In lieu of Manchester City's £126 million spending spree this summer, I thought it would be interesting to look at the highest transfer fees ever paid in world football, rank them by the value they provided for their new team, whilst looking at how their old team fared after their departure.
I have left out the £32.4 million transfer of David Villa from Valencia to Barcelona (7th highest) as I can't analyse how either team will fare as the transfer only went through recently.
So, I'll include the eleventh highest transfer fee paid in this top ten run-down, which also kicks us off...
10. Andriy Shevchenko – AC Milan to Chelsea - £30.8m (11th) - 2006
Ugh. This could be the worst signing by a major club in history. Sheva made 76 appearances in two seasons for the Blues, scoring 22 goals, which doesn't sound too bad. That's almost a goal every three games, but then again, only 13 of those goals came in the league and Champions League. Didier Drogba shows how bad this transfer is though as he managed 48 goals in the same time-frame. Shevchenko was loaned back to AC Milan(!) and then left Chelsea as a free agent in 2009, where he signed for Dynamo Kyiv, his first professional team.
As for AC Milan and the £30 million, they went out and got former Internazionale stand out Ronaldo from Real Madrid and defender Massimo Oddo from Lazio. Big Ron was a shadow of his former self, but Oddo established himself as at least a stopgap in Milan's back four (before being loaned out to Bayern Munich). The bulk of the money (£18m) was spent in 2007 on the wizardry Alexandre Pato, who has go on to become the main attacking threat for Milan since Kaka's departure last year.
9. Robinho – Real Madrid to Manchester City - £32.5m (9th) - 2008
I think this transfer was doomed from the beginning, when at his own press conference, Robinho said, “my head is at Chelsea.” What a fantastic introduction to your new, adoring MANCHESTER CITY fans. It's fair to say Robinho never settled in Manchester, and with him currently looking for a permanent move elsewhere, this has to rank low on the list. Robinho played a season and a half with City, scoring 16 goals in 53 games, before going out on loan to his old team Santos. He has since returned to City, with no intention of playing another minute for coach Mancini, and a move to Fenerbahce was quashed just today by Robinho himself.
Real Madrid used the money on Rafael van der Vaart, a poor, under utilised signing as he warmed the bench for the majority of the season. The rest of the fee likely went towards Real's mega spending spree of 2009 with the additions of Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema amongst others.
8. Kaka – AC Milan to Real Madrid - £56.1m (3rd) - 2009
Kaka has only spent one season at Real, and has won zero trophies, so it's hard to rank him any higher than here. So far, he's played 33 games and scored 9 goals, missing a lot of games due to injury. He's just had knee surgery and is expected to be back late November. If Real are to win any trophies this season, a lot of eyes will be on Kaka to perform when he returns.
Milan spent part of the money on Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (£12m) and Thiago Silva (£8m), and it wouldn't surprise me if club president Silvio Berlusconi used the rest for his political campaign (cue laughter).
7. Hernan Crespo – Parma to Lazio - £35.5m (6th) - 2000
Back in 2000, Lazio broke the then record for a transfer fee by shipping Matias Almeyda, Sérgio Conceição and £16m to Parma for the services of one of the best strikers in the world in Crespo. Lazio failed to retain their Serie A title, but Crespo still managed to score 26 goals in the league. He scored only 13 goals the following season due to a number of injuries and the failed promises of equal talent around him, as Jaap Stam and Gaizka Mendieta just simply couldn't play like the departed Juan Sebastián Verón and Pavel Nedvěd. Crespo left Lazio for £16m and Bernardo Corradi, another subpar Lazio signing.
Parma spent the money acquired on striker Savo Milosevic and Stephen Appiah, but failed to get anywhere near a Serie A title. They managed to win the Coppa Italia in 2001 though.
6. Cristiano Ronaldo – Manchester United to Real Madrid - £80m (1st) - 2009
I rank this transfer higher than Kaka because of Ronaldo's durability and the number of goals he scored and created last season. The highest purchase in football history HAS to win Real at least one trophy this season to even begin to justify his price tag. If anyone can do it, it's 'CR9'. He managed 34 goals, but received little in support from fellow big name signings Kaka and Benzema. Gonzalo Higuain (29 goals) was the only other player to provide Ronaldo with some real attacking help.
Manchester United really missed Ronaldo, as they failed to retain the Premier League. Ronaldo's replacements failed to inspire the team to similar heights as Michael Owen and Luis Antonio Valencia only had so much of an impact. United only won the league cup as rivals Chelsea took both the league and F.A. Cup.
