The 2023-24 summer transfer window has been one of the busiest ones in the modern era. Midfielders Declan Rice and Moises Caicedo moved to the nine digits in 2023, with the latter being the most expensive Premier League transfer of all time. Transfer fees of elite players have reached an exorbitant amount and the pressure to perform for these players is colossal. It feels like yesterday when Paul Pogba became the first £100m footballer in the history of the game. Here are the top 100 players with the highest transfer fees in world football.
| Pos. | Player | Clubs | Year | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Neymar | Barcelona – PSG | 2017 | €222m |
| 2 | Kylian Mbappe | Monaco – PSG | 2017 | €145m (+€35m) |
| 3 | Joao Felix | Benfica – Atletico Madrid | 2019 | €126m |
| 4 | Enzo Fernandez | Benfica – Chelsea | 2023 | €121m |
| =5 | Philippe Coutinho | Liverpool – Barcelona | 2018 | €120m (+€40m) |
| =5 | Antoine Griezmann | Atletico Madrid – Barcelona | 2019 | €120m |
| =7 | Moises Caicedo | Brighton – Chelsea | 2023 | €117m (+€17.5m) |
| =7 | Declan Rice | West Ham – Arsenal | 2023 | €117m (+€6m) |
| =7 | Jack Grealish | Aston Villa – Manchester City | 2021 | €117m |
| 10 | Romelu Lukaku | Inter – Chelsea | 2021 | €115m |
| =11 | Ousmane Dembele | Borussia Dortmund – Barcelona | 2017 | €105m (+€40m) |
| =11 | Paul Pogba | Juventus – Manchester United | 2016 | €105m (+€5m) |
| 13 | Jude Bellingham | Dortmund – Real Madrid | 2023 | €103m (+€31m) |
| 14 | Gareth Bale | Tottenham – Real Madrid | 2013 | €100.8m |
| =15 | Eden Hazard | Chelsea – Real Madrid | 2019 | €100m (+€46m) |
| =15 | Harry Kane | Tottenham – Bayern Munich | 2023 | €100m (+€16m) |
| =15 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid – Juventus | 2018 | €100m |
| 18 | Antony | Ajax – Manchester United | 2022 | €95m (+€5m) |
| =19 | Harry Maguire | Leicester City – Manchester United | 2019 | €94m |
| =19 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Manchester United – Real Madrid | 2009 | €94m |
| =21 | Gonzalo Higuain | Napoli – Juventus | 2016 | €90m |
| =21 | Neymar | PSG – Al-Hilal | 2023 | €90m |
| =21 | Josko Gvardiol | RB Leipzig – Manchester City | 2023 | €90m |
| 24 | Romelu Lukaku | Everton – Manchester United | 2017 | €88m (+€17.5m) |
| 25 | Neymar | Santos – Barcelona | 2013 | €86.2m |
| 26 | Jadon Sancho | Borussia Dortmund – Manchester United | 2021 | €85m |
| 27 | Virgil van Dijk | Southampton – Liverpool | 2018 | €84.5m |
| 28 | Luis Suarez | Liverpool – Barcelona | 2014 | €82m |
| 29 | Wesley Fofana | Leicester City – Chelsea | 2022 | €80.5m (+€6m) |
| =30 | Aurelien Tchouameni | Monaco – Real Madrid | 2022 | €80m (+€20m) |
| =30 | James Rodriguez | Monaco – Real Madrid | 2014 | €80m |
| =32 | Kepa Arrizabalaga | Athletic Club – Chelsea | 2018 | €80m |
| =33 | Lucas Hernandez | Atletico Madrid – Bayern Munich | 2019 | €80m |
| =33 | Romelu Lukaku | Manchester United – Inter | 2019 | €80m |
| 35 | Nicolas Pepe | Lille – Arsenal | 2019 | €79m |
| 36 | Alvaro Morata | Real Madrid – Chelsea | 2017 | €78.9m |
| 37 | Zinedine Zidane | Juventus – Real Madrid | 2001 | €77.5m |
