-ons. His impressive performances for Benfica and the Argentina national side, including winning the 2022 FIFA World Cup, resulted in many European teams wanting Fernandez. Chelsea met Benfica’s €121 million release clause in January 2023, and Fernandez signed an eight-and-a-half-year contract with the London side.
2.) Joao Felix – Benfica to Atletico Madrid (€126 million)
Benfica features again in the fourth most expensive soccer transfer, having sold Joao Felix to Spanish La Liga side Atletico Madrid for €126 million in July 2019. Felix rose through the ranks at Benfica, debuting in the first team at 19. During his only season on Benfica’s first team, Felix played 43 games, scored 20 goals, and provided 11 assists for teammates, making him one of European soccer’s hottest prospects.
Atletico Madrid broke their transfer record for the Portuguese star, and Felix repaid some of the faith shown in him through some superb performances. However, things turned sour three seasons into his Atletico career, and Felix expressed his desire to leave the Spanish capital.
Felix joined Chelsea on loan in January 2023 but failed to hit the ground running. A loan spell with FC Barcelona followed before he rejoined Chelsea, this time on a permanent deal that cost them €52 million.
3.) Philippe Coutinho – Liverpool to Barcelona (€145 million)
Brazilian attacking midfielder Philippe Coutinho joined Liverpool in January 2013 for the bargain price of £8.5 million. He became a crowd favorite for Liverpool, scoring 54 goals and providing 43 assists across 201 appearances. Liverpool rejected a €75 million offer from Barcelona in August 2017, but the La Liga giants returned with a new offer in January 2018, one worth €145 million, the third largest soccer transfer of all time.
Although Coutinho won two La Liga titles with Barcelona, his time there was not happy. Barcelona loaned the Brazilian to Bayern Munich, who had the option to make the move permanent for €120 million. Bayern did not make the deal permanent despite Coutinho helping them win the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal Cup, and the UEFA Champions League.
Coutinho has since played for Aston Villa, Al-Duhail in Saudi Arabia, and is currently
on loan to his boyhood club, Vasco da Gama, in Brazil.
4.) Kylian Mbappe – Monaco to Paris Saint-Germain (€180 million)
Kylian Mbappe is a generational talent who burst onto the scene for AS Monaco as a fresh-faced 16-year-old in 2015; he is the youngest-ever player for AS Monaco. Despite his tender age, Mbappe shone in the French Ligue 1, scoring 27 goals and assisting 16 more in 60 appearances.
Paris Saint-Germain announced the signing of Mbappe in August 2017. The deal was initially a season-long loan with a mandatory purchase of €180 million. That sum was the second-largest transfer fee paid, the largest ever for a teenager, and the record for a transfer within a domestic league.
Mbappe, considered one of the world’s best players, won over a dozen trophies while playing for Paris Saint-Germain, including six league titles. He played 308 games, scored 256 goals, and created 108 assists.
Mbappe allowed his Paris contract to expire, leaving him free to join Real Madrid without a transfer fee. Had Mbappe still been under contract, there is no doubt Real Madrid would have had to break the world record to acquire his signature.
5.) Neymar – Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain (€222 million)
Brazilian Neymar da Silva Santos Junior is the world’s most expensive soccer player, having cost Paris Saint-Germain an incredible €222 million in August 2017. Neymar was incredible for Santos in his native Brazil, where he spent five seasons before FC Barcelona paid €57.1 million for his services. However, Barcelona also allegedly paid Neymar’s parents €40 million.
After scoring 105 goals and making 76 assists in 186 games for Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain surpassed his transfer release clause and paid the Spanish club €222 million, smashing the world record for a single transfer fee. Injuries limited Neymar to 173 appearances across six seasons in Paris; he missed 119 games for the club due to injuries.
In August 2023, after much speculation that he could rejoin Barcelona, Saudi Arabian club Al Hilal announced Neymar had signed a two-year contract, having paid Paris Saint-Germain €90 million. Neymar’s contract is worth a reported €3.14 million per week.
Ironically, Neymar has only played five games for his new club because he ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) while on international duty with Brazil in October 2023. He is still on the sidelines as of September 2024.
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