Neymar, who completed the most expensive transfer ever
The following is alist of most expensive association football transfers, which details the highesttransfer fees ever paid forplayers, as well as transfers which set new world transfer records. The first confirmed record transfer was ofWillie Groves fromWest Bromwich Albion toAston Villa for £100 in 1893[1] (equivalent to £14,000 in 2023), made just eight years after the introduction of professionalism by theFootball Association in 1885.[2]
The current transfer record was set by the transfer ofNeymar fromBarcelona toParis Saint-Germain for €222 million (£200 million) in August 2017.[3][4] While the current record for women was set by the transfer ofOlivia Smith fromLiverpool toArsenal for €1.157 million (£1 million) in July 2025.[5]
All selling clubs involved in transfers on this list are underUEFA's jurisdiction. Most players transfer to clubs from theBig Five Leagues, with half of them beingPremier League clubs. Saudi Arabian clubs are the only purchasing clubs not under UEFA's jurisdiction. Overall,Manchester United has made the list nine times for player purchases, the most among all clubs.
Romelu Lukaku appears on this list three times for moves toManchester United,Inter Milan, andChelsea.Neymar andCristiano Ronaldo appear on the list twice. All of the players on the list are of European (UEFA), South American (CONMEBOL) or African (CAF) origin. There are currently no players on the list from the remaining regions; North America (CONCACAF), Asia (AFC) and Oceania (OFC). Ten French players have made their name on the list, the most among all countries.
Most transfer fees listed are not officially disclosed by the trading clubs and are reported by reliable mainstream media. Different media outlets may report varying transfer fees. The transfer fees are ranked inEuro (€) and based on the exchange rate at the time of the transfer.
As of 1 September 2025
Fee broke the world record at the time of the transfer
Fee broke the record for a teenager at the time of the transfer
Fee broke the national league record at the time of the transfer
Fee broke the record for aSouth American player at the time of the transfer
Fee broke the record for anAfrican player at the time of the transfer
Fee broke the record for a goalkeeper at the time of the transfer
Fee broke the record for a defender at the time of the transfer
Top 50 most expensive association football transfers
The first player to ever be transferred for a fee of over £100 was ScottishstrikerWillie Groves when he together withJack Reynolds (£50) made the switch fromWest Bromwich Albion toAston Villa in 1893,[2] eight years after the legalisation of professionalism in the sport. It took just another twelve years for the figure to become £1,000, whenSunderland strikerAlf Common moved toMiddlesbrough.[61][62] It was not until 1928 that the first five-figure transfer took place.David Jack ofBolton Wanderers was the subject of interest fromArsenal, and in order to negotiate the fee down, Arsenal managerHerbert Chapman got the Bolton representativesdrunk.[63][64] Subsequently, David Jack was transferred for a world record fee when Arsenal paid £10,890 to Bolton for his services, after Bolton had asked for £13,000, which was double the previous record made when Sunderland signedBurnley'sBob Kelly a fee of for £6,500.[62]
The first player from outside Great Britain to break the record wasBernabé Ferreyra, a player known asLa Fiera for his powerful shot. His 1932 transfer fromTigre toRiver Plate cost £23k,[64] and the record would last for 17 years (the longest the record has lasted) until it was broken by Manchester United's sale ofJohnny Morris toDerby County for £24k in March 1949. The record was broken seven further times between 1949 and 1961, whenLuis Suárez Miramontes was sold byBarcelona toInter Milan for £152k, becoming the first ever player sold for more than £100k.[62] In 1968,Pietro Anastasi became the first £500k player whenJuventus purchased him fromVarese,[64] which was followed seven years later withGiuseppe Savoldi becoming the first million pound player when he transferred fromBologna toNapoli.[62][64]
AfterAlf Common and David Jack, the third player to twice be transferred for world record fees isDiego Maradona.[62][64] His transfers fromBoca Juniors to Barcelona for £3m, and then to Napoli for £5m, both broke the record in 1982 and 1984 respectively. In the space of 61 days in 1992,[64] three transfers broke the record,[62] all by Italian clubs:Jean-Pierre Papin transferred fromMarseille toA.C. Milan, becoming the first ever £10m player.[64] Almost immediately, rivals Juventus topped that with the signing ofGianluca Vialli for a fee of £12m fromSampdoria. Milan then completed the signing ofGianluigi Lentini for a fee of £13m which stood as the record for three years.
The 1996 transfer ofAlan Shearer fromBlackburn Rovers toNewcastle United, for a fee of £15m,[66] kickstarted a year-by-year succession of record breaking transfers:Ronaldo movedthe following year to Inter Milan from Barcelona for a fee of £17m,[67] which was followed in 1998 by the shock transfer of his fellow countrymanDenílson fromSão Paulo toReal Betis for a fee of approximately £21m.[62][64][68] In 1999 and 2000, Italian clubs returned to their record-breaking ways, withChristian Vieri transferring fromLazio to Inter Milan for £28m,[69] whileHernán Crespo's transfer fromParma to Lazio ensured he became the first player to cost more than £30m.[62][70] The transfer prompted the BBC to ask "has the world gone mad"?[71] It took two weeks for the record to be broken whenLuís Figo made a controversial £37m move from Barcelona to rivalsReal Madrid.[62][72] A year later, Real increased the record again with a signing ofZinedine Zidane for £48m.[73]
Zidane's record stood for 8 years, the longest since the 1940s. Real Madrid continued with theGalácticos policy by buyingKaká fromMilan for €67m (£56m),[74] which was the world record in pound sterling. However, both world record in euro and in pound sterling were broken by Real themselves when signingCristiano Ronaldo for £80m (€94m) fromManchester United inthe same transfer window,[62][75] Four years later Real Madrid broke the record again after completed the signing ofGareth Bale fromTottenham Hotspur in 2013. Although Real initially insisted that the transfer cost €91.59m, slightly less than the Ronaldo fee, the deal was widely reported to be around €100m (around £85.1m).[76][77] Documents leaked in 2016 byFootball Leaks revealed that instalments brought the final Bale fee up to a total of €100,759,418.[62][78] In 2016, Manchester United eventually took the record away from Real Madrid, signing French midfielderPaul Pogba for €105m (£89m),[79] four years after having released him to Juventus fortraining compensation.
