Football has witnessed some of the greatest players mesmerize humans across the world with their goal scoring exploits but there’s another side to this story. One where footballers cost exorbitant sums to their football clubs but do not deliver the goods – or goals in this case.
They might have scored some outrageous goals in their meager tallies but is any goal worth millions, unless it helps you win the Champions League, Premier League et al?
Here we look at the 10 most expensive goalscorers in football history based on how much they cost their club per goal scored.
Note: #1 All transfer sums are in Euros (€).
#2 Selling price of the players are not included while calculating the cost per goal.
#3 The list is correct as of 17th February 2017.
#10 Graziano Pelle (Shandong Luneng – €3.05 million per goal)
The Italian striker moved from English Premier League outfit Southampton to the cash-rich shores of China – joining Chinese Super League side Shandong Luneng for 15.25 million Euros in the July of 2016.
Following his big-money move, Pelle became the 5th highest paid footballer in the world and is earning roughly €16 million per season.
Ever since his big money move, he has scored 5 goals in 15 appearances and for now, costs the Chinese side - €3.05m per goal.
#9 Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Barcelona - €3.159 million per goal)
Ibrahimovic may be scoring goals for fun while spearheading Manchester United right now but his struggles at Barcelona are well documented.
In 2009, the Swedish superman transferred from Inter Milan to Catalunya for 69.5 million Euros but struggled to settle into the style of play under Pep Guardiola. His differences with the Spanish manager and the threat to Lionel Messi’s role as the lone striker played a pivotal role in his transfer to AC Milan, only a year later.
Zlatan joined his former club’s biggest rivals on a loan deal initially with an option to buy and completed a permanent move to the San Siro outfit.
During his short stint with the Camp Nou outfit, Zlatan scored 22 goals in 46 games – costing the club €3.159 million per goal.
#8 Raheem Sterling (Manchester City – €3.29 million per goal)
Raheem Sterling moved to Manchester City from Liverpool for 62.5 million Euros in the summer of 2015. Ever since his move, the teenager – who made a name for himself in the Red of Liverpool – has scored 19 goals for the Citizens in 79 appearances.
Now, Sterling did sign a five-year-contract and can still score many more goals for the Etihad outfit but at the time of writing this article, he cost the Qatari-backed side €3.29 million per goal.
#7 Andy Carroll (Liverpool – €3.727 million per goal)
Following the unceremonious departure of Fernando Torres from the Red of Liverpool to the Blue of Stamford Bridge, the Anfield outfit decided to spend the money earned from his sale on the import of two forwards – One who would go on to rewrite history, the second well he is Andy Carroll.
Luis Suarez may have been the cheaper of the two but it was the Uruguayan who left the biggest impression in the heart of the Anfield faithful. Carroll, who arrived for 41 million Euros, spent two years at the club making 58 appearances in all competitions and managed to score only 11 goals – only 6 in the Premier League.
The Englishman, who now plies his trade at West Ham United – cost Liverpool €3.727 million per goal.
#6 Gonzalo Higuain (Juventus – €3.91 million per goal)
Once again, one might argue that it is too early to include Gonzalo Higuain on this list but as I said with Raheem Sterling at the time of compilation of the list – the Argentine was one of the 10 most expensive goalscorer in the history of football.
Higuain, against the wishes of Napoli fans, completed a controversial move from the Naples outfit to Serie A champions – Juventus – in the summer of 2016 for 90 million Euros.
The move came after his record-breaking season wherein he scored 36 goals – becoming the highest scorer in the history of Serie A during the 20-team league structure. Until now, Higuain has netted 23 goals in 32 games for the Old Lady – not a bad record by any stretch but he has cost them €4.28 million per goal.
#5 Christian Benteke (Liverpool – €4.65 million per goal)
Christian Benteke and Liverpool were never going to be a fit. Liverpool are not a team who like to cross and Benteke needs crosses to score. However, for some bizarre reason this transfer did go through and Benteke cost the Anfield outfit – 46.5 million Euros.
After a season, where he made 42 appearances and returned with 10 goals for the Reds, the Belgian was shipped to Crystal Palace in the summer of 2016 to end his Anfield misery. He cost the Reds €4.65 million per goal.
#4 Gervinho (Hebei China Fortune – €6 million per goal)
Gervinho might have only cost Chinese Super League side Hebei China Fortune €18 million when he moved from Roma in the January of 2016.
But more than a year later and with only 3 goals in 18 games, the former Arsenal man has cost the cash-rich outfit €6 million per goal – not that they would mind.
Currently, he is recovering from ruptured ligaments in his left knee and should score more goals once he makes his return to the team.
#3 Jackson Martinez (Guangzhou Evergrande – €10.5 million per goal)
We now enter the final 3 and with that the stakes have been upped. The first of our big 3 is Jackson Martinez, who has cost Chinese Super League outfit Guangzhou Evergrande a cool €10.5 million per goal scored.
Evergrande broke the Asian transfer record when they signed Martinez from Atletico Madrid for €42 million – a record that was broken only two days later when Jiangsu Suning signed Alex Teixeira for €50 million.
The strange thing behind Martinez’s transfer was that he was having an abysmal season with the Vicente Calderon outfit when the Chinese Super League outfit came calling with the big money move. Martinez had scored 3 goals for Atletico in 22 games and after joining the Chinese side he has scored only 4 times in 16 games – costing them €10.5 million per goal.
#2 Jese Rodriguez (Paris Saint-Germain – €12.5 million per goal)
When PSG paid €25 million to Real Madrid for the signature of forward Jese Rodriguez, the Paris outfit expected him to fill the big boots of Zlatan Ibrahimovic – who had moved to Manchester United on a free.
However, 6 months and 14 games later, Rodriguez has been loaned to his hometown side Las Palmas for 18 months and his Parc des Princes career is all but over.
The former Real Madrid man cost the Qatari-backed Ligue 1 giants €12.5 million per goal. Woah!
#1 Angel di Maria (Manchester United – €18.75 million per goal)
When Angel di Maria swapped the White of Real Madrid for the Red and Black of Manchester – for a then British record fee of 75 million Euros – many saw it as a new dawn for the Old Trafford outfit.
However, following his unceremonious departure to PSG less than a year later the Argentine left a sour taste in the mouths of the Manchester United faithful and cost the club a whopping €18.75 million per goal scored.
He made 32 appearances for the Red Devils, scoring 4 goals – a goal every 8th game – but costing €18.75m per goal. And with that Di Maria becomes the most expensive goalscorer in football history.
