Al edge of the 2013 market close, andReal Madrid broke the barrier of 100 million euros by signing Gareth Bale from Tottenham for 101 ‘kilos’. The Welsh winger was the first member of a club that has 12 members who have had more shadows than lights.
Bale, who had a final without prominence at the Bernabu, scored 106 goals, gave 67 assists, played 258 games and won 16 titles (three Leagues, five Champions, one Cup, one Spanish Super Cup, three European Super Cups and three World Cups). Clubs) in his adventure in the white club.
A remarkable performance in the global that other footballers for whom they paid more than 100 million have not given. Lukakuon loan to Inter a year after Chelsea paid the Nerazzurri 113 kilos for him, is the best example that the most expensive signings are not synonymous with success.
Neymar Junior: 222 million euros (PSG, 2017)
The Parisian team broke all limits by paying Barcelona the 222 ‘kilos’ of the ‘Ney’ clause. A historic signing that has not shone as expected due to his serious ankle injuries. His numbers (100 goals and 60 assists in 144 games) and his titles in France (11 among four Ligue 1s, three French Cups, two League Cups and two Champions Trophies) are remarkable, although he did not dazzle as he did at the Champions League. Nou didn’t even win the Champions League in Paris. PSG is looking for an outlet for him in this summer market.
Kylian Mbapp: 180 million euros (PSG, 2018)
First on loan from Monaco in 2017 and then signed permanently for 180 million in 2018, PSG won the footballer who will mark the next decade in football. His 170 goals and 88 assists in 216 games with the Parisian team have placed him at the top. Renewed until 2025 after ‘rejecting’ Real Madrid, Mbapp wants to win a Champions League that has eluded him. His 11 trophies in France (four Ligue 1s, three French Cups, two League Cups and two Champions Trophies) are not enough. He is the flag of PSG to ‘attack’ the ‘Orejona’.
Ousmane Dembl: 140 million euros (Barcelona, 2017)
Neymar’s departure to PSG forced Barcelona to look for a replacement and they found him at Borussia Dortmund. The azulgranas paid 140 ‘kilos’ for a French winger who in his only season as a ‘borussen’ scored 10 goals and gave 21 assists in 49 games. However, his landing at the Camp Nou was not what was expected. Injuries left Dembl without continuity and it wasn’t until the end of this season, with Xavi, when he performed at his best level, giving 13 assists. His 14 goals in 2018-19 and 11 in 2020-21 show the qualities of a French attacker who has not renewed with Bara and who is already free after signing 32 goals and 34 assists in 149 games, winning two Leagues, two Cups and a Spanish Super Cup.
Philippe Coutinho: 135 million euros (Barcelona, 2018)
A case similar to that of Dembl. Barcelona was made in the winter market of 2018 with the Liverpool star of Jrgen Klopp for 135 ‘kilos’. However, he never fit in at the Camp Nou. The position of ’10’ was reserved for Leo Messi and Coutinho was displaced spending a lot of time on the bench. 24 goals, 13 assists, 105 games and five trophies (two Leagues, two Cups and a Spanish Super Cup) was the balance in Barcelona of a Brazilian who was on loan at Bayern and at Aston Villa to which he was transferred this summer for 20 million. Uneven performance.
Joao Flix: 127.2 million euros (Atlético, 2019)
Atlético signed the ‘Menino de Oro’ from Benfica for 127.2 ‘kilos’ in 2019. They took one of the great emerging talents of European football who has mixed moments of brilliance at the Metropolitano (29 goals and 15 assists in 110 matches) with other moments of less prominence due to injuries and substitutions. He was key in the League won in 2021 by the rojiblancos. He is the banner of Simeone’s project in the coming years.
Antoine Griezmann: 120 million euros (Barcelona, 2019)
Bara signed the Atltico star and world champion with France in 2018 for 120 million. He did not settle down in attack alongside Messi and he barely scored 33 goals and gave 15 assists in 101 games in his two seasons at the Camp Nou in which he only won one Cup. Last season he was loaned to Simeone’s team and repeated loan in the 2022-23. He has returned to the Metropolitano, the place where he best performed.
Jack Grealish: €117.5 million (City, 2021)
Aston Villa had a diamond in the rough that the entire Premier wanted. A ’10’ that, in the end, Manchester City won for 117.5 million. Jack Grealish landed at the Etihad to be important to Guardiola. Without notable numbers (six goals and four assists in 39 games) Pep placed him on the left and false ‘9’ and he was adapting him to the football of some ‘cityzens’ in which he ended up leaving good feelings. The Premier won by City also had the seal of Grealish. He didn’t break it in his first season at Manchester… but he still has time.
Cristiano Ronaldo: 117 million euros (Juventus, 2018)
After winning three Champions Leagues in a row, Real Madrid allowed CR7 to leave the Santiago Bernabu according to his wish. Juventus, who left 117 ‘kilos’ in his signing, was his destiny. In Turn, Ronaldo continued to score goals (101 and 22 assists in 134 games). In addition, he was ‘Capocannoniere’ in 2021 and raised two ‘Scudetti’, one Coppa and two Supercoppas. However, he failed to win the Champions League and last season, after three at Turn, he returned to Manchester United for 15.
Eden Hazard: 115 million euros (Real Madrid, 2019)
Real Madrid took control of one of the best footballers in the Premier in 2019 after paying 115 million to Chelsea. A signing that excited Santiago Bernabu but whose ankle injuries have not allowed him to stand out. In three seasons, he has barely played 66 games, scoring six goals and giving 10 assists. Champion of two Leagues, a Champions League and a Spanish Super Cup, the Belgian promised the Madrid fans at the celebration of the Fourteenth in Cibeles that he would perform at his best level in 2022-23, having already overcome his physical problems. Ancelotti has it on his list.
Romelu Lukaku: €113 million (Chelsea, 2021)
The second adventure of ‘Big Rom’ at Bridge (he was between 2011 and 2014 at Chelsea playing 15 games without scoring and succeeding more on loan at Everton and West Bromwich) did not go well. The ‘blues’ paid 113 million euros in 2021 to Inter to round out the team that had been champions of the Champions League. However, Lukaku did not perform as expected (15 goals and two assists in 44 games) being relegated to the substitution when he showed his desire to return to Inter at Christmas. He fulfilled it this summer by returning on loan to the ‘Nerazzurri’ team for eight ‘kilos’.
Paul Pogba: €105 million (United, 2016)
Manchester United stunned the football planet by signing the coveted French midfielder for 105 million. The ‘red devils’ were ahead of all the teams and took control of a Pogba who returned home, to the team he left before signing for Juventus. However, in ‘ManU.’, it never had the desired impact. Except for sparks and a 2018-19 season in which he scored 16 goals, his time at Old Trafford ended without fanfare after scoring 39 goals and giving 51 assists in 233 games. Injuries weighed him down in his final months. They only won a Europa League and a League Cup in his second spell at United. Return, again, free to Juventus.