The 10 greatest transfers in history ranked ft. Ronaldo, Maradona and Pele | OneFootball

What is the greatest football signing of all time?

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It's a question that is almost impossible to answer.

First, we need to think about what makes a 'great signing.'

Is it the number of trophies they win at their club? The number of clean sheets or goals they score? The impact on the club's revenue and reputation? And how much does the transfer fee play a role in quantifying how successful the transfer was?

Considering the thousands of transfers that have happened in football history, ranking the top 10 is a very difficult task.

But nothing is difficult for ChatGPT, who managed to rank the 10 greatest.

10 Neymar (Barcelona to PSG): £198million

A controversial start. Neymar is the most expensive transfer of all time and, six years on from his £198m move to Paris Saint-Germain, it's hard to say whether it was good business from the French club. While he's scored 118 goals in 173 appearances, he's been plagued with injuries and failed to land the club a Champions League.

9 Franz Beckenbauer (Bayern Munich to NY Cosmos): £900,000

Having won it all with Bayern Munich establishing himself as one of the greatest defenders to have ever played the game, Beckenbauer signed for North American Soccer League, New York Cosmos for less than £1 million in 1977. He spent four seasons there, winning three NASL titles before returning to Germany.

8 Thierry Henry (Juventus to Arsenal): £11million

No real arguments here. To sign your club's greatest ever player - and record goalscorer - for just £11 million was an absolute masterstroke.

7 Luis Figo (Barcelona to Real Madrid): £37million

The most controversial transfer of all time? Figo swapped Barcelona for Real Madrid in 2000 for a world-record fee. He spent five seasons in Madrid, winning two league titles and a Champions League.

6 Ronaldo (Barcelona to Inter): £19.5million

If it wasn't for those knee injuries, Ronaldo may have found himself even higher up this list. The Brazilian scored 59 goals in 99 matches for the club, winning one league title in five seasons.

5 Johan Cruyff (Ajax to Barcelona): £1million

There's no doubting Cruyff's legendary status during his nine years at Ajax. Barcelona spent £1 million on him in 1973 but he wasn't quite able to replicate the same success in five seasons. He scored 85 goals in 227 appearances at Barca, winning one league title.

4 Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United to Real Madrid): £80million

£80 million might not get you a lot in modern football but it got Real Madrid Cristiano Ronaldo back in 2009 - and it was worth every penny. Ronaldo was at Real for nine seasons, scoring a quite ridiculous 450 goals in 438 matches. He won two league title and four Champions League titles in that time, while picking up the Ballon d'Or on four occasions during his time at the Bernabeu.

3 Zinedine Zidane (Juventus to Real Madrid): £47million

Another legendary Real Madrid signing - and another world-record fee. Zidane joined Real for £47 million in 2001 and the Frenchman played his final five seasons of his career in the Spanish capital. He was a joy to watch for those five years.

2 Diego Maradona (Barcelona to Napoli): £7million

A signing that was so good Napoli have named a stadium after him. Maradona spent seven seasons at Napoli and led them to their first ever Serie A title in 1987. They won another with Maradona in 1990.

1 Pele (Santos to NY Cosmos): Free

The greatest signing of all time - and it's a hugely controversial call. Pele played almost his entire career at Santos and scored a crazy number of goals. But after seemingly returning, Pele brought the beautiful game to America by joining New York Cosmos. He was past his best but still scored 66 goals in 107 matches. His signing was perhaps more 'significant' than 'great' and we can't help feeling ChatGPT must have some American bias.