Expensive transfers that worked

DVG7

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How? They've won exactly the same as they did before him, and they'd win exactly the same without him.
what the other guy said. Before the virus, anyone buying him would have undoubtedly had to pay more than what he cost which in itself is an indicator of how good he’s gotten at such a young age. He’ll likely become the best player in the clubs history if he stays long enough, which is again enough to say that his huge fee was worth it.
 

strongwalker

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Bayern broke with their transfer policy (and the bank ) in 2007 hiring Ribery and Luca Toni as well as Ze Roberto and Miro Klose. This stopped the decline from Europes elite after 1999/2001 and brought them back to the top.
 

sun_tzu

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Explain that one? Neymar has been better. Probably one of the most underrated players on this forum.
If 47 goals in 52 games in the league and 14 goals in 17 Cl games is failing I wish sanchez had failed half as much

For comparison 4 goals in 41 league games and 0 goals in 9 european games since joining us

I certainly think neymar has been the better value than sanchez!
 
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Xaviesta

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Cristiano Ronaldo to Madrid is the obvious one. Drogba to Chelsea in 2004, Alan Shearer from Southampton to Blackburn by virtue of them winning the league and Luiz Suarez to Barcelona all turned out well.
 

Sayros

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Really? The abject failure in Europe, the constant murmurings of a move back to Spain, the affair with his sister, the partying etc. I’ve read reports that say Neymar views his move to PSG as a mistake. Most of the talk surrounding Neymar is about his commitment and discipline. Totally different to what he was at Barcelona.
That's all possibly true, but my point is he's not irrelevant, and neither is PSG, it's a team that's constantly talked about good or bad, and winning a CL with PSG would be a bigger achievement for him than just adding to the collection of Barcelona or Real Madrid. The fact is, PSG is as good a team as any on paper, and the first season that Neymar is healthy for a knock out stage of the CL, PSG goes through to the next stage despite difficult circumstances in the return leg with the virus. Now, this being PSG and they are cursed in Europe, they're going to have to continue competing in the CL without their league games to warm them up, so it'd be a surprise if they get anywhere again but curses are meant to be broken at some point.

I personally wouldn't have gone to PSG if I was Neymar, but I can understand why it'd get old quickly that everything good at Barcelona is because of Messi and everything bad is because of the rest, even when it's not always the case. And that talk about his commitment and discipline is ridiculous, because he's a very professional player despite what some will say. Whether he wants to be at PSG or not, I've never doubted his commitment when he's on the field, and when he is actually playing, he's the second best offensive player in the world. The way he hunkered down and went about his business after his failed move back to Barcelona shows he's a pro. His problem has been health, as far as the off-the-field incidents, it's the same as it's always been with him but I think a lot of that is overblown.
 

Luke1995

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In terms of his quality and adaptability meeting expectations, I'd argue he was a success in a football sense. Injuries and falling foul of Fergie did tarnish his time with us, but he won 3 league titles, a European Cup, and an FA Cup, in three seasons! Some players don't win that much in their whole career.
Sure! How much was he sold for ?
 

SAFMUTD

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Explain that one? Neymar has been better. Probably one of the most underrated players on this forum.
I explained in my other post, is not just about numbers is about expectations.

Mbappe had interrogations marks when he joined PSG, some doubted if he could mainting his form or if it was just a patch, while Neymar was a consolidated talent just below Messi and Cristiano.

They didn’t bought him to win the french league, they were already doing that walking without him, they bought him to win the UCL and there PSG has been a massive failure not being able to even go through quarter finals and with Neymar getting injur every year at the same time and attending his sisters birthday party in brasil seems kind of shaddy.

As I said before, the way I meassure it is can you sell the player for the same amount you bought him? Mbappe for 180M? No doubt. Neymar for 235M? I dont think so, he isn’t even a Balon dOr contender now, that doesnt mean he still a great player but he didnt reached the heights he was supposed to.
 

