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£100MILLION transfers are the going currency rate for football stars – but who ranks in the Top 10 most expensive deals.
Inflation, along with increasingly eye-watering TV deals, have driven fees up and up.
ReutersAnd you won’t stand a chance of scooping one of the game’s biggest names unless you have a nine-figure wadge to spend.
Manchester United were the first giant to edge close to the £100m barrier way back in 2016, when they splashed £89m to bring Paul Pogba back to Old Trafford.
And that set the ball rolling, with transfer spends in elite league increasing every year.
According to Fifa‘s official figures last year, Premier League spent £1.6 BILLION on players with the up-and-coming Saudi Pro League coming runner-up with £701MILLION.
£100million is the new benchmark for top talent. And even that’s not always enough.
According to AS, Liverpool failed in their attempt to secure £100m Bruno Guimaraes from Newcastle in the summer, after Chelsea gazumped them for Moises Caicedo.
While Brentford have warned that even that incredible sum might not secure the services of Ivan Toney this winter.
Here, SunSport takes a look at the most expensive football transfers – and not all have lived up to their massive price-tags…
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10 – Declan Rice (£105m, 2023)
GettyTipped to be Arsenal‘s future captain, Declan Rice made the move from West Ham in a £105m last summer after skippering the Irons to Europa Conference League glory.
Rice attracted interest from Europe’s top clubs, including Chelsea, Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Manchester City.
Former Stamford Bridge boss, Frank Lampard admitted he wanted to sign the Englishman to make him the Blues’ long-term captain.
Ultimately, Rice made his own decision on his next steps, and that was to join Arsenal in a club record deal.
Arsenal’s acquisition for the 24-year-old was not easy after facing strong competition from Pep Guardiola‘s Manchester City.
City saw their £90m bid rejected as Arsenal gazumped them.
9 – Antoine Griezmann (£108m, 2019)
AFP2018 World Cup-winner Antoine Griezmann left Atletico Madrid to link up with Lionel Messi and Barcelona for a huge £108million in 2019.
The Spanish giants, included a buyout clause of a staggering £690m.
Unfortunately, the Frenchman flopped after his big money move, scoring just 35 goals in 102 matches in 3 seasons for Barcelona.
Remarkably, Griezmann has never won a LaLiga which was his expectation when he joined 27-time winners.
In 2022, Griezmann, now 32, decided to re-join old boss Diego Simeone at Atletico and has immediately got back to his best, scoring 11 goals and registering 3 assists in this LaLiga campaign.
And in January 2024, he become the club’s all-time leading goalscorer, overtaking the legend Luis Aragones.
8 – Enzo Fernandez (£110m, 2023)
GettyEnzo Fernandez’s remarkable performances in the 2022 World Cup saw his value astronomically rise, catching the eye of Chelsea owner, Todd Boehly.
Fernandez, 22, was bought by Todd Boehly in a £106m deal, rising to £110m, after winning the Young Player Award at the World Cup which caused his astronomical value to rise.
The 22-year-old had only played 29 games in Europe for Benfica since joining from River Plate.
His time at Chelsea has been mixed so far, although he still has eight years of his nine-year contract left to prove himself.
7 – Joao Felix (£112m, 2019)
GettyAtletico Madrid spent their Griezmann cash on Portuguese prospect Joao Felix in a staggering £112m deal from Benfica.
He had impressed in his first full campaign in the Primeira Liga, with the forward scoring 15 goals and registering 9 assists from 21 starts
That prompted Atletico to make him the then-fifth most expensive player of all time.
However, he never hit the heights at Atletico, and is currently with Barcelona after a failed loan at Chelsea.
6 – Jude Bellingham (£115m, 2023)
GettyThe hottest talent in world football made the move to Real Madrid from Borussia Dortmund in 2023 for £115m.
Bellingham was the first Englishman to win the Ballon d’Or Kopa Trophy in 2023.
The Birmingham graduate made his official first-team debut at the age of 16, in their 0-3 defeat to Portsmouth in the EFL Carabao Cup.
And his world-class talent was clear to see in his first few games.
In 2020, Manchester United reportedly offered Birmingham City £30m for the then 16-year-old.
Bellingham snubbed the move and made his decision to join Borussia Dortmund.
Few years later he earned his massive move to Madrid, becoming the most expensive British player ever.
The 20-year-old has taken his game to the next level with the star recording 17 goals and 5 assists in his 23 games for Real Madrid.
And his is already the main man at the Bernabeu.
5 – Moises Caicedo (£115m, 2023)
AlamyJust when everyone thought Chelsea owner Todd Boehly couldn’t break the bank even more, he smashed the British transfer record.
The Blues gazumped Liverpool to sign Brighton’s Moises Caicedo in a crazy £115m transfer after one of the sagas of the 2023 summer transfer window.
The Seagulls had bought his for just £4m from Ecuadorian side Independiente del Valle two years earlier.
He has had a tough time justifying his mega transfer fee at Stamford Bridge – and the jury is still out on that deal.
4 – Ousmane Dembele (£138m, 2017)
AFPOusmane Dembele joined Barcelona in 2017 from Borussia Dortmund for an upfront fee on £96.8m – with the transfer potentially rising for a WHOPPING £135.5m.
Unfortunately, the two-footed forward has since endured several injuries which has derailed his potential.
He won three LaLiga titles with Barca… but never played a truly key role in the side.
And now, still only 26, he finds himself back in his home country with Paris Saint-Germain – after joining for just over £40m in 2023.
That represents a pretty substantial loss on the player for the now cash-strapped Catalans.
3 – Philippe Coutinho (£145m, 2018)
AFPPhilippe Coutinho moved to Barca from Liverpool in 2018 for an incredible £145m, including hefty add-ons.
Like Dembele, Coutinho never hit the heights at Barcelona despite his impressive spell with Jurgen Klopp‘s Reds.
Liverpool, on the other hand, spend the money on Virgil van Dijk and Alisson, transforming themselves into perennial title challengers.
Coutinho, now 31, now finds himself in Qatar with Al-Duhail, on loan from Aston Villa.
He is tipped to end up in the USA.
2 – Kylian Mbappe (£162m, 2018)
GettyKylian Mbappe has almost certainly worth every penny of the £162million PSG spent on him from Ligue 1 rivals Monaco.
Well, apart from his continued failure to win them the Champions League.
He’s fired the French heavyweights to five Ligue 1 titles in six years and a bunch of cups. But the closest he got to European glory was a final loss to Bayern Munich in 2020.
Add in a World Cup with France in 2018 and hat-trick in defeat to Argentina in final in 2022, and he’s cemented himself as without doubt one of the best players in the world.
He is expected to leave in the summer of 2024, with Real Madrid his expected destination.
1 – Neymar (£198m, 2017)
AFPNeymar joined PSG from Barcelona for an astonishing £198MILLION deal, which smashed the then-world record £89m United paid for Pogba.
Brazilian forward reportedly felt he was in Lionel Messi’s shadow at Barcelona so he took it upon himself to move.
Life at Paris saw Neymar record 118 goals and 77 assists in 173 games, but injuries affected the 31-year-old career.
Neymar, like Mbappe, thrived domestically with PSG but failed to get that elusive European glory.
He ultimately left for a very lucrative switch to Saudi Pro League club Al Hilal, earning a mouthwatering £2.5m-A-WEEK.
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