Neymar, Mbappe Top List of 6 Most Expensive Transfers in Football

Neymar, Mbappe Top List of 6 Most Expensive Transfers in Football

Elijah Odetokun
updated at April 12, 2023 at 8:22 PM
In this article:
Antoine Griezmann logo
A.Griezmann
Atletico Madrid logoFFrance logo
Kylian Mbappé logo
K.Mbappé
Real Madrid logoFFrance logo
Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior logo
Neymar
Al-Hilal Saudi FC logoFBrazil logo
Ousmane Dembélé logo
O.Dembélé
Paris Saint Germain (PSG) logoFFrance logo
  • Football transfers have become expensive business with billions of dollars being exchanged in transfer windows
  • Clubs set high release clauses to protect their prized stars, but Paris Saint-Germain signed Neymar despite a high release clause
  • The Parisians own two of the most expensive transfers in the world Neymar and Mbappe

Football business is an expensive business and to be able to compete with the best teams in your league and the world, you have to sign the best stars who would not come cheap as they are highly valued.

Not every world class signing would come cheap like Robert Lewandowski to Bayern Munich from rivals Borussia Dortmund who then scored over 200 goals and won 19 trophies in eight years. Who are the top six most expensive transfers of all time?

Neymar Jr, Kylian Mbappe, PSG, Paris, Parc des Princes, French Ligue 1, Monaco, Barcelona.
PSG stars Neymar and Mbappe are the two most expensive football transfers. Photos by Sylvain Lefevre/Rico Brouwer.
Source: Getty Images

6. Jack Grealish - £100m (Aston Villa to Man City)

Manchester City signed Aston Villa captain Jack Grealish for £100m in the summer of 2021, surpassing the £89m Manchester United paid to sign Paul Pogba from Juventus in 2016, according to Sky Sports.

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5. Antoine Griezmann - £107m (Atletico Madrid to Barcelona)

Barcelona, despite claims their La Masia academy produces talents, splashed £107m on French forward Antoine Griezmann from Atletico Madrid in 2019, according to BBC Sports. He is now back in his former club after failing to adapt.

4. João Felix - £113m (Benfica to Atletico Madrid)

Atletico Madrid signed 19-year-old Portuguese talent João Felix from Benfica for £113m in 2019, in anticipation of the departure of Antoine Griezmann who left for Barcelona days later, as reported by Guardian.

3. Philippe Coutinho - £142m (Liverpool to Barcelona)

In the winter transfer of 2018, Barcelona signed Brazilian attacker Philippe Coutinho for a club record £142m from Liverpool. He has played for two clubs afterwards but the controversy on the transfer is still around, according to Bleacher Report.

2. Kylian Mbappe - £166m (Monaco to PSG)

Paris Saint-Germain struck twice with expensive signings in the summer of 2017 with Neymar and Mbappe. The French giants signed Mbappe from Monaco on an initial loan to escape UEFA Financial Fair Play breach, and was made permanent a year later, according to Sky Sports.

1. Neymar - £198m (Barcelona to PSG)

When Barcelona signed Neymar from Santos and set a €222m release, they would not have thought a club would activate it, before PSG did in 2017 in a club record transfer, according to Reuters.

Ten Hag blasts United signings

Not all transfers go according to plan no matter the fee paid for a player. It does not always translate to success on the pitch. As Sports Brief earlier reported Ten Hag criticised some transfers made by United in the past as average.

The Red Devils have spent over £1bn on transfers since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013, but the club have enjoyed limited success.

Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku are two of the most expensive signings made by the club in that time, with Jadon Sancho the recent addition for £73m another flop.

Authors
Elijah Odetokun photo
Elijah Odetokun
Elijah Odetokun is Reuters-trained journalist with three years of experience having previously worked at Daily Times Nigeria, OmaSports and El Futbolero.
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Transfers