RedRonaldo

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Keane 3.75m to Man Utd (british record)
L.Ronaldo 19.5m to Barca (world record)
Ferdinand 29m to Man Utd (british record)
Rooney 30m to Man Utd (british record?)
Ronaldo 80m to Madrid (world record)
Suarez 70m to Barca (top 3 to 5)
Neymar 75m to Barca (top 3 to 5)
VVD 70m to Liverpool (world record for defender)
 

SAFMUTD

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Rooney
VVD
Ronaldo (CR7)

I'd throw Bale for his accolades but I don't know if he's had continual success in his consistency to start weekly somehow I think Madrid have reserved him to the status of some type of super sub rather than an established first team member.
Bale scored crucial goals in UCL finals, I think he scored 5 goals in the finals, and also scored in the final on Copa del Rey against Barca.

if you ask a Madrid fan Im sure they’ll say the fee was worth it just because those key moments.
 

2 man midfield

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Any that show longevity and consistency repay themselves by default, simply because of how good that fee looks by the time they’re done. 30m for teenage Rooney was crazy money back in 2004, but by the time he’d left we were spending that on Morgan Schneiderlin. Ferdinand, Cristiano, Buffon, all crazy fees at the time but they were top class for over a decade.
 

poleglass red

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Bale scored crucial goals in UCL finals, I think he scored 5 goals in the finals, and also scored in the final on Copa del Rey against Barca.

if you ask a Madrid fan Im sure they’ll say the fee was worth it just because those key moments.
his goal record is just shy of 1 in every 2. That's impressive, I think this Ronaldo and Messi goal a game we are used to sometimes diminishes other players records.
 

hasanejaz88

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Javi Martinez to Bayern was a German record at the time (36 MP).

He was a real surprise signing at that time given that Luiz Gustavo was one of the better players at Bayern at the time, turned out into a world class player and a great signing.
 

SAFMUTD

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Javi Martinez to Bayern was a German record at the time (36 MP).

He was a real surprise signing at that time given that Luiz Gustavo was one of the better players at Bayern at the time, turned out into a world class player and a great signing.
World class? I dont rate Javi Martinez at all, in fact he’s stayed in Bayern but going in and out the starting XI never established as a star there.
 

hasanejaz88

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World class? I dont rate Javi Martinez at all, in fact he’s stayed in Bayern but going in and out the starting XI never established as a star there.
The 12/13 season was enough to justify the price tag, he was truly world class that season. He's been absolutely dogged by injuries since but I don't think you'l find a single Bayern fan that will say he was a waste of money or he didn't fulfill that price tag. He's been a reliable member for the team for almost a decade now and numerous managers have relied on him in the CB and DM positions, that enough should show how much he's valued there still.
 

SAFMUTD

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The 12/13 season was enough to justify the price tag, he was truly world class that season. He's been absolutely dogged by injuries since but I don't think you'l find a single Bayern fan that will say he was a waste of money or he didn't fulfill that price tag. He's been a reliable member for the team for almost a decade now and numerous managers have relied on him in the CB and DM positions, that enough should show how much he's valued there still.
Still I dont think you’ll find many fans that agree with Javi Martinez being labeled as worldclass.
 

VanKenny

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Funny how Neymar is considered a failure at PSG when he has even better numbers than he had at Barcelona both in league and CL, on top of being absolutely the best player of PSG and the focal point of the team's offense.

Not to mention than if PSG sells Neymar in the next 2 years, there is no way they are losing money on him.
 

Skills

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Aguero to City was quite expensive. £36m - only Torres and Andy Carroll were more expensive IIRC.

Turned out to be a bargain in retrospect. We paid £22m for RVP for 1 great season and 1 good season - so in comparison they got an additional 6 years of service (so far) for an extra £14m.
 

Acrobat7

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Still I dont think you’ll find many fans that agree with Javi Martinez being labeled as worldclass.
He was for two or three seasons years ago in his limited „destroyer“ role. He also gets glorified by quite a lot of Bayern supporters since he seems to be a really nice guy, it was one of the craziest transfer sagas and he was massive in Bayern winning the CL.
 