| =38 | Darwin Nunez | Benfica – Liverpool | 2022 | €75m (+€25m) |
| =38 | Randal Kolo Muani | Eintracht Frankfurt – PSG | 2023 | €75m (+€15m) |
| =38 | Matthijs de Ligt | Ajax – Juventus | 2019 | €75m (+€10.5m) |
| =38 | Rasmus Hojlund | Atalanta – Manchester United | 2023 | €75m (+€9m) |
| =38 | Kevin De Bruyne | Wolfsburg – Manchester City | 2015 | €75m |
| =38 | Frenkie de Jong | Ajax – Barcelona | 2019 | €75m |
| =38 | Dusan Vlahovic | Fiorentina – Juventus | 2022 | €75m |
| 45 | Angel Di Maria | Real Madrid – Manchester United | 2014 | €74.6m |
| 46 | Alisson Becker | Roma – Liverpool | 2018 | €73m |
| 47 | Arthur Melo | Barcelona – Juventus | 2020 | €72m (+€10m) |
| 48 | Kai Havertz | Chelsea-Arsenal | 2023 | €72m (+€3.5m) |
| 49 | Casemiro | Real Madrid – Manchester United | 2022 | €71m (+€11.8m) |
| =50 | Mykhailo Mudryk | Shakhtar Donetsk – Chelsea | 2023 | €70m (+€30m) |
| =50 | Kai Havertz | Bayer Leverkusen – Chelsea | 2020 | €70m (+€9m) |
| =50 | Luka Jovic | Eintracht Frankfurt – Real Madrid | 2019 | €70m |
| =50 | Rodri | Atletico Madrid – Manchester City | 2019 | €70m |
| =50 | Sandro Tonali | AC Milan – Newcastle United | 2023 | €70m |
| =50 | Dominik Szoboszlai | RB Leipzig – Liverpool | 2023 | €70m |
| 56 | Zlatan Ibrahimovic | Inter – Barcelona | 2009 | €69.5m |
| 57 | Raheem Sterling | Liverpool – Manchester City | 2015 | €69.1m |
| 58 | Ruben Dias | Benfica – Manchester City | 2020 | €68m (+€3.6m) |
| 59 | Riyad Mahrez | Leicester City – Manchester City | 2019 | €67.8m |
| 60 | Matthijs de Ligt | Juventus – Bayern Munich | 2022 | €67m (+€10m) |
| 61 | Diego Costa | Chelsea – Atletico Madrid | 2018 | €66m |
| 62 | Marc Cucurella | Brighton – Chelsea | 2022 | €65.1m (+€8.2m) |
| =63 | Alexander Isak | Real Sociedad – Newcastle United | 2022 | €65m (+€5m) |
| =63 | Thomas Lemar | Monaco – Atletico Madrid | 2018 | €65m |
| =63 | Jeremy Doku | Rennes – Manchester City | 2023 | €65m |
| =63 | Kaka | AC Milan – Real Madrid | 2009 | €65m |
| =63 | Aymeric Laporte | Athletic Club – Manchester City | 2018 | €65m |
| =63 | Joao Cancelo | Juventus – Manchester City | 2019 | €65m (inc. Danilo) |
| 69 | Edinson Cavani | Napoli – PSG | 2013 | €64.5m |
| 70 | Christian Pulisic | Borussia Dortmund – Chelsea | 2019 | €64m |
| 71 | Mason Mount | Chelsea – Manchester United | 2023 | €63.9m (+€5.8m) |
| 72 | Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang | Borussia Dortmund – Arsenal | 2018 | €63.75m |
| =73 | David Luiz | Chelsea – PSG | 2014 | €62m (+€6m) |
| =73 | Romeo Lavia | Southampton – Chelsea | 2023 | €62m (+€6m) |
| =73 | Matheus Nunes | Wolves – Manchester City | 2023 | €62m |
| 76 | Angel Di Maria | Manchester United – PSG | 2015 | €61.6m |
| =77 | Achraf Hakimi | Inter – PSG | 2021 | €60m (+€11m) |
| =77 | Miralem Pjanic | Juventus – Barcelona | 2020 | €60m (+€5m) |
| =77 | Oscar | Chelsea – Shanghai SIPG | 2017 | €60m |
| =77 | Christopher Nkunku | RB Leipzig – Chelsea | 2023 | €60m |
| =77 | Manuel Ugarte | Sporting CP – PSG | 2023 | €60m |
| =77 | Erling Haaland | Borussia Dortmund – Manchester City | 2022 | €60m |
