Ask anyone to name a top footballing country and it won’t take long for them to start talking about Brazil.
Through the generations, Pele, Roberto Carlos, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho have all added to the reputation of the Brazilian game, and it’s a reputation clubs are still paying by the bucketload for today.
But who is the most expensive Brazilian player of all time? Keep reading to find out…
Topping the list is, of course, Neymar, who also happens to be the most expensive player of all time.
His £200million switch from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain in 2017 – with the bright-eyed, bushy-tailed French club going all-in on winning the Champions League – may never be bettered. But, then again, history says it probably will.
The Parisians never did lift Old Big Ears, and Neymar left for £77.6million six years later. Ah well, worth a go!
Who held the all-time record transfer fee before Neymar?
Earlier that same year, just months before Neymar’s impossibly expensive move, the record transfer for a Brazilian switching clubs had been set by Oscar.
He moved to Shanghai SIPG in January 2017 for £60million, back when the Chinese Super League was providing a similar service to European clubs as Saudi Arabia does today.
That only marginally beat Kaka’s switch to Real Madrid in 2009 — that the £56million move is still being mentioned in these conversations today says a lot about the cash Los Blancos were, and still are, splashing.
But nobody will likely ever touch the fees accumulated by Neymar over the years, with his £200million PSG move, his most recent £77.6million switch to Al-Hilal and his first big transfer in 2013 to Barcelona, for a modest £48.6million, all add up to give the GDP of some small countries a run for their money.
| Rank | Price | Player | From | To | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | £200m | Neymar | Barcelona | PSG | 2017 |
| 2 | £105m | Philippe Coutinho | Liverpool | Barcelona | 2018 |
| 3 | £82m | Antony | Ajax | Manchester United | 2022 |
| 4 | £77.6m | Neymar | PSG | Al-Hilal | 2023 |
| 5 | £66m | Arthur | Barcelona | Juventus | 2020 |
| 6 | £62.2m | Alisson | Roma | Liverpool | 2018 |
| 7 | £60m | Casemiro | Real Madrid | Manchester United | 2022 |
| 8 | £60m | Oscar | Chelsea | Shanghai SIPG | 2017 |
| 9 | £56m | Kaka | AC Milan | Real Madrid | 2009 |
| 10 | £52m | Malcolm | Zenit St Petersburg | Al-Hilal | 2023 |
