The most expensive teenagers of all time revealed

Manchester United and Real Madrid lead the way in the most money spent on expensive teenagers, but neither have spent the most on one player.

Whether you're a real football manager or one who travels over 1000 miles to watch an Italian third division team play just because of a video game, there's nothing better than developing a young player.

It would be nice if they all came through the youth academy, but very few teams have the luck of having a generation like the Class of 92, at Manchester United, or the steady stream of talent created by La Masia for Barcelona.

For most young players, there's usually a transfer along the way, whether it's before they've made a name for themselves or just after.

Everyone is always looking for the next wonderkid and, of course, sometimes you have to pay a lot of money for them to join your club.

United certainly had that when they signed Wayne Rooney, although the forward had already shown how good he could be in his two years at Everton.

According to a recent poll, the former England forward is the Premier League's second best player of all time, meaning his transfer fee as a teenager was worth it.

Despite the €37 million that Sir Alex Ferguson spent for 'Wazza,' it's only the third most spent by the club on a player under the age of 20, and 10th most in football history, according to Football Transfers.

10. Wayne Rooney (Everton to Man Utd, €37m, 2004)

9. Luke Shaw (Southampton to Man Utd, €37.5m, 2014)

8. Fabio Silva (Porto to Wolves, €40m, 2020)

7. Vinicius Junior (Flamengo to Real Madrid, €45m, 2018)

6. Rodrygo (Santos to Real Madrid, €45m, 2019)

5. Anthony Martial (Monaco to Man Utd, €60m, 2015)

4. Endrick (Palmeiras to Real Madrid, €72m, 2024)

3. Matthijs de Ligt (Ajax to Juventus, €85m, 2019)

2. Joao Felix (Benfica to Atletico Madrid, €126m, 2019)

1. Kylian Mbappe (Monaco to PSG, €180m, 2017)

Mbappe is the most expensive teenager ever. Image: Alamy

It's no surprise that Mbappe is the most expensive ever teenager, and the difference between how much PSG paid for him and how much everyone else cost is ridiculous.

However, with a World Cup winners medal, a World Cup runners-up medal and a World Cup Golden Boot all to his name just after he turned 24, it makes a lot of sense.

The Frenchman's future at PSG is being questioned at the moment, especially after his latest statement against the club's actions.

He only signed a new contract last season but it will expire in 2024, meaning he could leave for free in just over a year, a €180 million deficit on what the club paid for him as a teenager...

Topics: Football, Transfers, Wayne Rooney, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Vinicius Jr, Kylian Mbappe, Joao Felix

Ryan Sidle

Ryan is a journalist for SPORTbible with over eight years of experience. Passionate about all sports, he mainly covers football and F1 - Daniel Ricciardo once spent an entire interview referring to him as 'Ryan Gosling,' still his proudest moment.

@Sidler28