Football transfers: Who are the most expensive players ever in the Premier League and Europe?

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England team-mates Jack Grealish and Declan Rice are the most expensive British players of all time

Premier League clubs have been splashing the cash again this summer with Moises Caicedo, Declan Rice and Josko Gvardiol among the players to have moved for big money.

It is not just English teams either - with England duo Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham moving to foreign clubs for huge sums too.

As transfer records fall, BBC Sport has looked at some of the most expensive players ever by position, league and nationality.

For clarity's sake, we are using initial fees, excluding add-ons where possible.

Goalkeepers

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Kepa Arrizabalaga has just left Chelsea for Real Madrid on loan

Most of the priciest goalkeepers have gone to Premier League teams, led by Chelsea's £71m outlay on Athletic Bilbao's Kepa Arrizabalaga in 2018.

Alisson's £66.8m move to Liverpool from Roma the same summer ranks second, followed by Manchester United's signing of Inter Milan's Andre Onana this summer for £43.8m.

Next is Manchester City's 2017 signing of Benfica's Ederson for £35m.

The Ederson move ended Gianluigi Buffon's 16-year reign as the world's most expensive keeper - following his £32.6m move in 2001 from Parma to Juventus.

Thibaut Courtois' switch from Chelsea to Real Madrid was reportedly in a deal worth about £35m - but some of that may have been add-ons.

Defenders

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Harry Maguire cost Manchester United £80m - but could be set to join West Ham for £30m

It was thought that Manchester City's deal to sign Josko Gvardiol was going to end up topping this list, but at £77m he comes in at second place.

Leicester's £80m sale of Harry Maguire to Manchester United in 2019 remains the world record.

Virgil van Dijk's £75m move from Southampton to Liverpool now sits third, with Wesley Fofana's £70m journey from the King Power to Chelsea not far behind.

Bayern Munich's signings of Lucas Hernandez from Atletico Madrid (£68m in 2019) and Matthijs de Ligt from Juventus (£65.6m in 2022) are next.

Midfielders

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Chelsea paid £107m for Enzo Fernandez, seven months after he was available for an initial £8.8m (when Benfica signed him from River Plate)

The most expensive midfielders list has changed drastically in recent months.

Enzo Fernandez became the most expensive midfielder ever with his £107m move from Benfica to Chelsea on 1 February.

In second place is Philippe Coutinho who cost Barcelona £105m when they signed him from Liverpool in 2018.

And then there is a three-way tie on £100m - with two happening this summer.

Moises Caicedo's move from Brighton to Chelsea may rise to £115m, but the initial fee is £100m. Declan Rice moved from West Ham to Arsenal for the same up-front price, rising to £105m.

Jack Grealish cost Manchester City a flat £100m from Aston Villa in 2021.

This means Paul Pogba's move from Juventus to Manchester United (£89m) in 2016 is no longer in the top five.

Also just outside below that is Jude Bellingham's move this summer from Borussia Dortmund to Real Madrid for a initial £88.5m.

Forwards

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Paris St-Germain pair Neymar and Kylian Mbappe remain the two most expensive footballers ever

The most expensive two deals both involved Paris St-Germain in the same summer. PSG spent £200m on Barcelona's Neymar in 2017 and soon after signed Monaco's Kylian Mbappe, initially on loan, in what became a £165.7m deal.

Atletico Madrid's £113m move for Benfica forward Joao Felix in 2019 is third in all positions, when you exclude potential add-ons for Coutinho and Barcelona's Ousmane Dembele.

Next among forwards is the £107m Barcelona paid Atletico for Antoine Griezmann, also in 2019, and then Romelu Lukaku's £97.5m move from Inter Milan to Chelsea in 2021.

Belgium's Lukaku holds a record of his own with total career transfer fees of £294.5m, having joined Chelsea twice, Everton, Manchester United and Inter.

Neymar could break that if his £77.6m Al-Hilal move goes through - that would take his total to £326.2m.

La Liga

Spanish clubs have made three of the top 10 most expensive signings of all time, although perhaps surprisingly none involved Real Madrid.

Atletico's move for Felix is number one in Spain, with Barcelona's deals for Griezmann and Coutinho also featuring.

