Spanish clubs are responsible for of the biggest transfer fees in history.
Barcelona paid £140million for Philippe Coutinho back in 2018, while Atletico Madrid parted with over £100million for Joao Felix a year later. Then you’ve got Real Madrid, responsible for breaking the world record on multiple occasions back in the Galaticos era.
But what about the Spanish players themselves? Even some of their recent greats have not moved for the biggest money. Keep that in mind when scrolling, as a couple of surprise names pop-up.
Who is the most expensive Spanish player of all-time?
It’s perhaps a surprise to see this name at number one, but the most expensive transfer fee for a Spanish player is the £71.6million (€80million) Chelsea paid Athletic Bilbao for Kepa Arrizabalaga in 2018.
It was at the time – and still is to this day – also a world record fee for a goalkeeper. It’s safe to say it hasn’t really worked out at Stamford Bridge for the Spaniard, who is still best remembered for refusing to be substituted in the 2019 League Cup final defeat to Manchester City.
Tellingly, Kepa who is currently on loan at Bournemouth, was not named in FourFourTwo’s top 10 goalkeepers ranking earlier this year, let alone Spain’s Euros squad. Then again, goalies normally peak in their early thirties, so maybe Kepa will eventually become the best in the world after all.
Who held the all-time record transfer fee for a Spanish player before Kepa?
A year before Kepa headed from Spain to west London, another player made a similar move to become the most expensive Spanish player of all-time.
Alvaro Morata signed for Chelsea from Real Madrid in July 2017, for just over £60million, smashing the then record fee. Morata would only last a season-and-a-half before returning to La Liga on loan with Atletico Madrid, but did contribute 16 Premier League goals before departing.
When combining his transfer fees from each move together, Morata has moved more money than any other Spanish player.
The Premier League is actually responsible for the vast majority of players in the top ten. Recent Ballon d’Or winner Rodri is one of the pricier Spanish players in history.
He was worth £63million back in 2019 when first joining City from Atletico, although that proved to be a bargain. Just imagine how much he’d go for in today’s market?
The full list of the top 10 most expensive Spanish players of all-time
| Rank | Price | Player | From | To | Year |
| 1 | £71.6m | Kepa | Atletico Madrid | Chelsea | 2018 |
| 2 | £63m | Alvaro Morata | Real Madrid | Chelsea | 2017 |
| 3 | £62m | Rodri | Atletico Madrid | Manchester City | 2019 |
| 4 | £60m (+2m in add-ons) | Marc Cucurella | Brighton | Chelsea | 2022 |
| 5 | £58m | Alvaro Morata | Chelsea | Atletico Madrid | 2019 |
| 6 | £57m | Aymeric Laporte | Athletic Bilbao | Manchester City | 2018 |
| 7 | £50m | Diego Costa | Chelsea | Atletico Madrid | 2017 |
| 8 | £50m | Fernando Torres | Liverpool | Chelsea | 2011 |
| 9 | £46.3m | Ferran Torres | Manchester City | Barcelona | 2021 |
| 10 | £39m | Gaizka Mendieta | Valencia | Lazio | 2001 |
| Row 11 – Cell 0 | Row 11 – Cell 1 | Row 11 – Cell 2 | Row 11 – Cell 3 | Row 11 – Cell 4 | Row 11 – Cell 5 |