Football transfer fees seem to rise and rise, unhindered by the many financial constraints which seem to affect almost all other parts of life. Away from football, many struggle to pay rising energy and food costs, or are having to cut back on luxuries. But even within the crazy bubble of football, big clubs like Everton, Chelsea, Newcastle and Aston Villa are having to sell players or get creative with their accounting to stay on the right side of profit & sustainability regulations.
But as said, transfer fees are immune to this, with some deals made in summer 2023/24 including Man United paying almost £60m for an 18 year old centre-back (Leny Yoro, who promptly got injured in pre-season) and Nottingham Forest parting with £35m to sign 21 year old Newcastle midfielder Elliot Anderson, a player with just one appearance for Scotland’s under 21s, let alone the senior national side. Which, let’s face it, are hardly world-beaters!
When we talk about transfer fees of individual players, much of the focus tends to be on record sums. At club level there is much talk about net spend but on a player basis the biggest news comes when a transfer record is broken. That may be the overall world record, the highest sum based on a certain position, or the biggest outlay (or fee brought in) by an English club.
However, there is an interesting and lesser discussed stat that we are focussing on here, and that is the combined transfer fees a player has attracted during their career. There are always some issues with assessing fees in the modern era, with so many deals undisclosed, or featuring add-ons and extra clauses, not to mention issues with varying exchange rates. Nonetheless, based on our best calculations, these are the players with the highest combined transfer fees in the history of world football!
Neymar – €400m
Neymar is, by our estimates, the most expensive footballer of all time, with his combined transfer fees totalling a mammoth €400m. Some sites have reported a lower figure for the Brazilian ace, closer to €350m, or even as low as €310m, but we are confident the higher figure is a better reflection of what clubs have paid to secure his services. The primary reason for this substantial discrepancy relates to the complexity of almost all the deals involving the former Santos man, but in particular his move from Brazilian football to Barcelona.
The mammoth aggregate figure for Neymar, Brazil’s all-time top goalscorer, comes from just three deals. The first of those saw him move from Santos, the club where Pele made his name, to Barcelona, in May of 2013. He was just 21 and the deal was worth €88m, a huge sum by any standards but especially for a youngster with no experience of European football. But of course, this was not just any old youngster.
Neymar was an excellent signing for the Catalan giants and dazzled fans alongside Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, forming the much-vaunted “MSN” front three. Neymar helped Barca to two league titles, three Spanish Cups and the Champions League, scoring 105 goals in 186 games along the way. He also landed them a huge profit.
On the 3rd of August 2017 PSG agreed to pay Barcelona a staggering sum of €222m for Neymar, a world record. It was again a controversial move, with La Liga refusing to play their normal role in transfers involving a buyout clause as they believed the deal breached Financial Fair Play rules and were unhappy with the way the Qatari state was bankrolling the Parisian side.
The deal went ahead though and Neymar spent six seasons in the French capital. He won plenty of silverware but not the Champions League title that he and the club craved. He was also frequently injured but even so, left the club after scoring 118 goals in 173 appearances.
His final big-money move came in August 2023 and it was hugely lucrative for the individual, as much as anything else. Neymar moved to Saudi side Al Hilal, a real marquee player for the Saudi Pro League. PSG received €88m but Neymar himself was reported to be earning much more than that per season! His wages are thought to be €150m per year! Thus far at least it has not been a fruitful move for the club, injuries meaning Neymar played just five times in his first season.
Romelu Lukaku – €339m
Whilst Romelu Lukaku may top some lists of the most expensive footballers in history, mainly due to their deflated figure for Neymar, we have the burly Belgian second. Lukaku is a player that has moved around a great deal and never really found his true home. Despite scoring goals almost everywhere he has played, fans and managers have never quite seemed wholly convinced by him.
He has a massive 85 goals for Belgium, at the age of 31 having already played for his nation 119 times. He was part of their ‘Golden Generation’ but even for Belgium he hasn’t always been fully appreciated.
Lukaku’s huge combined transfer total has come from eight moves, including three loans that demanded significant fees. His first major transfer was the one that brought him to the attention of fans in the UK and saw Chelsea pay around €15m to Anderlecht in 2011. Everton then bought him for more than €35m, after he initially impressed on loan with the Toffees.
Lukaku scored 87 goals in 166 games for the club, a hugely impressive return given they were not always a strong side during his time there. That allowed Everton to make a big profit and sell Lukaku to Man United for almost €85m but he didn’t settle at Old Trafford and moved to Inter Milan for €74m after 96 games and 42 goals.
He enjoyed his time with Inter and won the league, cup, Italian Super Cup and lost finals of the Europa League and Champions League. However, he was there for just two seasons, scoring a very impressive 64 goals in that time. Those performances made Chelsea buy him back but his fee had increased by almost €100m from the first time they signed him.
The Blues paid €113m for him and then played a style of football which absolutely did not suit him. He was loaned back to Inter after just a season in London, then spent 2023/24 at Roma, netting 21 goals in 47 matches. He remains a Chelsea player, though don’t expect to see him play for them any time soon.