Just outside the all-time global top 10 is Dembele, who joined Barcelona for an initial £97m from Borussia Dortmund in 2017.

Real's biggest signing remains the initial £89m they paid Chelsea for Eden Hazard in 2019. That fee reportedly could have reached £150m, but it is unlikely many of the add-on criteria were met before he left the club this summer.

Ligue 1

PSG have the top two most expensive signings ever - with Neymar and Mbappe - and then nobody else in the top 50.

Edinson Cavani is next with his 2013 move from Napoli to PSG for £55m.

Monaco, who paid a reported £50m for Atletico Madrid's Radamel Falcao in 2013, are the only other French team to ever spend more than £30m on a player.

Premier League

Chelsea's £107m addition of Fernandez remains the British transfer record.

Caicedo to Chelsea, Rice to Arsenal and Grealish to Manchester City (all for £100m) follow.

Chelsea also rank high up with their £97.5m signing of Lukaku, with Manchester United's acquisitions of Pogba (£89m), Ajax winger Antony (£82m) and Maguire (£80m) next on the list.

Gvardiol (£77m) comes after that, with Lukaku appearing for the second time courtesy of his £75m move from Everton to Manchester United in 2017.

Serie A

The Italian league's record spend was on a 33-year-old, with Juventus paying £99.2m in 2018 for Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo.

Next was Juve's £75.3m signing of Napoli striker Gonzalo Higuain in 2016 and then Inter's £74m move for Lukaku from Manchester United in 2019 (which ranks as only Lukaku's third biggest move).

Juve are next, too, with Matthijs de Ligt costing £67.5m from Ajax in 2019.

Bundesliga

As would be expected, Bayern Munich are responsible for the majority of Germany's biggest signings - topped by the recent £86.4m move for Tottenham striker Harry Kane.

The record before that was Lucas Hernandez's £68m move from Atletico Madrid in 2019, followed by last year's £65.6m signing of De Ligt from Juventus.

Bayern paid an initial £44.7m for Manchester City winger Leroy Sane in 2020 which is fourth on the list. By contrast, that would not make the top 50 Premier League signings.

Other leagues

The biggest buy ever by a team outside of Europe's top five leagues was Shanghai SIPG's £60m signing of Chelsea midfielder Oscar in 2017.

That record is about to be smashed with Al-Hilal having agreed to sign Neymar from PSG for about £77.6m.

Most of the biggest signings by non-European clubs before now were made in China between 2016 and 2019.

But Saudi Arabian clubs are investing heavily this summer and Al-Hilal have spent £51.7m on Zenit St Petersburg winger Malcom and £47m for Wolves captain Ruben Neves this summer.

Most expensive British signings

Rice and Grealish jointly hold the title of being the most expensive British footballer ever.

Bellingham is third, followed by another England team-mate Kane and then Wales winger Gareth Bale, who made an £85m move from Tottenham to Real Madrid in 2013.

Maguire, the £80m man, is followed by Jadon Sancho who moved in 2021 from Borussia Dortmund to Manchester United. Mason Mount is next following his £55m move from Chelsea to United.

Kieran Tierney is the most expensive Scot ever, joining Arsenal from Celtic for £25m in 2019. Northern Ireland's priciest player remains Jamal Lewis, who made a £15m switch from Norwich to Newcastle in 2020.

How about other countries?

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Jorginho was the most expensive Italian ever - until Sandro Tonali joined Newcastle from AC Milan this summer

Eight of the record signings from the top 10 countries in Fifa's world rankings have already been mentioned so far.

Argentina's most expensive player is Fernandez, France's is Mbappe, Brazil's is Neymar, England's is a tie between Grealish and Rice and Belgium's is Lukaku.

Van Dijk leads the way for Dutch players, with Ronaldo top for Portugal and Kepa the most expensive Spaniard.

Gvardiol's move to City smashed the Croatian record, with his move far surpassing the £30m Real Madrid paid Tottenham to sign Luka Modric 11 years ago.

Sandro Tonali has become the most expensive Italian after signing for Newcastle for a reported £55m from AC Milan, beating the £50m Chelsea paid for Jorginho from Napoli in 2018.