Compared to the lion that was the summer of 2009, when we saw Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic move to pastures anew for a combined fee of more than £200m, it would seem appropriate to consider the 2010 summer transfer season, and for that matter, most others, a veritable lamb, unless you’re Manchester City.
However, even with the financial constraints, self-imposed or otherwise, that kept many of the usual suspects from spending above and beyond, summer 2010 was far from bereft of big-name and big-money moves and high drama.
In the end though, there wasn’t much of a shakeup in the list of the top 10 most expensive transfers ever. The lone name that was added to the list was David Villa, who moved from Valencia to Barcelona for £34.2m, which gives Barca their second entrant in the rankings. One can only hope that Villa doesn’t meet the same fate as their other entrant, but only time will tell.
Below is the updated list.
Top 10 Overall Transfers
- 1. Cristiano Ronaldo: Manchester United to Real Madrid – £80m in 2009 (€94m)
- 2. Zinedine Zidane: Juventus to Real Madrid – £64m in 2001 (€75m)
- 3. Zlatan Ibrahimovic: Inter Milan to Barcelona – £59m in 2009 (€69m)
- 4. Kaka: AC Milan to Real Madrid – £58m in 2009 (€68m)
- 5. Luis Figo: Barcelona to Real Madrid – £53m in 2000 (€61.5m)
- 6. Hulk: FC porto to Zenit St. Petersburg – £52m in 2012 (€60m)
- 7. Radamel Falcao: Atletico Madrid to AS Monaco – £51m in 2013 (€60m) NEW!
- 8. Fernando Torres: Liverpool to Chelsea – £50m in 2011 (€58m)
- 8. Neymar: Santos to Barcelona – £48.6m in 2013 (€57m) NEW!
- 10. Hernan Crespo: Parma to Lazio – £43m in 2000 (€51.2m)
Bumped from the top 10:Radamel Falcao: FC Porto to Atletico Madrid – £40.7m in 2011 (€47m), James Rodriguez: FC Porto to AS Monaco – £38.5m in 2013 (€45m), Gaizka Mendieta: Valencia to Lazio – £38.3m in 2001 (€45m), Christian Vieri: Lazio to Inter Milan – £38m in 1999 (€45m), Gianluigi Buffon: Parma to Juventus – £38m in 2001 (€45m), Ronaldo: Inter Milan to Real Madrid – £38m in 2002 (€45m), Sergio Aguero: Atletico Madrid to Manchester City – £38m in 2011 (€45m).
Top 10 Premier League Transfers
- 1. Fernando Torres: Liverpool to Chelsea – £50m (2011)
- t2. Sergio Aguero: Atletico Madrid to Manchester City – £38m (2011)
- t2. Andy Carroll: Newcastle United to Liverpool – £35m (2011)
- 4. Robinho: Real Madrid to Manchester City – £32.5m (2008)
- 5. Andriy Shevchenko: AC Milan to Chelsea – £30.8m (2006)
- 6. Dimitar Berbatov: Tottenham to Manchester United – £30.75m (2008)
- 7. Rio Ferdinand: Leeds to Manchester United – £29.1m (2002)
- 8. Juan Sebastian Veron: Lazio to Manchester United – £28.1m (2001)
- 9. Edin Dzeko: Wolfsburg to Manchester City – £27m (2011)
- 10. Wayne Rooney: Everton to Manchester United – £25.6m (2004)
Missed the Cut: Samir Nasri: Arsenal to Manchester City – £25m (2011), Juan Mata: Valencia to Chelsea – £23.5m (2011)
Bumped from the top 10:10. Didier Drogba: Marseille to Chelsea – £24m (2004), Michael Essien: Lyon to Chelsea – £24.43m (2005), James Milner: Aston Villa to Manchester City – £24m (2010), David Silva: Valencia to Manchester City – £24m (2010), Yaya Toure: Barcelona to Manchester City – £24m (2010), Darren Bent: Sunderland to Aston Villa – £24m (2011)
This page was last updated on 6 September 2011.
Also see: Football transfer records and our football transfer lists.
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