The five most expensive transfers of all time: who is responsible for them and how did they work out?

Every year the football world moves on, transfer sums continue to skyrocket. Which five footballers in history have been the most expensive and how did these transfers work out?

When Cristiano Ronaldo transferred to Real Madrid for 100 million euros in 2009, it was a huge furore. A lot of people doubted that such an amount for a single player was adequate. But Ronaldo won everything he could in 9 years, topped almost all club statistics and even left for 117 million euros in 2018. Perfect business.

It’s just that not all transfers have been successful. Let’s take a look at five of the very most expensive transfers and assess whether they paid off.

5. João Félix – Atlético Madrid – €127 million

In terms of money, economically it wasn’t a loss, as Atlético cashed in €120 million from Barcelona for Antoine Griezmann, so they just sent the whole amount to Benfica Lisbon.

But in terms of on-field contribution, it is very difficult to judge whether the transfer of Félix was a good move. He is not at all suited to the Atlético Madrid style that Diego Simeone wants to play. He’s definitely not a defensive worker who relies only on breakaways. The 22-year-old striker is a typical Portuguese playmaker who is great with the ball and would fit perfectly in a team that keeps the ball for most of the game.

His engagement can certainly not be considered a flop, but it is no glory either. In his first season he had 34 games, 9 goals, 3 assists, but the performances were not great. Last season in the autumn he finally got going and dragged Atlético to the title. However, in the spring his performances dropped again and he even dropped out of the lineup a few times. He ended the season with a record of 42 games, 10 goals and 5 assists.

But this season he is just a substitute. In La Liga, he started 11 games, seven times only from the bench. He scored two goals and assisted one. However, when he has come on, he has livened up the game every time, so no one really understands why he doesn’t come on regularly.

Transfer rating – rather unsuccessful

4. Ousmane Dembélé – Barcelona – 135 million euros

Every time Barcelona slap themselves in the pocket and pay over €100 million for a player, it turns out badly. This is no different with Ousmane Dembélé. The French winger has demanded attention with his performances at Dortmund, he has bullied his way into a transfer to Catalonia, he even refused to attend training sessions at Borussia until the management let him go to Barcelona.

But throughout his time in Spain, injuries have accompanied him. He spends more time in the sick bay than on the pitch, which is also why he hasn’t been able to reach his full potential. He had the potential to make it big. Extreme speed, great right and left foot, perfect dribbling.

In his first season he played only 17 games in the league, in the next one 29. In 2019/20 he played only 5 games, last year he played 30 games, scored 6 goals and assisted 3. So far this year, he has started 5 games out of 18 rounds.

There is also a big problem in Catalonia with Dembélé’s lifestyle, the player was regularly eating in fast food restaurants and playing video games late into the night with his friends at the beginning of the engagement. His morale is also not at a high level, in the Blaugranas cab his name is most often on the list of fines. Dembélé arrived late for his first training session under Xavi.

Moreover, his contract expires in the summer and he will become a free agent. He is not going to sign a new contract yet, so Barcelona could lose their 135million investment completely for free.

Transfer rating – a failure

3. Philippe Coutinho – Barcelona – €135 million

Probably the biggest blunder in Barcelona’s history. Coutinho came to Barcelona from Liverpool as one of the best players in the Premier League, only he never lit up the Camp Nou with his artistry.

He still had a fairly decent first half of the year after his arrival, scoring 8 goals and adding 5 assists in 18 league games. But from the next season onwards, his performances started to drop a lot. Regardless of the numbers, the play he showed remained well below expectations, a lot more was expected from the Brazilian chic in Catalonia. In 34 league games he scored 5 goals and added 2 assists.

So Barcelona sent him out on loan to Bayern Munich, only it didn’t know what a mistake it had made. In the quarter-finals of the Champions League they faced the Munich giant and Coutinho’s two goals crowned Barcelona’s 2:8 drubbing.

After his return to Barcelona, Ronald Koeman wanted to give him another chance, but frequent injuries did not let Coutinho on the pitch. When he recovered in the spring, the management didn’t let him back into the game, because in case of further starts they would have to pay a bonus to Liverpool. Thus, Coutinho only started 12 league games and scored 2 goals, and made two appearances in the Champions League.

This season, he has also started 12 league games, but Barcelona are trying to find a way to get rid of Coutinho. The 29-year-old midfielder has a huge salary that is a burden on the club’s coffers and the performances certainly don’t match it. The problem, however, is that not many suitors are interested in Coutinho.

Transfer rating – not successful

2. Kylian Mbappé – PSG – 145 million euros

Money well spent. 145 million for a then 18-year-old super talent that all of Europe wanted might have seemed a lot, but Mbappé paid it back with his performances and goals. Just look at his stats.

2017/18 – 44 games – 21 goals – 12 assists
2018/19 – 43 games – 39 goals – 13 assists
2019/20 – 37 games – 30 goals – 14 assists
2020/21 – 47 games – 42 goals – 11 assists
*2021/22 – 24 games – 15 goals – 12 assists

Although PSG brought in Messi ahead of this season, restoring the working duo of Neymar – Mbappé, both ex-Barcelona stars are overshadowed by Mbappé. The latter is not only the team’s top scorer but also has the most assists, making him PSG’s most productive player.

He helped PSG reach the Champions League final the year before last and the semi-finals last year. However, you can’t blame the failure on him, he was the team’s most productive player and top scorer in both seasons. He couldn’t have done more.

However, the fact that PSG let Mbappé go for free casts a bad light on the whole transfer. Real Madrid offered 200 million euros in the summer, the 23-year-old Frenchman wanted to leave for Spain very much, but the management did not opt to sell. And because Mbappe’s contract expires at the end of the season, he will leave completely for free. However, given that the wealthy Qatari owners don’t care about money, it’s not such a big deal.

Transfer rating – successful

1. Neymar – PSG – 222 million euros

Although Neymar also came to PSG like Mbappé and scored a lot of goals, but his transfer cannot be evaluated positively anyway and for several reasons.

The first one is the huge amount of money. 222 million euros is a truly staggering price for which Neymar was expected to get more than just a league title. It was with that goal in mind that he came to Paris to finally win the Champions League for PSG. However, he has missed the eight-finals several times due to injury and it is likely that he will not be ready for the eight-final against Real Madrid this year either.

On the other hand, the transfer can definitely not be described as a failure. He scored 90 goals and added 48 assists in five seasons at PSG. The failure in the Champions League cannot be blamed on him alone, PSG often suffered from a weaker defence or midfield.

In addition, one must also look at the marketing side of things. Neymar has attracted a lot of fans to the Parisians, plus he has helped put them among the regular contenders to win the Champions League and raise PSG’s prestige in general.

Evaluation of the transfer – rather successful

Source: Transfermarkt, Livesport