List of most expensive association football transfers

The first confirmed record transfer was of Willie Groves from West Bromwich Albion to Aston Villa for £100 in 1893[1] (equivalent to £14,000 in 2023).

Romelu Lukaku appears on this list three times for moves to Manchester United, Inter Milan, and Chelsea.

There are currently no players on the list from the remaining regions; North America (CONCACAF), Asia (AFC) and Oceania (OFC).

The first player to ever be transferred for a fee of over £100 was Scottish striker Willie Groves when he together with Jack Reynolds (£50) made the switch from West Bromwich Albion to Aston Villa in 1893,[2] eight years after the legalisation of professionalism in the sport.

[73][75] After Alf Common and David Jack, the third player to twice be transferred for world record fees is Diego Maradona.

[82] It took two weeks for the record to be broken when Luís Figo made a controversial £37m move from Barcelona to rivals Real Madrid.

However, both world record in euro and in pound sterling were broken by Real themselves when signing Cristiano Ronaldo for £80m (€94m) from Manchester United in the same transfer window,[73][86] Four years later Real Madrid broke the record again after completed the signing of Gareth Bale from Tottenham Hotspur in 2013.

[115][116][117] Usually described as a "compensation fee", the amount paid to the manager's current club is based around several factors including the total salary for the current length of his contract, as well as potential bonuses and sponsorship deals, and additional fees if the club also need to pay compensation to hire a new manager.