World football transfer record

Neymar, who currently has the record for the most expensive transfer ever.

The world football transfer record is the record for the most expensive transfer in football. The current record was set in August 2017 by Neymar's transfer from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain for €222 million (£200 million).[1][2]

History

The first player to ever be transferred for a fee was Scottish striker Willie Groves, who was signed by Aston Villa in 1893 from West Bromwich Albion for £100.[3] The first transfer over £1,000 happened in 1905, when Sunderland striker Alf Common signed for Middlesbrough.[4][5] In 1928, the first transfer over £10,000 happened, when Bolton Wanderers inside forward David Jack signed for Arsenal for £10,890. Initially, Bolton had asked for £13,000, which was double the previous transfer record.[5]

The first player not from Great Britain to break the record was in Bernabé Ferreyra, when River Plate signed him from Tigre for £23k.[6] Ferreyra's record wouldn't be broken until 1949, when Derby County signed Manchester United inside forward Johnny Morris for £24k. The record would be broken seven more times between 1949 and 1961. That year, Inter Milan signed Luis Suárez Miramontes from Barcelona for £152k, making him the first player sold for more than £100k.[5] In 1968, Pietro Anastasi became the first player sold for £500k, when Juventus signed him from Varese,[6] which was followed seven years later by Giuseppe Savoldi becoming the first million pound player when he transferred from Bologna to Napoli.[5][6]

In 1992, the transfer record was broken three times in 61 days:[5] Jean-Pierre Papin's transfer from Marseille to AC Milan saw him become the first ever £10m player.[6] Almost immediately, their rivals Juventus broke the record with the signing of Gianluca Vialli for £12m from Sampdoria. Milan then completed the signing of Gianluigi Lentini for a fee of £13m which stood as the record for three years.

Between 1996 and 2001, the transfer record was broken eight times, ending with Real Madrid signing Zinedine Zidane from Juvnetus in July 2001 for a fee of £48m (150 billion lire).[7] That record would stand for 8 years, until Real Madrid broke the record twice in June 2009, first when they signed Kaká from Milan for €67m (£56m),[8] and later when they signed Cristiano Ronaldo for £80m (€94m) from Manchester United.[5][9]

Real Madrid would break the record again four years later, when they signed Gareth Bale from Tottenham Hotspur in 2013. Although Real initially insisted that the transfer cost €91.59m, the deal was commonly reported to be around €100m (around £85.1m).[10][11] In 2016, documents would be leaked that revealed that instalments brought the final Bale fee up to a total of €100,759,418.[5][12]

In 2017, the world transfer record would be doubled, when Paris Saint-Germain payed the €222m buyout fee of Barcelona's Neymar, which was converted to between £198m and or £200m by different sources.[2][1] That transfer was more than double the previous record of Paul Pogba's transfer from Juventus to Real Madrid.

List of transfer records

The transfer fees fluctuate due to exchange rate variations and are based on the exchange rate at the time of the transfer.