A year after the Pogba transfer, however, there was a major jump in the record fee.Paris Saint-Germain matched the €222m buyout fee of Barcelona'sNeymar, converted to a reported £198m by different sources,[4] or £200m[3] more than double the previous record. This was the first time that the record fee was paid by a French club.
Overall,Barcelona has broken the record for the highest transfer fee received four times, whileReal Madrid has broken the record for the highest transfer fee paid for a player five times.
While players are often purchased for high fees, the fee to release a manager from their contract is a lot less.[103][104][105] Usually described as a "compensation fee", the amount paid to the manager's current club is based around several factors including the total salary for the current length of his contract, as well as potential bonuses and sponsorship deals, and additional fees if the club also need to pay compensation to hire a new manager.[103]
The transfer fees fluctuate due to exchange rate variations and are based on the exchange rate at the time of the transfer.
This list only includes transfers where a fee amount is reported publicly. The transfer fees are ranked inPound (£) and based on the exchange rate at the time of the transfer. Fees are in thousands.
As of 4 September 2025
Fee broke the women's world football transfer record at the time of the transfer
Fee broke the national league record at the time of the transfer
Fee broke the women's record for aSouth American player at the time of the transfer
Fee broke the women's record for anAsian player at the time of the transfer
Fee broke the women's record for anAfrican player at the time of the transfer
Fee broke the women's record for aNorth American player at the time of the transfer
Fee broke the women's record for aEuropean player at the time of the transfer
^abcMexican reports suggested the fee could rise to $2million, though sources in the United States and elsewhere confirmed its ceiling at $1.5million.
^Thompson's transfer, which was confirmed shortly before Geyoro's, was a Chelsea record fee; "at least on-par" with Smith's previous record fee; and described as just short of Ovalle's then-world record but able to become a new world record with bonuses[118] that would take Thompson's fee up to around $2 million.[119]
^While originally reported in French sources as a world record fee[121] of £1.43 million, London City confirmed the next day that it was not a record but "around the £1m mark". London City spent around £430,000 onLucía Corrales in the same window.[122]
^Reported as a Houston Dash club record sale and "among the highest in NWSL history", it had previously been reported as equivalent to $830,000 and almost a world record with potential bonuses (up to €960,000).[124] By the end of the season, the bonuses were reportedly met.[125]
^abBase fee of €550,000 (£460,000), as widely reported.[128] According toBBC Sport, Barcelona said that the fee including bonuses was worth up to £800,000 (€956,000).[129] At the end of the season, Spanish media reported the fee had risen to €850,000.[125]
^abc€700,000 release clause, €35,000 (5%) training fee applicable, and $75,000 (€70,000) additional variables.
^Fee was considered as London City paying Corrales' release clause after Barcelona had to rescind on her contract renewal. Some sources suggested the clause was €540,000.
^abcGlendenning, Barry; Murray, Scott; Bagchi, Rob; Steinberg, Jacob (30 August 2013)."The Joy of Six: record transfers".The Guardian.Archived from the original on 2 August 2017. Retrieved2 August 2017.
^"Football player's transfer. Extraordinary terms".Staffordshire Sentinel. 30 June 1896. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.The Aston Villa had decided to give them £100 cash down and to play Small Heath a match on September 1st, probably at Perry Barr. They had guaranteed no less a sum that £250 from this, and Small Heath were also to have half any amount taken in excess of the guarantee. This would mean a gain to Small Heath of about £500. Wheldon was having £150 a year, and he (the chairman) understood his wages with Aston Villa would be considerably in advance of that amount
^"Daily Express".Record Transfer Fee. 17 October 1903.
^Simkin, John (September 1997)."Alf Common". Spartacus Educational.Archived from the original on 8 October 2018. Retrieved8 October 2018.
^Jo Bath, Richard F Stevenson. (2013). "The Newcastle Book of Days". p. 31. The History Press
^Zeigler, Martyn; Toddy, Tom; Jacob, Gary;Lawton, Matt (9 September 2022)."Graham Potter: Chelsea paid record £22m fee to prise head coach from Brighton".The Times. Retrieved26 October 2022.The compensation cost to Chelsea is understood to be £20 million for their new head coach Potter and a further £2 million for the five-strong backroom team that have gone with him.
France
England
Belgium
Brazil
Argentina
Germany
Netherlands
Portugal
Colombia
Uruguay
Spain
Cameroon
Croatia
Denmark
Ecuador
Ivory Coast
Nigeria
Slovenia
Sweden
Wales
Italy
Saudi Arabia
Turkey
Christian Pulisic
Kim Min-jae
Chris Wood
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Scotland
Brendan Rodgers
Lizbeth Ovalle‡
Olivia Smith
Racheal Kundananji†
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