A transfer fee is what one club pays another to sign a player who is still under contract. The player’s wages, agents’ fees and signing bonuses are separate costs. At the top of the market, fees now run well above €100mn.
This list follows Wikipedia’s table of the most expensive association football transfers. The table contained 50 rows when captured on 14 October 2026, so this is a top 50. Fees are the nominal euro amounts given in the source, without adjustment for inflation, and the same player can appear more than once.
Reported fees are estimates
Clubs do not always publish transfer fees, and outlets can report different figures for the same deal. Some fees include conditional add-ons that are paid only if targets are met. The amounts here are the figures in the source table, which may differ from what the clubs eventually paid.
A fee paid over several years
Transfer fees are often paid in instalments, and in club accounts the cost is usually spread over the length of the player’s contract. A €100mn signing on a five-year contract can therefore appear in the accounts as about €20mn a year. The headline fee is not the cost a club records in any single season.
Fees are compared at face value
The euro amounts are not adjusted for inflation or for the growth in football’s broadcasting income, and recent transfers dominate the list. A fee from 2001 and one from 2025 are compared at face value. Equal fees share a position in the source; we keep its order and number each row.
What this snapshot shows
Neymar’s 2017 move from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain leads this captured list at approximately €222m. The entry at number 50, Benjamin Šeško, is approximately €76.5m. The first ten account for 28.0% of the sum of the fifty reported fees. That share is calculated within this list; it is not a share of all transfer spending.
The first ten
Neymar
Clubs and year: Barcelona → Paris Saint-Germain, 2017
Neymar made his name at Santos and joined Barcelona in 2013, winning the 2015 Champions League. In August 2017 a payment of €222 million, equal to his release clause, was made to Barcelona, taking him to Paris Saint-Germain.
The fee more than doubled the previous world record and remains the highest ever paid. Injuries interrupted his six seasons in Paris, but he won Ligue 1 titles and reached the 2020 Champions League final. He joined Al-Hilal in 2023 and returned to Santos in 2025.
Kylian Mbappé
Clubs and year: Monaco → Paris Saint-Germain, 2017
Kylian Mbappé began his senior career at Monaco in 2015 and helped them win the 2016–17 Ligue 1 title. On 31 August 2017 Paris Saint-Germain signed him, aged 18, on loan with an obligation to buy for €180 million. Only his teammate Neymar had cost more.
He won the World Cup with France after his first season in Paris. Over seven seasons at PSG he won six Ligue 1 titles and became the club’s record scorer. He left for Real Madrid on a free transfer in 2024.
Enzo Fernández
Clubs and year: Chelsea → Manchester City, 2026
Enzo Fernández came through River Plate’s academy and won the 2022 World Cup with Argentina. Chelsea signed him from Benfica for a British-record fee in 2023. At Chelsea he scored in the 2025 Conference League final and won that year’s Club World Cup.
On 1 September 2026 he joined Manchester City for a reported £125 million. The fee equalled the British record set by Alexander Isak’s move to Liverpool a year earlier. It made Fernández the first player transferred for more than £100 million twice.
Alexander Isak
Clubs and year: Newcastle United → Liverpool, 2025
Alexander Isak began at AIK in Stockholm and played for Borussia Dortmund and Real Sociedad before joining Newcastle United in 2022. In March 2025 he scored in Newcastle’s League Cup final win over Liverpool, the club’s first domestic trophy since 1955.
That summer he told Newcastle he wanted to leave and made himself unavailable for the season opener. On 1 September 2025 Liverpool signed him for a reported £125 million, a British record. In December he fractured his fibula and needed surgery.
Morgan Rogers
Clubs and year: Aston Villa → Chelsea, 2026
Morgan Rogers came through West Bromwich Albion’s academy and moved via Manchester City and Middlesbrough to Aston Villa. Villa paid a reported £8 million in February 2024, and he was named PFA Young Player of the Year in 2025. In May 2026 he scored in Villa’s Europa League final win over Freiburg.
On 21 July 2026 Chelsea signed him for a reported £117 million, a record for an English player and the club’s most expensive signing. It overtook the £116 million Manchester City had agreed for Elliot Anderson earlier that month.
Elliot Anderson
Clubs and year: Nottingham Forest → Manchester City, 2026
Elliot Anderson joined Newcastle United’s academy aged eight and made his first-team debut in 2021. He moved to Nottingham Forest in July 2024 and, over two seasons there, broke into the England squad.