5. Christian Vieri – Lazio to Internazionale - £32m (10th) - 1999
With the money received from this transfer, Lazio bought Crespo. Inter's investment was better though, as Vieri gave Inter an attacking form of football they had been severly lacking. Inter never won the Scudetto whilst Vieri was there, but he managed to form incredibly dangerous strike partnerships with Ronaldo, Crespo and Adriano. He was Serie A player of the year in 1999 and top scorer in 2003. However, for £32 million, you have to produce championships, and Vieri didn't. His Inter highlight: A Coppa Italia win in 2005. He was released in 2005, and only played one more full season (at Fiorentina) before retiring in 2009.
As I already mentioned, Lazio spent the money on Crespo, and that didn't really work out, did it?
4. Zlatan Ibrahimovic – Internazionale to Barcelona - £60.7m (2nd) - 2009
Once again, like Kaka and Ronaldo, Ibrahimovic has only spent one season at his new team, but in that one year he's helped achieve so much more. His contribution isn't as valued as some of the players around him like Messi, Iniesta and Xavi, but Zlatan scored 21 goals, and many came at important times, like his winner off the bench against Real Madrid in September. Barcelona finished the season with a record breaking 99 points, winning La Liga for the 20th time.
Zlatan would be ranked higher, but the transfer Barcelona paid was £60.7m AND Samuel Eto'o, and Eto'o led his new team Inter to a Serie A, Coppa Italia, and Champions League treble, scoring 16 goals. Equipped with an exceptional player like Eto'o, Inter threw around the £60.7m on players like Lucio (£4m), Diego Milito (£9m), Thiago Motta (£6m) and dangerous midfield dynamo Wesley Sneijder (£12m). It could be said this transfer catapulted Inter over the top and made them the fantastic team they are today. It has also since triggered Inter coach Jose Mourinho's departure, as he now plots against Barcelona as manager of rivals Real Madrid.
3. Luis Figo – Barcelona to Real Madrid - £37m (5th) - 2000
Making a highly controversial move between these rivals was largely a preposterous idea, but Barca bit the bullet and parted ways with the then European player of the year for a then world record fee of £37m. The move paid off for the always short term thinking heads at Real, as they won the title the following season and Figo was voted World player of the year. Real would miss out on the title the following season, but they did claim the Champions League. Figo would help Real to only one more La Liga title before his departure to Inter Milan in 2005 on a free transfer. The transfer ranks highly for the short term success it provided Madrid, but in the long run, Real could have done with more production from him.
Barcelona on the other hand, spent the money on a package of Marc Overmars and Emmanuel Petit from Arsenal for £30m, and £3.6m on ageing Dutch striker Jari Litmanen, from Ajax. They didn't win La Liga again until the 2004-2005 season however, as Real Madrid and Valencia traded titles.
2. Zinedine Zidane – Juventus to Real Madrid - £43m (4th) - 2001
While Zidane cost more, and won less than Figo, his value to Real was much greater. Without Zidane, Real wouldn't have beaten Bayer Leverkusen in 2002 to win the Champions League, as he hit an astonishing volleyed goal to win the game for Real.
Zidane led Real to a La Liga title the following year, claiming the World Player of the Year award in the process. He played five seasons at Real, playing the role of leader for his entire stay. He and Real should have won more titles, and you have to think the constant managerial changes (5) had to have had an impact on that.
In the following two seasons after his departure, Juve won back to back Serie A titles, something they hadn't done since the glory team of 1998 (Inzaghi, Davids, Zidane, Del Piero, etc). They used the money on big-name players that gave them that immediate success: Lillian Thuram, David Trézéguet, Pavel Nedvěd and...
1. Gianluigi Buffon – Parma to Juventus - £32.6m (8th) – 2001
Normally, you wouldn't pick a goalkeeper to lead a list of most valuable players, but Gigi Buffon is an exception. Buffon could be the greatest goalkeeper of all time, and his nine years at Juventus (so far) are truly remarkable. The stats don't lie:
- 4 Serie A titles.
- 1 Serie B title.
- 2 Supercoppa Italiana titles.
- 1 Champions League runners up.
- 1 European Footballer of the Year award.
- 7 Serie A Goalkeeper of the Year awards.
- 101 clean sheets.
He's been the back bone of Juve's defence for nine years, and is hardly ever doubted as the best goalkeeper in the world. His fantastic performances at the World Cup in 2006 earned him a winners medal with Italy, cementing his status as one of most iconic players of all-time.
Despite the money received, Parma financially imploded and never finished higher than 5th in Serie A. Buffon's replacement? Former Brazillian international Claudio Taffarel. Not a good investment.
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