Year Player From To Fee (£)
1893Scotland Willie GrovesEngland West Bromwich AlbionEngland Aston Villa100[3]
1896 England Fred Wheldon England Small Heath England Aston Villa 350-500[13]
1903 England Ben Green England Barnsley England Small Heath 500[14]
1904England Alf Common (1)England Sheffield UnitedEngland Sunderland520[15]
1904Scotland Andy McCombieEngland SunderlandEngland Newcastle United700[16]
1905England Alf Common (2)England SunderlandEngland Middlesbrough1,000[17]
1913England Daniel SheaEngland West Ham UnitedEngland Blackburn Rovers2,000[18]
1913England Tommy BarberEngland Bolton WanderersEngland Aston Villa2,000[19]
1914England Percy DawsonScotland Heart of MidlothianEngland Blackburn Rovers2,500[20]
1920England David Jack (1)England Plymouth ArgyleEngland Bolton Wanderers3,500[21]
1921Scotland Tom HamiltonScotland KilmarnockEngland Preston North End4,600[22]
1922England Syd PuddefootEngland West Ham UnitedScotland Falkirk5,000[23]
1922England Warney CresswellEngland South ShieldsEngland Sunderland5,500[24]
1925England Bob KellyEngland BurnleyEngland Sunderland6,500[25]
1928England David Jack (2)England Bolton WanderersEngland Arsenal10,890[26]
1932Argentina Bernabé FerreyraArgentina TigreArgentina River Plate23,000[26]
1949England Johnny MorrisEngland Manchester UnitedEngland Derby County24,000[25]
1949England Eddie QuigleyEngland Sheffield WednesdayEngland Preston North End26,500[25]
1950Wales Trevor FordEngland Aston VillaEngland Sunderland30,000[25]
1951England Jackie SewellEngland Notts CountyEngland Sheffield Wednesday34,500[25]
1952Sweden Hans JeppsonItaly AtalantaItaly Napoli52,000[26]
1954Uruguay Juan Alberto SchiaffinoUruguay PeñarolItaly Milan72,000[26]
1957Argentina Omar SívoriArgentina River PlateItaly Juventus93,000[26]
1961Spain Luis SuárezSpain BarcelonaItaly Inter Milan152,000[26]
1963Italy Angelo SormaniItaly MantovaItaly Roma250,000[26]
1967Denmark Harald NielsenItaly BolognaItaly Inter Milan300,000[27]
1968Italy Pietro AnastasiItaly VareseItaly Juventus500,000[26]
1973Netherlands Johan CruyffNetherlands AjaxSpain Barcelona922,000[26]
1975Italy Giuseppe SavoldiItaly BolognaItaly Napoli1,200,000[26]
1976Italy Paolo RossiItaly JuventusItaly Vicenza1,750,000[26]
1982Argentina Diego Maradona (1)Argentina Boca JuniorsSpain Barcelona3,000,000[26]
1984Argentina Diego Maradona (2)Spain BarcelonaItaly Napoli5,000,000[26]
1987Netherlands Ruud GullitNetherlands PSV EindhovenItaly Milan6,000,000[26]
1990Italy Roberto BaggioItaly FiorentinaItaly Juventus8,000,000[26]
1992France Jean-Pierre PapinFrance MarseilleItaly Milan10,000,000[26]
1992Italy Gianluca VialliItaly SampdoriaItaly Juventus12,000,000[26]
1992Italy Gianluigi LentiniItaly TorinoItaly Milan13,000,000[26]
1996Brazil Ronaldo (1)Netherlands PSV EindhovenSpain Barcelona13,200,000[26]
1996England Alan ShearerEngland Blackburn RoversEngland Newcastle United15,000,000[28]
1997Brazil Ronaldo (2)Spain BarcelonaItaly Inter Milan19,500,000[26]
1998Brazil DenílsonBrazil São PauloSpain Real Betis21,500,000[29][30]
1999Italy Christian VieriItaly LazioItaly Inter Milan32,000,000[31]
2000Argentina Hernán CrespoItaly ParmaItaly Lazio35,500,000[31]
2000Portugal Luís FigoSpain BarcelonaSpain Real Madrid37,000,000[31]
2001France Zinedine ZidaneItaly JuventusSpain Real Madrid46,600,000[31]
2009Brazil KakáItaly MilanSpain Real Madrid56,000,000[32]
2009Portugal Cristiano RonaldoEngland Manchester UnitedSpain Real Madrid80,000,000[33]
2013Wales Gareth BaleEngland Tottenham HotspurSpain Real Madrid86,000,000[34]
2016France Paul PogbaItaly JuventusEngland Manchester United89,000,000[35]
2017Brazil NeymarSpain BarcelonaFrance Paris Saint-Germain198,000,000[1][2]

Number of players by country

Country Player records Record selling Record buying
England England162020
Italy Italy81418
Argentina Argentina531
Brazil Brazil510
France France311
Scotland Scotland321
Netherlands Netherlands230
Wales Wales200
Portugal Portugal200
Spain Spain159
Uruguay Uruguay110
Denmark Denmark100
Sweden Sweden100

