10 costliest transfers ever if all of them occurred in 2026 revealed – together with £291.6m deal

Transfer fees have become massively inflated over recent years with the money in the game playing a huge part in soaring prices. And here, the Daily Star Sport looks at the top 10 most expensive transfers of all-time, if they happened today.

Rio Ferdinand set two British transfer records in his career, first when he joined Leeds from West Ham in November 2000 in an £18million deal, but his second move to Manchester United from the Whites in July 2002 for £29m broke the record again. Following research by ValuBall, taking into account inflation and adjusted fee, that move would now be worth £174.8m

Ferdinand kicks off the top 10 and in ninth is another former England star in Stan Collymore, who moved from Nottingham Forest to Liverpool in the 1995/96 season for £8.5m. Now, that transfer would have garnered a fee of £179.3m if it happened today.

Gareth Bale broke the world record fee in 2013 when he joined Real Madrid in an £85.1m deal. However, Tottenham would have had the equivalent of £192.3m to splash on the several replacements they signed if they were to do the deal today.

Marc Overmars enjoyed three glittering years at Arsenal before making the move to Barcelona in 2000 for £25m, which equates to £196m in the current market. It’s not the biggest waste of money the Catalan giants have ever spent, despite Overmars being a shadow of the player he was at Arsenal due to injury problems, because that man comes soon.

Everyone questions how Paul Gascoigne’s career and life could have panned out if he played under Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, but when Lazio paid £5.5m for the England icon in 1992, it might be more of a question of United affording to match that fee that now stands at £196.9m in today’s market.

Philippe Coutinho’s transfer saga from Liverpool to Barcelona finally ended in January 2017 with the Camp Nou side forking out £142m, now worth £217m, on a complete flop. The Brazilian hit the ground running but the ultimate insult came when he scored a brace against Barcelona while on loan at Bayern Munich in an 8-2 win after he was cast out from the squad just 18 months after signing.

Nicolas Anelka knows his way around a transfer but his £23.5m switch from Arsenal to Real Madrid in 1999 brought a fee that matched his talent and potential. While it didn’t work for him at the Santiago Bernabeu, the fee now worth £225.5m certainly did for the Gunners.

Alan Shearer broke the world transfer record in 1996 when he joined Newcastle from Blackburn for £15m. The England legend returned home to St James’ Park in a move that would be worth £238m in today’s market.

Eden Hazard left Chelsea in 2019 to join Real Madrid in a £150m move that was supposed to see the Belgian produce his brilliant form for the biggest club in the world. However, the deal that would have been worth £245.3m today, was a disaster, and just four years later he had retired with just seven goals in 76 games.

Taking the top spot is arguably the most important transfer of all-time. Cristiano Ronaldo joined Real Madrid in 2009 in an £80m deal that would be the benchmark for future fees. While it was broken in 2013 (Bale to Real Madrid £85.1m) and 2016 (Paul Pogba to Manchester United £89m) the fees didn’t grow substantially more until Neymar’s switch to PSG in 2017 for £200m obliterated the market.

Had that deal been done today, it would have been worth the equivalent of £291.6m. Now imagine how United fans would react to signing Antonio Valencia from Wigan, an unknown Gabriel Obertan and a free transfer Michael Owen with that level of funds available today…