The Record Breaking Football Transfer Fees From 1893 Until Now

Let's take a look at all the football transfers that broke the payment barrier from 1893 until the present day.

The figures are in British Pounds and are not adjusted for inflation.

1893: £100 Willie Groves (West Brom to Aston Villa)
1904: £700 Andy McCombie (Sunderland to Newcastle)
1905: £1,000 Alf Commons (Sunderland to Middlesbrough)
1913: £1,300 George Lillycrop (Barnsnley to Bolton)
1913: £2,000 George Utley (Barnsley to Sheff Utd)
1914: £2,500 Percy Dawson (Hearts to Blacburn)
1922: £5,000 Syd Puddefoot (West Ham to Falkirk)
1922: £5,500 Warney Cresswell (Sth Shields to Sunderland)
1925: £6,500 Bob Kelly (Burnley to Sunderland)
1928: £10,890 David Jack (Bolton to Arsenal)
1932: £23,000 Bernabe erreyra (Tigre to River Plate)
1949: £24,000 Johnny Morris (Man Utd to Derby)
1949: £26,500 Eddie Quigley (Sheff Wed to Preston)
1950: £30,000 Trevor Ford (Aston Villa to Sunderland)
1951: £34,500 Jackie Sewell (Notts County to Sheff Wed)
1952: £52,000 Hans Jeppson (Atalanta to Napoli)
1954: £72,000 Juan Schiaffino (Penarol to Milan)
1957: £93,000 Enrique Omar Sivori (R Plate to Juventus)
1961: £152,000 Luis Suarez (Barcelona to Inter)
1963: £250,000 Angelo Sormani (Mantova to Roma)
1967: £300,000 Harald Nielsen (Bologna to Inter)
1968: £500,000 Pietro Anastasi (Varese to Juventus)
1973: £922,000 Johan Cruyff (Ajax to Barcelona)
1975: £1.2m Giuseppe Savoldi (Bologna to Napoli)
1976: £1.75m Paolo Rossi (Vicenza to Juventus)
1982: £3m Diego Maradona (Boca Jnrs to Barcelona)
1984: £5m Diego Maradona (Barcelona to Napoli)
1987: £6m Ruud Gullit (PSV to Milan)
1990: £8m Roberto Baggio (Fiorentina to Juventus)
1992: £12m Gianluca Vialli (Sampdoria to Juventus)
1993: £13m Gianluigi Lentini (Torino to Milan)
1996: £15m Alan Shearer (Blackburn to Newcastle)
1997: £19.5m Ronaldo (Barcelona to Inter)
1998: £21.5m Denilson (Sao Paulo to Real Betis)
1999: £32.m Christian Vieri (Lazio to Inter)
2000: £35.5m Hernan Crespo (Parma to Lazio)
2001: £53m Zinedine Zidane (Juventus to Real Madrid)
2009: £56m Kaka (Milan to Real Madrid)
2009: £80m Cristiano Ronaldo (Man Utd to Real Madrid)
2013: £80m Gareth Bale (Tottenham to Real Madrid)


What stands out on this list is just how fast the numbers are rising. The business of football is growing at an astonishing pace.

Diego Maradona is the only player who broke the football transfer barrier twice, first on his move from Boca Juniors to Barcelona in 1982 and then again, two years later, when he moved from Barcelona to Napoli.

Since the second world war, Zinedine Zidane's transfer from Juventus to Real Madrid was a record one for the longest period of time - from 2001 until 2009.

The transfer record, held by Cristiano Ronaldo, was the highest for four years running.

Real Madrid, the richest football club in the world, were on the buying side of the last four record breaking transfers.

For the top 10 football transfers of all times (inflation adjusted) please please click here.


Source: Daily Mail (Print Edition)