Progression of record for the highest transfer fee in the British football league
Bryan Robson (pictured in 1992) was the subject of a record transfer in 1981.Alexander Isak (pictured) was the subject of the current British football transfer fee record, set in 2025.
Theprogression of the British football transfer fee record tracks the increases in the record for the highesttransfer fee paid or received byBritishassociation football clubs. A transfer fee is the sum of money paid by one club to purchase the contract, and therefore the playing services, of a professional footballer. Fees are not generally formally disclosed by the clubs involved, and discrepancies can occur in figures quoted in the press.Trevor Francis, for example, is regarded as Britain's first£1m player but was officially transferred for £975,000. The generally reported figure of £1,180,000 includedValue Added Tax, fees tothe Football League and Francis' signing fee.[1] Discrepancies may also occur due to deals which involve additional sums to be paid at a later date after a player has made a certain number of appearances, joint fees for two or more players, or deals in which one player is exchanged for a sum of money plus another player.
The first three-figure transfer fee was the £100 paid byAston Villa in 1893 forWillie Groves. Eleven years later,Alf Common joinedMiddlesbrough for the first four-figure fee, a sum which caused a national sensation and outrage amongst the football authorities.[2] The £5,000 mark was first reached in 1922 whenFalkirk paid that amount forWest Ham United'sSyd Puddefoot, and six years laterArsenal paid the first £10,000 fee to acquireDavid Jack ofBolton Wanderers. After theSecond World War, the spending power of clubs in mainland Europe outstripped that of British clubs for the first time, resulting in several substantial jumps in the transfer record.John Charles became the first player from Britain to command a fee of £50,000 when he joinedJuventus in 1957, and four years laterDenis Law joinedTorino in the first £100,000 transaction involving a British club.
The 1970s saw a rapid increase in transfer fees.Martin Peters became the first £200,000 player in 1970, but by 1977Kevin Keegan's move toWest Germany'sHamburger SV had taken the record to £500,000. In January 1979David Mills became the first player to be purchased for £500,000 by a British club, but just one month laterNottingham Forest paid twice that amount to acquireBirmingham City'sTrevor Francis. In 1981Bryan Robson costManchester United £1,500,000, but fees paid by British clubs lagged behind those paid by clubs inItaly,France andSpain. The fees paid by thePremier League's top clubs began to increase at a rapid rate, withAlan Shearer commanding the first £15,000,000 fee in 1996, paid byNewcastle United and the new millennium heralding the first £30,000,000 transfer, although sources differ as to whether this barrier was broken byRio Ferdinand's move to Manchester United in 2002 orAndriy Shevchenko's transfer toChelsea four years later.
On 1 September 2008,Manchester City agreed a reported £32,500,000 fee forRobinho,[3] which remained the record amount paid by a British club until 31 January 2011, whenLiverpool paid £35,000,000 forAndy Carroll fromNewcastle United, which was also a new record amount paid for a British player. A few hours later, the record amount paid by a British club was broken again whenChelsea paid £50,000,000 forFernando Torres from Liverpool.
On 11 June 2009, Manchester United announced that they had accepted an £80,000,000 bid fromReal Madrid forCristiano Ronaldo. The transfer was completed on 1 July 2009, setting not only a new British transfer record, but also a newworld record (either in pounds oreuros).[4] In turn, that record was broken on 1 September 2013 when Real announced that their £85.3 million (€100 million) purchase ofGareth Bale fromTottenham Hotspur had been completed.[5] This record was broken on 8 August 2016, whenManchester United signedPaul Pogba fromJuventus for a fee of £89 million, again on 6 January 2018, whenPhilippe Coutinho moved to Barcelona from Liverpool for a reported initial fee of £105 million, which could rise to £142 million with various clauses being met.
On 31 January 2023, the record was broken whenChelsea signed Argentine playerEnzo Fernández for a reported deal of £106.8 million. It was broken again on 1 September 2025 when Swedish strikerAlexander Isak joinedLiverpool fromNewcastle United for a reported £125 million.
^Ferdinand's fee was also quoted as £30m,[41] with the potential to rise to £33.3m based on additional clauses.[42] Also reported as £29.3m, the total amount paid was eventually reduced by £1.75m to help Leeds avoid entering administration.[43]
^John Litster (October 2012). "A Record of pre-war Scottish League Players". Scottish Football Historian magazine.{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal= (help)
^James, Josh; Andrews, Mark; Kelly, Andy (2018).Arsenal - The Complete Record. deCoubertin Books. p. 151.ISBN9781909245754.
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