The Most Expensive Football Transfers of 2018
In his short story called “New Rose Hotel“, legendary cyberpunk writer William Gibson tells us about how mega-corporations scout for talent: they identify them at their workplaces and try to lure them to their side using influence, money, and other goodies (and try to convince them to bring at least some of the secrets of the competitor with them). One can’t help but imagine that there’s something similar going on in the world of international football transfers (with fewer trade secrets involved, of course). While one player can certainly not make or break the success of a football club (it’s called a “team” for a reason, after all), their star power, talent, and skill can contribute to the success (both professional and financial) of a club, translating into more trophies and more revenues in the long run. This is probably why some players are “sold” and “bought” by certain teams in exchange for stellar transfer fees. How big? Well, let’s take a look at the most expensive football transfers that went down in 2018.
Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the most recognizable players today – and he is generally considered to be one of the best. The 34-year-old Portuguese forward started his career at Sporting CP before spending six years playing with Manchester United, then leaving it for Real Madrid in 2009 in a transfer with a world record-breaking fee at the time (EUR 94 million or £80 million). Nine years later, he joined the Italian side, Juventus. The Italian club paid €100 million for him (£88.5 million) that’s nowhere near a world record today – it is only good for the third place in the top of the most expensive football transfers in 2018.
Philippe Coutinho
Coutinho was signed by Inter Milan in 2008 for €4 million yet he spent the first two years of his career at his original team, Vasco da Gama. Then, he left for Liverpool in 2013 for a transfer fee of £8.5 million where he flourished, becoming a high-value player and earning the nickname “The Magician”. When he left Liverpool for Barcelona last January, the transfer fee paid by the Catalan team was more than 10 times as big: €120 million (£106 million), making him the third most expensive player in football history and the second most expensive player to be transferred in 2018.
Kylian Mbappé
Mbappé’s transfer from Monaco to Paris Saint Germain broke a world record last year: with an attached fee of €180 million (£158 million), he became the most expensive teenager in the history of football (and the second most expensive player ever). The youngster (he turned 20 last December) started his senior career at the age of 16 at the Monaco B team, from where he rapidly advanced to the first team. During his brief career (so far), he stood out by becoming the youngest French player to score at a World Cup and the second teenager to do so (after Pelé), plus winning the Best Young Player Award for his performance.
His transfer was the most expensive in 2018 and the second most expensive in football history – Neymar still reigns supreme in this category.
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