Football clubs have long been spending huge sums of money buying players. Most of the expensive transfers in football history, are to clubs under UEFA’s jurisdiction, and most of the purchasing clubs are from England, France, Italy and Spain. This article highlights the highest transfer fees ever paid for players. The first recorded record transfer was of Willie Groves from West Bromwich Albion to Aston Villa for £100 in 1893. This occurred just eight years after the introduction of professionalism by the Football Association in 1885.
Here are the top 20 most expensive transfers in football history.
| Rank | Player | Transfer (From – To) | Year | Fee |
| 1. | Neymar | Barcelona – Paris Saint-Germain | 2017 | €222 million |
| 2. | Kylian Mbappé | Monaco – Paris Saint-Germain | 2018 | €180 million |
| 3. | Philippe Coutinho | Liverpool – Barcelona | 2018 | €145 million |
| 4. | João Félix | Benfica – Atlético Madrid | 2019 | €126 million |
| 5. | Antoine Griezmann | Atlético Madrid – Barcelona | 2019 | €120 million |
| 6. | Jack Grealish | Aston Villa – Manchester City | 2021 | €117 million |
| 7. | Romelu Lukaku | Inter Milan – Chelsea | 2021 | €115 million |
| 8. | Ousmane Dembélé | Borussia Dortmund – Barcelona | 2017 | €105 million |
| 9. | Paul Pogba | Juventus – Manchester United | 2016 | €105 million |
| 10. | Eden Hazard | Chelsea – Real Madrid | 2019 | €100 million |
| 11. | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid – Juventus | 2018 | €100 million |
| 12. | Gareth Bale | Tottenham Hotspur – Real Madrid | 2013 | €100 million |
| 13. | Antony | Ajax – Manchester United | 2022 | €95 million |
| 14. | Cristiano Ronaldo | Manchester United – Real Madrid | 2009 | €94 million |
| 15. | Gonzalo Higuaín | Napoli – Juventus | 2016 | €90 million |
| 16. | Harry Maguire | Leicester City – Manchester United | 2019 | €87 million |
| 17. | Romelu Lukaku | Everton – Manchester United | 2017 | €85 million |
| 18. | Jadon Sancho | Borussia Dortmund – Manchester United | 2021 | €85 million |
| 19. | Virgil van Dijk | Southampton – Chelsea | 2018 | €84.5 million |
| 20. | Kai Havertz | Bayer Leverkusen – Chelsea | 2020 | €84 million |
