Neymar’s eye-watering 2017 move from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain remains the most expensive transfer in football history but this summer’s buying frenzy has reshuffled the chasing pack
PSG activated the Brazilian’s €222million release clause in one of the most outrageous agreements the sport has ever seen and it has stood ever since.
Second is Kylian Mbappe’s move from Monaco also to Paris Saint-Germain, done via a loan before being made permanent, worth €180million according to ESPN
From there the gap closes quite a lot. Barcelona’s Ousmane Dembele’s €105million move from Dortmund in 2017, with substantial add-ons, sits just above Alexander Isak’s British-record €70million move from Newcastle to Liverpool last year in the table of most expensive signings.
Two new names have entered the top ten this summer.
Chelsea’s British record purchase for Morgan Rogers from Aston Villa is thought to be approximately €137million, with Manchester City’s club record swoop for Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest just behind at around €135million, matching Philippe Coutinho’s move to Barcelona in 2018.
Rounding out the list are Joao Felix’s €127.2m move to Atletico Madrid, Jude Bellingham’s move to Real Madrid for about €127m add-ons included, and Florian Wirtz’s €125m switch to Liverpool last year.
The general image, however, is apparent. Neymar and Mbappe remain in a world of their own but the Premier world’s spending power is now ruling the remainder of the all-time list with four of this year’s deals alone cracking the top ten.
