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In modern-day club football, what happens on the pitch has to be complemented well by the business away from it for any club to keep competing at the highest levels. Players getting bought for around €100 million has become quite commonplace in today's inflated transfer market.
Teams have to keep a balance between the money they spend through roping in players and the money they earn from selling one of their own. Sometimes, the growth that a player has at a particular club helps them gain a ridiculous amount of money when they do end up selling him.
On that note, let's take a look at the 10 most profitable transfers of all time in football history.
#10 Eden Hazard to Real Madrid (Profit- €80 million)
Chelsea bought Eden Hazard from LOSC Lille in the summer of 2012 for €35 million. That was €35 million well spent because Eden Hazard would then go on to be one of the Premier League's best players for the next 7 years.
At Chelsea, the Belgian won 2 Premier League titles, 2 Europa League titles, 1 League Cup and was the club's player of the year on 4 occasions. Real Madrid finally signed him in June 2019 after knocking on the doors for several seasons.
Chelsea sold him to Real Madrid for a whopping €115 million and made a profit of €80 million on the talismanic winger.
#9 Matthijs De Ligt to Juventus (Profit- €85.5 million)
Matthijs De Ligt joined the famed Ajax academy at the age of 9 and became the club's youngest captain at the age of 19. De Ligt also won the Golden boy award in 2018 and became the first defender in history to win it.
He would also go on to become the youngest captain to have scored in the knockout stages of the Champions League, getting a goal in Ajax's win against Real Madrid. He led his exciting Ajax side to the semi-finals before losing to Tottenham in the last minute of the tie.
De Ligt immediately became the centre of attention in the transfer market and it was Juventus who finally managed to prise him away from Ajax. They signed him for €85.5 million. Since De Ligt was a youth academy product, all of that €85 million gets counted as profit.
#8 Gareth Bale to Real Madrid (Profit- €86.3 million)
Gareth Bale's career at Real Madrid has now taken an unfortunate turn and the relationship between the club and player has soured over the past few seasons. Gareth Bale was yet another Galactico signing back in the day after he had gone on to become a world beater at the age of 24 at Tottenham Hotspur.
Spurs had initially signed Gareth Bale as a left-back from Southampton for €14.7 million. The Welshman started tearing the league up producing eye-catching displays week in and week out and it wasn't long before he became the most sought after player in Europe.
Real Madrid announced the signing of Gareth Bale in September 2013 for a whopping €101 million. Spurs made an €86.3 million profit from it.
#7 Neymar Jr. to Barcelona (Profit €88.2 million)
If you're wondering what Neymar is doing down at 7th on the list, have some patience. We're talking about the initial deal that Barcelona cut for the Brazilian back in 2013.
Neymar became a sensation at his boyhood club Santos, ripping through defences with the elegance of a gazelle and scoring goals for fun. Neymar had already become a nightmare for all defenders as a teenager and he continues to be one of the best attackers in the world.
Barcelona signed Neymar from Santos on a deal that eventually rose to €88 million. Neymar had joined Santos as a kid in 2003 and as such, all that money they got from selling him was all profit and a huge financial boost to the club.
#6 Paul Pogba to Manchester United (€105 million)
Letting Paul Pogba leave on a free to Juventus is still counted as one of Sir Alex Ferguson's biggest mistakes. It's certainly his most expensive mistake. It eventually cost the Red Devils €105 million to bring him back from Turin.
Pogba is one of the best players to have ever come out of Manchester United's youth academy. However, Ferguson wasn't sold on the youngster's attitude and announced in July 2012 that Pogba has not signed a new contract and has left the club.
Juventus signed him on a free in what is one of the biggest bargains of the modern era. Manchester United would later come back for him in 2016 and Juventus played hardball and made the Old Trafford outfit proffer no less than €105 million for the Frenchman.
#5 Ousmane Dembele to Barcelona (Profit €123 million)
Borussia Dortmund had signed Ousmane Dembele from Rennes in 2016 for €15 million. The versatile, two-footed winger would then go on to clock some staggering numbers for the Bundesliga side as a teenager.
It was then no surprise that he was being eyed by several European giants. Having sold one of their best players in Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona were looking to reinvest the money gained from that deal to find a long-term solution and Dembele seemed the perfect choice.
Dembele was signed at the age of 20 by Barcelona for €138 million. Dortmund made a €123 million profit from the sale.
#4 Joao Felix to Atletico Madrid (Profit €126 million)
Barring Cristiano Ronaldo, perhaps no other young Portuguese player has created as much buzz as Joao Felix did at the age of 19. In the 2018/19 season when the world first took note of him, Felix broke on to the scene and scored 18 goals and racked up 8 assists from the Portuguese Liga Nos and the Champions League.
Joao Felix signed a 7-year deal with Atletico Madrid in July 2019 for a fee of €126 million becoming the Rojiblanco's most expensive signing. Atletico were looking to reinvest the money that they had received for the sale of Antoine Griezmann to Barcelona and chose Felix as the ideal candidate.
#3 Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona (Profit: €132 million)
Not only have Liverpool become one of the most dominant forces in Europe under Jurgen Klopp, but they have also become wise customers in the transfer market. The recruiting system has done wonders for the team as evidenced by the signings of Mane, Salah, Fabinho, Van Dijk etc.
The sales department has also done exceptionally well. After being initially roped into Liverpool from Inter Milan in 2013 for a meagre €13 million, a young Coutinho flourished and became one of the best midfielders in Europe under the guidance of Jurgen Klopp.
However, Barcelona remained the Brazilian's dream destination and when the Cules ultimately came knocking, he decided to leave. Liverpool were ready to let him realize his dreams but they weren't willing to let their main player, at the time, to go for cheap.
Barcelona ended up signing Coutinho for €145 million and ultimately, it did not work out for either the club or the player. But Liverpool made a €132 million profit and that helped them further boost their squad by bringing in the likes of Fabinho and Van Dijk- two of their standout performers in their Champions League and Premier League title winning campaigns.
#2 Neymar to Paris Saint- Germain (Profit €133.8 million)
Here we are again. If you thought the profit Santos made from selling Neymar to Barcelona was big, it pales in comparison with how much the Cules recouped when selling him to Paris Saint-Germain in the most expensive transfer deal of all time in 2017.
After forming football's deadliest attacking trio with Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi, reports of Neymar wanting to break out of Messi's shadow began to surface. Though at first it seemed inconceivable, Paris Saint-Germain went on prise the Brazilian away from the Camp Nou by paying a mind boggling €222 million.
Barcelona registered a €133 million profit after having initially bought him from Santos on a deal that rose to €88.2 million.
#1 Kylian Mbappe to Paris Saint-Germain (€135 million)
Kylian Mbappe was part of the free-scoring and nearly unstoppable AS Monaco side that set Europe on fire for in the 2016-17 season. Mbappe was just a teenager at the time but he was arguably Monaco's most impressive player.
After winning the Ligue 1 title that season, however, AS Monaco had to do with a mass exodus as most of their starters departed and joined European giants. But none of those deals proved to be as lucrative as that of Mbappe's.
Paris Saint-Germain signed Mbappe in the 2017 on a season-long loan deal with a fee set for a subsequent transfer at €135 million. Paris Saint-Germain showed up with the money a season later to make Mbappe's deal permanent and paid the entire amount thereby making it the most profitable transfer deal in history.
Mbappe had settled with AS Monaco's youth system after traveling across Europe and giving trials at several clubs including Chelsea. As such, all the €135 million that they got for his sale were all returns on no initial investment.