| =77 | Naby Keita | RB Leipzig – Liverpool | 2018 | €60m |
| =77 | Luis Figo | Barcelona – Real Madrid | 2000 | €60m |
| =77 | Tanguy Ndombele | Lyon – Tottenham | 2019 | €60m |
| =77 | Malcom | Zenit – Al-Hilal | 2023 | €60m |
| =77 | Otavio | Porto – Al-Nassr | 2023 | €60m |
| 88 | Raphinha | Leeds United – Barcelona | 2022 | €59m (+€6m) |
| 89 | Fernando Torres | Liverpool – Chelsea | 2011 | €59m |
| =90 | Fred | Shakhtar Donetsk – Manchester United | 2018 | €58.9m |
| =90 | Jorginho | Napoli – Chelsea | 2018 | €58.9m |
| =92 | Hulk | Zenit – Shanghai SIPG | 2016 | €58.6m |
| =92 | Ben White | Brighton – Arsenal | 2021 | €58.6m |
| 94 | Benjamin Mendy | Monaco – Manchester City | 2017 | €58.2m |
| =95 | Richarlison | Everton – Tottenham | 2022 | €58m (+€12m) |
| =95 | John Stones | Everton – Manchester City | 2016 | €58m |
| 97 | Kyle Walker | Tottenham – Manchester City | 2017 | €56.7m |
| 98 | Raheem Sterling | Manchester City – Chelsea | 2022 | €56.2m |
| 99 | Ben Chilwell | Leicester City – Chelsea | 2020 | €55.8m |
| 100 | Lisandro Martinez | Ajax – Manchester United | 2022 | €55.3m (+€12.5m) |
Most Expensive British Football Player
Declan Rice became the most expensive British footballer of all time when Arsenal obliterated their transfer record with the mammoth €117m (plus add-ons) transfer fee. He moved from West Ham United to Arsenal breaking Jack Grealish’s previously-held record transfer fee of €117m Manchester City paid in 2021.
The Arsenal management sees Rice as a long-term investment for the club who will stay at the heart of the club’s midfield in years to come. Rice has consistently demonstrated exceptional performances at West Ham and the transition to Arsenal will be a big step up for the English midfielder.
Most Expensive Teenager in Football
PSG spent a whopping €180m for 18-year-old teenager Kylian Mbappe in the summer of 2018, making him not only the most expensive teenager of all time but also the second most expensive football transfers ever. The French giants did not waste any time in securing a permanent deal for the AS Monaco prodigy.
The 2022 Golden Boot winner introduced himself to the world when he helped Monaco win the Ligue 1 in the 2016/17 season.
Most Expensive Defender
Harry Maguire remains the most expensive defender to date following his controversial move from Leicester City in 2019. Manchester United spent a staggering €94m for the English defender, a world-record fee for any defender to date.
Josko Gvardiol is the second most expensive defender following his €90m move to Manchester City from RB Leipzig in the summer of 2023.
Most Expensive Goalkeeper
Kepa Arrizabalaga became the most expensive goalkeeper when Chelsea forked out €80m for his services in the summer of 2018. The Athletic Bilbao prodigy spent only two seasons with the club registering 53 La Liga appearances in the process.
Since his move to Stamford Bridge, the Spaniard has made some high-profile errors and has fallen out of favour under different managers at Chelsea. In 2023, Kepa secured a season-long move to Real Madrid but the Galacticos are unlikely to trigger a permanent deal for the Spaniard.