The 20 Most Expensive Transfers Of All Time Ranked

Transfer prices are forever on the up but which of the world's 20 most expensive transfers of all time have been real hits and which have been real misses?

Neymar might be the most expensive transfer of all time, costing PSG €220 million, but there won't be many people out there suggesting he's one of the best transfers ever.

We've ranked the 20 most expensive transfers, from best to worst:

1. Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United to Real Madrid; €94 million - Ronaldo became Real's all time top goalscorer, won four Champions League titles and, according to Wikipedia's stats, made Los Blancos €6 million in profit when they sold him.

2. Virgil van Dijk, Southampton to Liverpool; €84.5m - The world's most expensive defender has made prices for defenders rise but he's been worth every penny for Jurgen Klopp's side.

3. Luis Suarez, Liverpool to Barcelona; €82.3m - Potentially an underrated transfer, the Uruguayan has helped get the best out of Lionel Messi and scored regularly. Time Barca properly replaced him now but very good.

4. Kylian Mbappe, Monaco to PSG; €135m - The Frenchman is the most expensive teenager of all time, has had a big impact already, overtaking Neymar in importance, and still has so much left to give. If he leaves Paris it will be for huge money.

5. Gareth Bale, Spurs to Real Madrid; €100m - Bale is a weird enigma. Done lots of brilliant things with Real, had a very good record for them, but in recent years has fallen out of favour and now spends more time sitting on the bench and on the golf course.

Bale has had good times and bad with Real. Image: PA Images

6. Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid to Juventus; €100m - A lot of money for someone coming towards the twilight of his career and hasn't yet helped the Old Lady win the Champions League but still scoring regularly for Juve and there's time yet for him to conquer Europe with a third team.

7. Gonzalo Higuain, Napoli to Juventus; €90m - The signing of Higuain helped the Italian giants strengthen themselves and weaken their closest domestic rivals. Continued to perform in his first two seasons in Turin.

8. Antoine Griezmann, Atletico Madrid to Barcelona; €120m - Griezmann probably should have move to the Camp Nou two years before but has already bedded in well in Barcelona. At 29 he's still in his peak years too.

9. Neymar, Barcelona to PSG; €222m - Neymar's done fine at PSG but you'd expect more from the world's most expensive player. Overtaken by Mbappe and no closer to breaking from Lionel Messi's shadow to win the Ballon d'Or. Could return to Barcelona in the near future.

10. Paul Pogba, Juventus to Manchester United; €105m - Don't let Graeme Souness know Pogba is so high. At his best he is still easily the Red Devils' best player and one of the best midfielders in the world.

11. Lucas Hernandez, Atletico Madrid to Bayern Munich; €80m - Injury has stalled Hernandez a little bit but his talent and youth make him an excellent signing for an ageing Bayern backline going forward.

12. Eden Hazard, Chelsea to Real Madrid; €100m - Once again injury has stopped Hazard proving how good a player he is at the Bernabeu but once he gets going he should prove that he's worth the €100 million.

13. Romelu Lukaku, Manchester United to Inter; €80m - Lukaku was far from a disaster at Old Trafford but he's slotted into Antonio Conte's plans at Inter perfectly. They'll probably fall short of Serie A success this season but at 26 he's well placed to finally end their run without the title.

Along with Ronaldo, Lukaku is one of just two men on the list twice. Image: PA Images

14. Harry Maguire, Leicester City to Manchester United; €87m - He hasn't reached the heights of Van Dijk but he has improved things in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's defence, especially in recent months. Captain at United already and rightly so.

15. Romelu Lukaku, Everton to Manchester United; €85m - 42 goals in 96 appearances for United isn't bad at all and the club didn't lose much money on him so he's certainly not amongst the worst signings.

16. Joao Felix, Benfica to Atletico Madrid; €126m - Four goals and one assists in 20 La Liga games this season isn't the form the teenager was expected to have. He's young and could still turn it around but it's not a good start to life under Diego Simeone.

17. Nicolas Pepe, Lille to Arsenal; €80m - Another still with time on his hands and adjusting to life in a new league to do but the winger has only shown glimpses of his Lille best at Arsenal and, for a club who can't spend as big as their rivals, that's a big blow.

18. Kepa, Athletic Bilbao to Chelsea; €80m - Best remembered for his refusal to be subbed in last year's League Cup final, the most expensive goalkeeper ever hasn't done dreadfully but Frank Lampard clearly has some questions about the Spaniard and could sell him.

19. Ousmane Dembele, Borussia Dortmund to Barcelona, €105m - Barca's attempt to replace Neymar has been hit by injuries but according to reports he hasn't helped himself. Missed a huge chance in last season's Champions League semi-final that surely would have put the tie to bed. Not money well spent.

20. Philippe Coutinho, Liverpool to Barcelona; €120m - Barcelona chased and chased and chased to sign Coutinho and finally got their man. Had pretty much wrapped up the league by the time he arrived and couldn't play in the Champions League. Things have only got worse from there and the club are desperate to sell, with no obvious buyers.

How would your list look? Let us know in the comments.

Topics: Liverpool, Football News, Manchester United, World Football, Barcelona, Transfer stories, Virgil Van Dijk, Juventus, Transfer news, Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid, Transfer reports

Ryan Sidle

Ryan is a writer for SPORTbible. He covers all sport from football, formula one, cricket, rugby, tennis, athletics, mma and wrestling. He obviously hates YOUR football team and has no interest in synchronised swimming.

@Sidler28