The sport of football is often criticised for just how much is pumped into the game every year, but without the money we wouldn’t see some of the biggest players making big moves to huge clubs. These transfers are what every football fan looks forward to when the transfer window, as long as their club keeps hold of their best players!  

The world’s best players have been transferred from club to club for massive sums of money while some of the other greats have never been interested in a change of clubs, like Messi, Scholes and Maldini to new a few. Other players have made their name in several different countries after playing for multiple teams throughout their career. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, after conquering most of the world’s major leagues, he’s now showing that he can conquer the Premier League at the great age of 35! Here are the 10 footballers that have fetched the most amount of money for their clubs as they’ve moved. 

10. Kaka - £56 million (AC Milan to Real Madrid, 2009) 

Real Madrid are a team that feature a few times in this list and their signing of Brazilian legend, Kaka, starts the list off. However, his spell in Spain’s capital didn’t go to plan as he only made 85 appearances for Los Meringues during his 4-year spell. Since then he has had stints back in Italy, as well as in USA and Brazil, which shows his big-money move was the last big impact he had on world football. A great shame for a player with so much quality at a young age. 

9. Angel Di Maria - £59.7 million (Real Madrid to Manchester United, 2014) 

Another player on this list who had a big move that didn’t quite work out. At the time, the transfer broke the English transfer record but his time at Old Trafford last only one season. He scored 3 goals for the Red Devils in 27 games, although one of which was a delightful chipped goal against Leicester City which turned out to be a contender for the Goal of the Season award. He has rekindled his form at his new club, Paris Saint-Germain. 

8. Zlatan Ibrahimovic - £60 million (Inter Milan to Barcelona,2009) 

The combined fees payed for Ibra over the course of his career make him the most expensive footballer of all-time but as the figures are spread out, he find himself 8th on this list. The Swedish striker made the switch from Italy to Spain with £40 million plus Samuel Eto’o going the other way. While he won La Liga during his first season, his relationship with Pep Guardiola drove him away from the Catalan giants. 

7. James Rodriguez - £63 million (AS Monaco to Real Madrid, 2014) 

After an incredible 2014 World Cup with Columbia, James Rodriguez swapped Ligue 1 for La Liga as he signed a deal with Real Madrid. While his chances have been quite limited since signing, he is the first player on this list to still be at the club he signed for. With Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, among others, in the Real Madrid side, James has had to wait for his chance and has only made 66 appearances, scoring 21 goals and many Los Blancos fans feel he should play more. 

6. Neymar - £71.5 million (Santos to Barcelona, 2013) 

At only the age of 21, Neymar was one of the most in-demand players in world football and he eventually chose to sign for Barcelona as several of Europe’s giants came in for the Brazilian youngster. He has since formed a formidable front-line alongside Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, which is known as ‘MSN’. Not only has the 25-year-old scored 50 goals for Brazil, he has also scored 61 goals for Barcelona in 113 games, a fantastic record for a player who spends a lot of his time on the wing. 

5. Luis Suarez - £75 million (Liverpool to Barcelona, 2014) 

After becoming a cult hero during his time at Liverpool, Luis Suarez swapped gloomy Merseyside for sunny Barcelona in a transfer deal that caused quite a lot of commotion. He missed the first 4 months of his Barca career after biting Giorgio Chiellini at the 2014 World Cup but he started back with a bang and has since scored 74 in 84 Barcelona games, a record that certainly makes him a great shout for the greatest finisher in thw world right now. 

4. Gonzalo Higuain - £75.3 million (Napoli to Juventus,2016) 

When talking about the best finishers in the world, Gonzalo Higuain is certainly a player that pops straight into the mind of many footbakk fans. This is the reason why Juventus broke the bank to prize him away from Italian rivals, Napoli. The Argentine was heavily criticised for looking overweight after signing but has openly silenced his critics after showing that he can still score a shedload of goals. He has scored 19 in 26 for his new club so far. 

3. Cristiano Ronaldo - £83.7 million (Manchester United to Real Madrid, 2009) 

When the tricky Portuguese winger made the move to Spain, the fee broke the transfer record that has stood for almost 10 years, held by Zinedine Zidane, who now manages Ronaldo at Real Madrid. This was a deal that everyone knew was going to happen and with such a large sum of money on the table, it was hard to turn down and he has certainly paid back the fee. He has scored 276 goals in just 255 games as well as winning two Champions League trophies and a La Liga title, a modern day legend of the game. 

2. Gareth Bale - £85.5 million (Tottenham Hotspur to Real Madrid, 2013) 

It’s no surprise to see Real Madrid spending a huge amount on a red-hot Premier League player and they once again broke the world transfer record with the signing of the Welshman. His move didn’t get off to the best start and he came under a lot of pressure from the Real Madrid fans but he has since made the number 11 his own and has shown some brilliance. He has managed 54 goals in 95 games for his new side, a great total for a winger. 

1. Paul Pogba - £89 million (Juventus to Manchester United, 2016) 

It was the transfer saga of the summer and a fee that has been massively doubted for a player that hasn’t really shown consistent signs of being world class, especially because he’s a product of Manchester United’s youth academy. It’s definitely a signing that’s been made with the future in mind as the French international is only 23 and for such a young age, he will probably go on to be one of the world’s best, if not the best. In his first season for the Red Devils he has registered 4 goals and has shown glimpses that have looked like he was worth the money and the risk. Certainly one for the future. 

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