Infordin

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Looking at the most expensive ones most are failures.

top 20 transfers:

Neymar - failed
Mbappe - success
Joao Felix - not looking good
Griezmann- not looking good
Coutinho- failed
Dembele - failed
Pogba - 50/50
Hazard - not looking good
Cristiano - huge success
Bale - success
Higuain (from napoli to juve)- success
Maguire - jury still out
Lukaku - failed
VVD - Huge success
Luis Suarez - success
Nicolas Pepe - not looking good
Kepa - not looking good
Lucas Hernandez - not looking good
Zidane - success
James Rodrigues - failed


Out of the top 10 only three lived up to the expectations and out of the top 20 only 7 you can call without a doubt, gets some perspective on how risky is to spend big on players.
I agree with most of your assessments. This would be my opinion on the next batch of players after your list:

Di Maria - failed (at Utd)
De Bruyne - success
De Jong - too early to call
De Ligt - too early to call
Lemar - failed
Rodri - too early to call
Ibrahimovic - failed
Mahrez - success
Kaka - failed
Morata - failed
Laporte - success
Cancelo - not looking good
Cavani - success
Pulisic - not looking good
Di Maria - success (at PSG)
Aumabayang - success
Alisson - success
Sterling - success
Figo - success
 

Vicenterubio

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Bale scored crucial goals in UCL finals, I think he scored 5 goals in the finals, and also scored in the final on Copa del Rey against Barca.

if you ask a Madrid fan Im sure they’ll say the fee was worth it just because those key moments.
As a real Madrid fan de haré bale
 
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Funny how Neymar is considered a failure at PSG when he has even better numbers than he had at Barcelona both in league and CL, on top of being absolutely the best player of PSG and the focal point of the team's offense.

Not to mention than if PSG sells Neymar in the next 2 years, there is no way they are losing money on him.
even before CV-19, no one was buying Neymar for more than PSG paid. You have made this prediction knowing full well at CV-19. There is no way in hell that PSG get anywhere near that fee for Neymar.
 

Invictus

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Plenty of old-school expensive transfers that worked out exceedingly well:

Alfredo Di Stéfano to Real Madrid from Millonarios for 4.5 million pesetas.
Luis Suárez to Internazionale from Barcelona, the first £100,000+ transfer.
Johan Cruyff to Barcelona from Ajax, just shy of the £1 million mark.
Ruud Gullit to Milan from PSV Eindhoven for a world record £6 million.
Omar Sívori to Juventus from River Plate for a world record 10 million pesos.
Gianni Rivera to Milan from Alessandria for a club record 130 million lire.

A few that haven't been mentioned for recent decades:

Luka Modrić to Madrid from Tottenham: most expensive midfielder after Javi Martínez.
Andriy Shevchenko to Milan from Dynamo Kyiv: most expensive signing in club history.
Dani Alves to Barcelona from Sevilla: most expensive fullback and 3rd most expensive Barcelona signing.
Franck Ribéry to Bayern from Marseille: most expensive signing in club history.
Sergio Ramos to Madrid from Sevilla: most expensive Spanish defender at age 19.
 

SAFMUTD

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I agree with most of your assessments. This would be my opinion on the next batch of players after your list:

Di Maria - failed (at Utd)
De Bruyne - success
De Jong - too early to call
De Ligt - too early to call
Lemar - failed
Rodri - too early to call
Ibrahimovic - failed
Mahrez - success
Kaka - failed
Morata - failed
Laporte - success
Cancelo - not looking good
Cavani - success
Pulisic - not looking good
Di Maria - success (at PSG)
Aumabayang - success
Alisson - success
Sterling - success
Figo - success
Agree with your list, it seems the “2nd tier“ of expensive tranfers have a better success rate, of course we’re not taking the date and market prices for each transfer but still I think it gives us a funny indicator.
 

DWelbz19

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Neymar to Barcelona for 57m euros and all the orgies his dad wanted was an expensive transfer but boy did it pay off
 

VanKenny

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even before CV-19, no one was buying Neymar for more than PSG paid. You have made this prediction knowing full well at CV-19. There is no way in hell that PSG get anywhere near that fee for Neymar.

I didnt mean they would get back the same transfer fee or more than what they paid for him. However on the income from sold merchandise, publicity, performances, etc im sure it was a succesfull business for PSG.

So they made money and he performed better than he was performing at Barcelona, so how it is a failure? Saying he is a failure because he didnt win the CL is narrowing the posts A LOT. By that definition every player playing for a big club that doesnt win the CL is a failure.

"PSG signed him to win the CL!". I mean, clubs sign players with the aspirations that they will win titles with the club, i dont think any club is like "ok lets sign this guy im sure he wont impact positively in anyway whatsoever".

It just seems that with Neymar, everyone raises the bar extremely high for some reason.
 

fps

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I didnt mean they would get back the same transfer fee or more than what they paid for him. However on the income from sold merchandise, publicity, performances, etc im sure it was a succesfull business for PSG.

