1940s to 2010s: Evolution of record transfer fees in every decade

Transfer fees have always been an important topic of discussion. The amount of inflation in the prices of players has gone up by leaps and bounds as the money in the game has increased substantially over time. Record transfers in the 1940s used to be thousands of pounds while today it is reaching triple figures in millions of pounds.

Zinedine Zidane moved from Juventus to Real Madrid in 2001 for £53 million while Jadon Sancho after a single brilliant season in the Bundesliga is being valued at a minimum of £100 million by Borussia Dortmund.

The current transfer market has exploded especially since the double deals conducted by Paris-Saint Germain to sign Neymar from FC Barcelona for £198 million and Kylian Mbappe from AS Monaco for £160 million. Such fees were unthinkable even a decade ago when Cristiano Ronaldo moved to Real Madrid from Manchester United for £80 million.

It would be interesting to observe how transfer fees has evolved over time.Here in this article, we take a look at the costliest transfer that occurred in each decade since the 1940s to this date

1940s: Eddie Quigley (1949)

The record transfer fee in the 1940s was held by Englishman Eddie Quigley who sealed a move from Sheffield Wednesday to Preston for £26,500 where the striker stayed for a couple of seasons before moving on to Blackburn Rovers as he could not settle down well there with his strike partner Tom Finney.

1950s: Omar Sivori (1957)

After a series of big money transfers in that decade, it was Enrique Omar Sivori, an Italian Argentinian striker who completed a record transfer move from River Plate to Juventus in 1959 for £93,000. He had a brilliant time with The Old Lady where he scored 161 goals in 247 appearances for the club.

1960s: Pietro Anastasi (1968)

Pietro Anastasi is regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation. He sealed a £500,000 move in 1968 from Varese to Juventus. He scored 116 goals in 284 appearances for the club before moving onto Inter Milan. At Juventus he won many silverware including 3 Serie A titles and he went on to captain the side in his final two seasons out there.

1970s: Paolo Rossi (1976)

Paolo Rossi is an Italian striker who moved from Vicenza to Juventus in a co-ownership deal for a world record £1.75 million. He scored 43 goals in 132 appearances for The Old Lady. He went on to win silverware domestically and in Europe with Juventus.

1980s: Ruud Gullit (1987)

In a decade where Diego Maradona broke the transfer records twice, Ruud Gullit’s £6 million move from PSV Eindhoven to AC Milan in 1987 ended up being the world record transfer at that time. The Dutchman who operated as a second striker won accolades like Ballon d’Or and World Soccer Player of the year during his time in Milan.

1990s: Christian Vieri (1999)

Former Italian striker Christian Vieri joins the list as he completed his move from Lazio to Inter Milan for a massive £32 million in 1999. The attacker flourished at the San Siro where he scored 103 times in his 144 appearances for the Nerazzurri where he had formed a dangerous partnership with Ronaldo Nazario upfront.

2000s: Cristiano Ronaldo (2009)

Cristiano Ronaldo’s big money move of £80 million from Manchester United to Real Madrid in 2009 defined an era of trophies and massive European success at the club. He was instrumental in helping the club lift 4 Champions League titles during his stay in Madrid. He had an unmatched scoring records for the Los Blancos as he has 450 goals and 131 assists in his 438 appearances at the club.

2010s: Neymar (2017)

While this period is yet to be over, there have been several big money moves and the biggest one is help by Neymar whose move from FC Barcelona to Paris-Saint Germain costed the French club a massive £198 million in 2017. Even after such a big money move, there have been reports of the Brazilian being unhappy and there are chances that he might be seeking for a move away from Paris this summer.