World Record Transfers By Year

Willie Groves became the world’s first £100 footballer in 1893 whilst Neymar became the world’s first £100m footballer in 2017. Below I have listed all those players that have broken the record since Groves moved controversially from West Bromwich Albion to Aston Villa and in doing so setting a new transfer record in the process.

1893: Willie Groves (West Bromwich Albion to Aston Villa) £100

1904: Alf Common (Sheffield United to Sunderland) £520

1904: Andy McCombie (Sunderland to Newcastle United) £700

1905: Alf Common (Sunderland to Middlesbrough) £1,000

1911: John Simpson (Falkirk to Blackburn Rovers) £1,800

1913: George Utley (Barnsley to Sheffield United) £2,000

1914: Percy Dawson (Heart of Midlothian to Blackburn Rovers) £2,500

1920: David Mercer (Hull City to Sheffield United) £4,500

1922: Syd Puddefoot (West Ham United to Falkirk) £5,000

1922: Warney Cresswell (South Shields to Sunderland) £5,500

1925: Bob Kelly (Burnley to Sunderland) £6,500

1928: David Jack (Bolton Wanderers to Arsenal) £10,890

1932: Bernabe Ferreyra (Club Atletico Tigre to River Plate) £23,000

1949: Johnny Morris (Manchester United to Derby County) £24,000

1949: Eddie Quigley (Sheffield Wednesday to Preston North End) £26,500

1950: Trevor Ford (Aston Villa to Sunderland) £30,000

1951: Jackie Sewell (Notts County to Sheffield Wednesday) £34,500

1952: Hans Jeppsson (Atalanta to Napoli) £51,000

1954: Juan Schiaffino (Penarol to Milan) £72,000

1957: Omar Sivori (River Plate to Juventus) £94,000

1963: Angelo Sormani (AC Mantova to Roma) £250,000

1968: Pietro Anastasi (AS Varese to Juventus) £500,000

1973: Johan Cruyff (Ajax to Barcelona) £920,000

1975: Giuseppe Savoldi (Bologna to Napoli) £1,200,000

1978: Paolo Rossi (Juventus to Vicenza) £1,700,000

1982: Diego Maradona (Boca Juniors to Barcelona) £3,000,000

1984: Diego Maradona (Barcelona to Napoli) £5,000,000

1987: Ruud Gullit (PSV to Milan) £6,000,000

1990: Roberto Baggio (Fiorentina to Juventus) £8,000,000

1992: Jean-Pierre Papin (Marseille to Milan) £10,000,000

1992: Gianluca Vialli (Sampdoria to Juventus) £12,500,000

1992: Gianluigi Lentini (Torino to Milan) £13,000,000

1996: Alan Shearer (Blackburn Rovers to Newcastle United) £15,000,000

1997: Ronaldo (Barcelona to Internazionale) £19,500,000

1998: Denilson (Sao Paulo to Real Betis) £21,900,000

1999: Christian Vieri (Lazio to Internazionale) £32,000,000

2000: Hernan Crespo (Parma to Lazio) £35,000,000

2000: Luis Figo (Barcelona to Real Madrid) £37,000,000

2001: Zinedine Zidane (Juventus to Real Madrid) £45,600,000

2009: Kaka (Milan to Real Madrid) £56,100,000

2009: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United to Real Madrid) £80,000,000

2013: Gareth Bale (Tottenham Hotspur to Real Madrid) £86,000,000

2016: Paul Pogba (Juventus to Manchester United) £89,000,000

2017: Neymar (Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain) £198,000,000