So they made money and he performed better than he was performing at Barcelona, so how it is a failure? Saying he is a failure because he didnt win the CL is narrowing the posts A LOT. By that definition every player playing for a big club that doesnt win the CL is a failure.

"PSG signed him to win the CL!". I mean, clubs sign players with the aspirations that they will win titles with the club, i dont think any club is like "ok lets sign this guy im sure he wont impact positively in anyway whatsoever".

It just seems that with Neymar, everyone raises the bar extremely high for some reason.
It’s because he’s playing for far and away the best side in a tinpot league so the only place he is playing against players of comparable quality is the champions league, it’s very simple. He went to PSG for the money and no trophy he can win apart from the Champions League has any value whatever in terms of his stature relative to other players.
 

Pughnichi

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Roy Keane
Andy Cole
Dwight Yorke

All bigfees at the time. All great players
 

VanKenny

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It’s because he’s playing for far and away the best side in a tinpot league so the only place he is playing against players of comparable quality is the champions league, it’s very simple. He went to PSG for the money and no trophy he can win apart from the Champions League has any value whatever in terms of his stature relative to other players.
Well i disagree, i think thats being narrow-minded. If he had a clearly better team than any other CL competitor, then i guess you could say yeah its a failure because he is the leader of the much better team yet he hasnt won the competition, but clearly there are 4 or 5 clubs with just as good or better teams than PSG, and also clubs with much more experience at winning the competition which is a huge factor that many people dont see.

If he plays great and his keeper has a horrible game on the CL which results in the elimination of PSG, is he as big of a failure? Is Cristiano failing at Juventus too?
 

njred

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Has to be VVD. Turned a team that was exciting but a bit naive into a record holding team that could go down in history as the most dominant side in the last 30 years. Easy pick
 

BigDunc9

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After Alan Ball put in a superb performances against Germany in the World Cup final Everton signed him for a British record fee of 110K. He spent 6 seasons at Everton winning the league and F.A Cup and becoming one our greatest ever players. He was then sold to Arsenal for double what we paid (220K) in another British record fee.
 

abundance

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Absolutely. This was a monster fee in 2001 and the highest fee for a goalkeeper for 16 years. Getting about 18 years (and counting) of service from arguably one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time and a football icon, was well worth the money.
It's also noteworthy that Juventus that year got Buffon, Thuram and Nedved with the cash of Zidane's sale to Real.
A rare win-win in these kind of big money twists.
 

abundance

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My pick: Maradona to Napoli.
I believe it set the world transfer record in 1984, it was 13.5 billions lira which translate to around 13 millions Euro adjusted for inflation.
 

padr81

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Looking at the most expensive ones most are failures.

top 20 transfers:

Neymar - failed
Mbappe - success

Joao Felix - not looking good
Griezmann- not looking good
Coutinho- failed
Dembele - failed
Pogba - 50/50
Hazard - not looking good
Cristiano - huge success
Bale - success
Higuain (from napoli to juve)- success
Maguire - jury still out
Lukaku - failed
VVD - Huge success
Luis Suarez - success
Nicolas Pepe - not looking good
Kepa - not looking good
Lucas Hernandez - not looking good
Zidane - success
James Rodrigues - failed


Out of the top 10 only three lived up to the expectations and out of the top 20 only 7 you can call without a doubt, gets some perspective on how risky is to spend big on players.
Not picking on your personally but I just don't get this. Neymar has been far better than Mbappe in their time together. I think people let his cnutish attitude cloud their judgement. I think Neymar has been decent for PSG and I can't stand him. His stats at PSG are better across the board than Mbappes. Granted Neymar should be the finished article but even when PSG have failed, he's rarely been the one responsible.
 

Grande

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When you break a world record with your fee, I’d say ‘he’s been pretty good’ doesn’t necessarily make it worth it.

Pogba comes to mind, Maradona for Barca, Vieri for Inter and Papin for Milan weren’t bad, but world record? Then you expect someone to transform the side somewhat. Like Maradona did for Napoli. Cruyff for Barca. Gullit for Milan. Zidane and Ronaldo for Real Madrid yes, Kaka and Bale not as much. But following the world records, it seems that you can buy success to a certain degree.

Fun question: What is the ratio of transfer world records between Manchester United and Sunderland?