History of High-Cost Transfers: Successes and Failures in Football

When we think of the biggest transfers in history, the first that comes to mind is necessarily Neymar. Recruited 222 million euros (a record) by PSG in 2017, the Brazilian will never have fully met expectations.

Coming to France to emerge from the shadow of Lionel Messi in Barcelona and become the best player in the world, Neymar has never had a full season in six years. Yet the author of an exceptional first part of the season with PSG for his debut, the 31-year-old has taken the bad habit of getting injured at crucial moments of the season and has never managed to take the Parisians to the roof of Europe.

Eden Hazard, the biggest flop

Arrived at Real Madrid in 2019, the former Lille resident arrived in the capital with enormous promises. Coming out of several high-class performances with Chelsea, the Belgian finally realized his dream by signing for Real.

Recruited to make people forget the departure of Ronaldo, Eden Hazard will never have succeeded in winning the Madrid club. Weighed down by his injuries, the Belgian striker never had a full season either and was quickly relegated to the bench with the emergence of young Brazilians Vincius and Rodrygo.

Coutinho and Griezmann, the failures of Barça

To compensate for the departure of Neymar, FC Barcelona has chosen to recruit another Brazilian, Philippe Coutinho for the sum of 160 million euros.

The former Inter Milan player is emerging from several interesting seasons with Liverpool and is on a mission to reform a magical attacking trio with Messi and Suarez in Neymar’s absence. Unfortunately, the young Brazilian never really manages to reach his best level and will end up being quickly loaned to Bayern and then to Aston Villa.

For Antoine Griezmann, it’s a bit the same result. After an aborted transfer last season, the Frenchman finally set foot in Barça in 2019 after five more than successful years with Atlético Madrid. But things do not go as planned and the association of the number 7 of the Blues with Messi and Suarez will never take.

After three disappointing seasons in Catalonia, “Grizou” finally returns to Atlético, his favorite club.

Pogba and Lukaku, the missed returns

Returning to Manchester United after four very good seasons at Juventus, Paul Pogba arrived in England with the status of the most expensive player in history (105 million at the time). If he wins the Europa League with the Mancunians, “la Pioche” not spared by injuries never fully meets the club’s expectations and returns to Juve in 2022.

Author of two very good seasons with Inter Milan, Romelu Lukaku returns to Chelsea for 115 million in 2021. If he proves decisive on his return, the Belgian is quickly relegated to the bench by coach Thomas Tuchel and even displays regrets about his departure from Italy. After a missed season, Lukaku therefore returns to Inter in the summer of 2022.

Mbappé, the most profitable

Purchased for 180 million euros by PSG, less than a month after Neymar, Kylian Mbappé is the best investment among these big transfers. If he was barely 18 when he arrived, the new captain of the Blues very quickly proved his talent. Author of a first season a little below expectations, the young prodigy quickly rectified the situation by finishing top scorer in Ligue 1 with 33 goals for his second season.

If Mbappé really begins to shine in the final phase of the Champions League in his fourth season by taking PSG to the semi-finals, the Frenchman does not stop panicking the counters with the Parisian club. He even reached the record goals in the history of the club this year by registering his 201^e goal in less than six seasons.

Grealish, from failure to success

Recruited by Manchester City from Aston Villa for nearly 120 million, Jack Grealish struggled to win in his first season. Criticized by many observers, the young Englishman even finished the season on the bench in favor of Foden, Mahrez or Bernardo Silva.

Then with pride and the desire to redeem himself, Grealish has a very different second season. Great craftsman of his team’s hat-trick this season, the Mancunian striker gives the lie to his detractors who believed that he was not worth such a sum.

Ronaldo and Dembelé in halftone

While Cristiano Ronaldo was successful in his move to Juventus in terms of statistics, he never managed to take the Italian club to the top of Europe as he wanted. While Juventus had recruited him to win the Cup with big ears that it has been waiting for since 1996 (despite two finals in 2015 and 2017), the Portuguese never reached the semi-finals. Author of a very good Champions League in his first season (he scored all the goals for his team in the final phase), CR7 failed in the quarter-finals against Ajax, and did not go beyond the eighth in both seasons following.

As for Ousmane Dembele, we can neither really speak of failure nor of success. If his first seasons at Barça are punctuated by numerous injuries, the Frenchman has gradually been able to exploit his qualities to shine in Catalonia. But after six seasons at the club, the former Rennes player never really managed to explode and make Neymar forget.

Of all these transfers over 100 million euros, many have not been great successes. From Neymar to Hazard via Pogba, these players bought at exorbitant prices have failed to meet expectations. Last flagship recruit to date, Jude Bellingham will therefore have to be very careful not to take the easy way out. If he comes out of a very good season with Borussia Dortmund, the English prodigy will have to work hard and not let go if he wants to win his place and shine at the great Real Madrid.