Florian Wirtz should become the most expensive attacking midfielder in history by an absurd margin if Liverpool hold their nerve in talks with Leverkusen.
1) James Rodriguez – £63.2m/€80m (Monaco to Real Madrid, July 2014)
Never before has a shop window been so successfully deployed as when Rodriguez and his giant pet grasshopper dominated the 2014 World Cup so thoroughly that Real Madrid couldn’t help but make the Colombian the fourth most expensive footballer ever at the time. His next permanent club being Everton remains hilarious.
2) Thomas Lemar – £63m/€70m (Monaco to Atletico Madrid, June 2018)
With failed club-record bids from Arsenal and Liverpool in his back pocket, Lemar took his eternal search for justice to Spain and Diego Simeone has not let him go since.
3) Dominik Szoboszlai – £60m/€69.8m (Leipzig to Liverpool, July 2023)
Needing to remodel their entire midfield, Liverpool first signed Alexis Mac Allister at an apparent knockdown price before mulling over the release clause of Szoboszlai and pulling ahead of Newcastle to trigger it before expiration.
4) Kaka – £56m/€65m (AC Milan to Real Madrid, June 2009)
The world’s costliest signing of all time – at least for a couple of weeks. After a planned £91m move to Manchester City on £500,000-a-week wages collapsed the previous January, Kaka went for a slightly more modest fee and delivered even less flashy numbers: 29 goals, 39 assists, 120 appearances and two trophies in four years before heading back to the Rossoneri on a free.
5) Bruno Fernandes – £55.6m/€65m (Sporting to Man Utd, January 2020)
Add-ons have already far surpassed the initial £46.6m fee, with Sporting potentially due another £12.7m if Fernandes wins the PFA Player of the Year award or makes the Ballon d’Or top three. Manchester United could have doubled their money but knew they couldn’t afford the risk.
6) Mason Mount – £55m/€64.2m (Chelsea to Man Utd, July 2023)
A year from free agency and yet Manchester United’s desperation led them to pay a fair whack for the England international and Champions League winner. He has shown little since.
7) Oscar – £52m/€60m (Chelsea to Shanghai SIPG, January 2017)
“Every football player, or every person who works, wants to earn money to help their families. I came from a social background in Brazil that is very poor. We didn’t have anything. This is the fruit of my work and when I earn this, it is because I conquered it. The same way I came here, I will be able to return to Europe.” Fair play, although that continental comeback will probably never materialise now he’s back in Brazil.
8) Dani Olmo – £51m/€60m (Leipzig to Barcelona, August 2024)
There have been registration issues owing to his new club’s continued financial difficulties but when Olmo has been able to play he has contributed healthily, with 12 goals and seven assists in a disrupted debut season.
9) Otavio – £50.5m/€60m (Porto to Al-Nassr, August 2023)
A star of the Saudi Arabia summer transfer window that was, Otavio has fared well enough but rumours persist over a return to Europe.
10) Zinedine Zidane – £46.6m/€76m (Juventus to Real Madrid, July 2001)
With Spurs presumably unwilling to let Tim Sherwood go, Real Madrid had to settle for second best and a man absolutely dripping in Galactico rizz.
11) Teun Koopmeiners – £46.1m/€54.7m (Atalanta to Juventus, August 2024)
Shortly after being crowned a Europa League winner, Koopmeiners made the move one place up the Serie A table to accompany The Old Lady on their continued hopeful journey towards relevance.
12) Gylfi Sigurdsson – £45m/€53m (Swansea to Everton, August 2017)
Part of the single greatest season of Premier League club-specific signings, with Everton also bringing in Davy Klaassen (£23.6m), Henry Onyekuru (£6.8m), Sandro Ramirez (£5.2m), Jordan Pickford (£30m), Michael Keane (£25m), Wayne Rooney (free), Nikola Vlasic (£8m), Cenk Tosun (£27.5m) and Theo Walcott (£20m).
13) Bernardo Silva – £43m/€50m (Monaco to Manchester City, May 2017)
The Portuguese has tried to leave almost every summer since but 14 trophies and more appearances under Pep Guardiola than any other player ever has been a fair consolation prize.
14) Cole Palmer – £42.5m/€50.4m (Manchester City to Chelsea, September 2023)
It seemed like a ridiculous move at the time but was until recently the one unqualified transfer success of this Chelsea regime. Forty goals, 27 assist, 91 appearances and an eternal contract is fine business.
15) Mesut Ozil – £42.4m/€50m (Real Madrid to Arsenal, September 2013)
Poor Geraint Hughes must still be having flashbacks after being encompassed by giddy Arsenal fans celebrating the quite unfathomable capture of a Real Madrid star at his peak. Everyone knows how that five-year contract and three-year extension in 2018 played out eventually but there were moments of absolute brilliance first.
16) Xavi Simons – £42.1m/€50m (Paris Saint-Germain to Leipzig, January 2025)
After a pair of successful loans it was decided that selling club Leipzig would indulge in a spot of record-breaking buying, making Simons the most expensive player in their history by a mile.
17) James Maddison – £40m/€46.3m (Leicester to Tottenham, June 2023)
At one stage The most expensive Premier League signing from a relegated club, Maddison would be fortunate to emulate a former holder of that title in Moussa Sissoko.
18) Joelinton – £40m/€45m (Hoffenheim to Newcastle, July 2019)
Does he belong on the list of most expensive midfielders, forwards or strikers instead? Genuinely not sure. But Eddie Howe has treasured and transformed Steve Bruce’s trash in so very many ways.
19) James Rodriguez – £38.5m/€45m (Porto to Monaco, May 2013)
Long before a Galactico future could be considered, Rodriguez was moving to newly-minted Monaco as the more expensive part of a double transfer with Joao Moutinho. The Colombian scored nine goals and assisted 13 in his only Ligue Un season.
20) Alex Teixeira – £38m/€50m (Shakhtar Donetsk to Jiangsu Suning, January 2016)
The greatest Liverpool player that never was. Teixeira raked in a fortune and scored almost a goal every other game in China.
