FOOTBALL MARKET

Players who became "the most expensive football players ever"

Since the beginning of the 1990s, transfers in the world of football have become increasingly important economically. Since the arrival of the 'Fenomeno' Ronaldo at Inter in 1997 for 26.5 million today (in today's value), the record for 'most expensive footballer ever' has been broken almost every year.

It was precisely the 'Fenomeno' who had this title in the year of his transfer to Inter, but from then on there were many who could boast of this honour. In recent years then, and especially in this 2023 summer market, we are witnessing something truly sensational.

But which footballers have held the title of 'most expensive footballer in history'? Today we offer you seven of the best, the most famous. A lot of Italy, a league that dominated between the 1990s and the 2000s, but also a lot of stars who are still active.

The "most expensive football players ever": the ranking
Since the beginning of the 1990s, transfers in the world of football have become increasingly important economically. Since the arrival of the 'Fenomeno' Ronaldo at Inter in 1997 for 26.5 million today (in today's value), the record for 'most expensive footballer ever' has been broken almost every year. It was precisely the 'Fenomeno' who had this title in the year of his transfer to Inter, but from then on there were many who could boast of this honour. In recent years then, and especially in this 2023 summer market, we are witnessing something truly sensational. But which footballers have held the title of 'most expensive footballer in history'? Today we propose seven of the best, the most famous. A lot of Italy, a league that dominated between the 1990s and the 2000s, but also a lot of stars who are still active.
Hernan Crespo in 2000
The record of the 'Fenomeno' was beaten, in order, first by Denilson from São Paulo to Betis in 1998 (31.5 million euros) and then by Christian Vieri from Lazio to Inter in 1999 (46.48 million euros). After Vieri, the Argentine Hernan Crespo arrived at Lazio in 2000, directly from the Parma of miracles, for a sum of 56.81 million euros, making Crespo, at the time, the highest paid player in history.
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Luis Figo in 2000 (a few days after Crespo)
And here we are talking about real betrayals, Luis Figo, at the time the world's best player and reigning Golden Ball winner, moved from Barcelona to Real Madrid, for a sum of 60 million euros, breaking the previous record after only a few days. It was the beginning of the Galacticos, where Zidane arrived the following year.
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Zinedine Zidane in 2001
A coup thanks to which the Real Madrid of Florentino Perez's Galacticos finally saw the light of day. Moreover, with this sale, Juventus remade their team, buying the likes of Buffon (future world's best goalkeeper) and Pavel Nedved (future 2003 Golden Ball winner from Lazio). Zizou was sold to Madrid for a sum of 77.5 million euros, breaking Figo's own record.
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Real Madrid and Cristiano Ronaldo
We come to more recent times, when again Real Madrid decided to go all-in on the then Golden Ball winner Cristiano Ronaldo, in the summer when a certain Kaka (2007 Golden Ball winner) was also arriving at the Bernabeu. To wrest him away from Ferguson's Manchester United, the Merengue paid a staggering €94 million. An absurd figure for 2009, while nowadays any midfielder who scores a couple of goals can have this valuation. With Madrid, Ronaldo would rewrite every record by winning four more Ballon d'Or.
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Gareth Bale in 2013
Always Real Madrid confirms itself as the master of crazy spending before the arrival of the Arabs in the European league (Manchester City and PSG above all). Arriving from Tottenham, the Welshman had started as a full-back, impressing the whole world against Inter Milan in the Champions League. Upon arrival at the Bernabeu he was nicknamed 'Mr. 100 million' by the press, as Florentino shelled out exactly 101 million euros to wrest him from Spurs.
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Pogba also arrived in the midfield
Arriving as a zero-parameter player from Manchester United, a very young Pogba took no time at all to establish himself as one of the world's best midfielders. After years of success with the Bianconeri, the Red Devils wanted to bring the Frenchman back to Old Trafford, but this time they had to shell out a whopping 105 million euros for a player who was already in their nursery.
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Neymar Jr in 2017
And here we are at what remains, to this day, the most expensive transfer in football history. The Brazilian, idol of Camp Nou where he formed the historic MSN with Messi and Suarez, accepted the offer from PSG's Qatari ownership. It was no less than 222 million that the Parisian club poured into the coffers of the Blaugrana, a sum never touched again.
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