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Neymar: Paris St-Germain sign Barcelona forward for world record 222m euros". BBC Sport. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 Lowe, Sid; Laurens, Julien; Hunter, Andy (2 August 2017). "Neymar set to seal world-record move to PSG worth £450m in fees and wages". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 3 August 2017. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  3. 1 2 Glendenning, 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. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  4. ↑ Proud, Keith (18 August 2008). "The player with the Common touch". The Northern Echo. Archived from the original on 30 September 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "World record football transfer fees". BBC Sport. 1 September 2013. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Flanagan, Chris (4 September 2013). "How 13 other world record transfers panned out". Four Four Two. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
  7. ↑ Ley, John (9 July 2001). "Zidane in £48m Real deal". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 18 October 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  8. ↑ Wilson, Jeremy (7 June 2009). "Real Madrid to confirm world record £56m signing of Kaka". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 30 April 2019. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
  9. ↑ "Ronaldo completes record Madrid switch". UEFA. 26 June 2009. Archived from the original on 14 September 2017. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  10. ↑ "Just how much did Bale's transfer to Real Madrid cost?". ITV. 21 January 2016. Archived from the original on 4 August 2017. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  11. ↑ Conn, David (31 August 2013). "Why Real Madrid think that even €100m for Gareth Bale is not silly money". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 4 August 2017. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  12. ↑ Percy, John (29 January 2016). "Gareth Bale contract leak sparks panic at Real Madrid". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 August 2017. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  13. ↑ "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
  14. ↑ "Daily Express". Record Transfer Fee. 17 October 1903.
  15. ↑ Simkin, John (September 1997). "Alf Common". Spartacus Educational. Archived from the original on 8 October 2018. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  16. ↑ Jo Bath, Richard F Stevenson. (2013). "The Newcastle Book of Days". p. 31. The History Press
  17. ↑ Taylor, Matthew (2005). The Leaguers: The Making of Professional Football in England, 1900–1939. Liverpool University Press. p. 42. ISBN 978-0-85323-639-9. Archived from the original on 18 October 2020. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  18. ↑ "A£2,000 Transfer". Derby Daily Telegraph. British Newspaper Archive. 6 January 1913. Archived from the original on 11 December 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  19. ↑ "Important transfer". Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser. British Newspaper Archive. 14 March 1913. Archived from the original on 11 December 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  20. ↑ Mortimer, Gavin (2012). A History of Football in 100 Objects. Profile Books. ISBN 978-1-84765-905-7. Archived from the original on 18 October 2020. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  21. ↑ Where Are They Now – David Jack. 22 September 2014. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  22. ↑ Charlie Buchan (2011). Charles Buchan: A Lifetime in Football. Random House. ISBN 978-1-84596-927-1. Archived from the original on 18 October 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  23. ↑ Ferguson, Ed (13 December 2016). "When Falkirk broke the world transfer record". Archived from the original on 2 October 2017. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  24. ↑ "Warney Cresswell". England Football Online. Archived from the original on 2 October 2017. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  25. 1 2 3 4 5 Barnes, Stuart (2007). News of the World Football Annual 2007/2008. Invincible Press. ISBN 978-0-00-725555-9.
  26. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 "The History of the World Transfer Record". BBC News. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
  27. ↑ "Factbox – Evolution of world record transfer deals since 1893" Archived 28 January 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Reuters. Retrieved 2 May 2014
  28. ↑ Hughes, Rob (30 July 1996). "Newcastle United Pays Record $23 Million for Sheare". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2009.
  29. ↑ "Brazilian Denilson on Bolton trial". The Independent. 6 January 2009. Archived from the original on 25 July 2020. Retrieved 3 June 2009.
  30. ↑ Ash, Russell (2004). Top Ten of Everything 2005. Dorling Kindersley. p. 225.
  31. 1 2 3 4 "Real tipped to land Kaka for £56m". BBC Sport. 3 June 2009. Retrieved 3 June 2009.
  32. ↑ "Kaka completes Real Madrid switch". 9 June 2009. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  33. ↑ "Ronaldo agrees six-year Real deal". BBC Sport. 26 June 2009. Retrieved 26 June 2009.
  34. ↑ "Gareth Bale joins Real Madrid from Spurs in £85m world record deal". BBC Sport. 1 September 2013. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  35. ↑ "United Sign Pogba". Official Manchester United Website. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
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