On 2 July 2026 Manchester City agreed a deal with Forest to sign him for a reported £116 million. That was a record for an English player until Morgan Rogers joined Chelsea 19 days later. Anderson signed a five-year contract with City on 23 July, after the World Cup.
João Félix
Clubs and year: Benfica → Atlético Madrid, 2019
João Félix moved from Porto’s academy to Benfica and helped them win the Portuguese league in 2018–19. On 3 July 2019, aged 19, he joined Atlético Madrid for €126 million. It was Atlético’s most expensive signing and Benfica’s biggest sale.
He won La Liga with Atlético in 2020–21 before loans at Chelsea and Barcelona. He rejoined Chelsea in 2024 and, after a loan at AC Milan, moved to Al-Nassr in 2025. There he was named Saudi Pro League Player of the Season.
Yan Diomande
Clubs and year: RB Leipzig → Real Madrid, 2026
Yan Diomande was born in Abidjan and moved to the United States at 15, joining DME Academy. RB Leipzig paid his €20 million release clause in July 2025. He scored 12 goals in his only season in Germany.
On 6 August 2026 Real Madrid signed him on a contract until 2033 without disclosing the fee. Spanish media reported €125 million plus up to €15 million in add-ons. That would make him Madrid’s record signing and the most expensive African player.
Bradley Barcola
Clubs and year: Paris Saint-Germain → Liverpool, 2026
Bradley Barcola came through Lyon’s academy and joined Paris Saint-Germain in 2023. He helped the club win its first Champions League in 2025, setting up the last goal of the 5–0 final against Inter Milan. He won the competition again in 2026.
On 31 August 2026 Liverpool signed him on a five-year contract for a reported €125 million (£106 million). Up to €20 million more could follow in add-ons. Only Alexander Isak had cost Liverpool more.
Enzo Fernández
Clubs and year: Benfica → Chelsea, 2023
Enzo Fernández came through River Plate’s academy and joined Benfica in 2022. Months later he won the World Cup with Argentina and was named the tournament’s best young player. Premier League clubs were soon linked with him.
On 31 January 2023, the final day of the transfer window, Chelsea signed him for €121 million (£106.8 million), then a British record. With Chelsea he won the Conference League and the Club World Cup in 2025, before moving to Manchester City in 2026.
The ranking continues: 11–50
Wikipedia · ranking and sources
- Reported transfer fee: €120,000,000.00
- Reported transfer fee: €118,400,000.00
- Reported transfer fee: €117,700,000.00
- Reported transfer fee: €117,500,000.00
- Reported transfer fee: €116,500,000.00
- Reported transfer fee: €116,300,000.00
- Reported transfer fee: €115,000,000.00
- Reported transfer fee: €108,100,000.00
- Reported transfer fee: €105,000,000.00
- Reported transfer fee: €105,000,000.00
- Reported transfer fee: €103,000,000.00
- Reported transfer fee: €100,000,000.00
- Reported transfer fee: €100,000,000.00
- Reported transfer fee: €100,000,000.00
- Reported transfer fee: €100,000,000.00
- Reported transfer fee: €99,300,000.00
- Reported transfer fee: €95,000,000.00
- Reported transfer fee: €95,000,000.00
- Reported transfer fee: €94,000,000.00
- Reported transfer fee: €90,000,000.00
- Reported transfer fee: €90,000,000.00
- Reported transfer fee: €90,000,000.00
- Reported transfer fee: €87,700,000.00
- Reported transfer fee: €87,500,000.00
- Reported transfer fee: €86,600,000.00
- Reported transfer fee: €85,000,000.00
- Reported transfer fee: €84,800,000.00
- Reported transfer fee: €84,400,000.00
- Reported transfer fee: €82,300,000.00
- Reported transfer fee: €80,900,000.00
- Reported transfer fee: €80,000,000.00
- Reported transfer fee: €80,000,000.00
- Reported transfer fee: €80,000,000.00
- Reported transfer fee: €80,000,000.00
- Reported transfer fee: €80,000,000.00
- Reported transfer fee: €80,000,000.00
- Reported transfer fee: €80,000,000.00
- Reported transfer fee: €77,500,000.00
- Reported transfer fee: €77,000,000.00
- Reported transfer fee: €76,500,000.00
There is always a story.
The most expensive transfers show how much clubs have been prepared to pay for a single player. They record reported fees at the time of each move, as captured on 14 October 2026; they are not valuations of the players today.