The 14 biggest transfer losses in football history ft. Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo & Coutinho | OneFootball

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It's that time of year when the transfer market has just slammed shut and fans will be reflecting upon the business their clubs did over the summer. Beyond all the incomings, it's always interesting to consider the players who departed. Has your team finally managed to offload some of the deadwood? Or are those unwanted players still lingering around the training ground like someone who just won't get the hint that the party is over and it's time to go?

Well, one way to deal with this is to simply cut up a contract – take for instance, Mesut Özil leaving Arsenal in 2021. Or, of course, a contract may simply expire, as we've seen with Eden Hazard bidding farewell to Real Madrid this summer. And while deals such as that represent big losses for each club involved, there is just something funnier about when a player signs for an astronomical fee but then leaves for a pittance.

An example of this which occurred just this week was Nicolas Pépé. The Ivorian joined the Gunners for £72m back in 2019 but has reportedly agreed to head to Trabzonspor for an embarrassingly low £3m. With that in mind, we've decided to rank some of the biggest transfer losses in football history.

14 David Villa, £32.4m

The Spanish forward was one of the finest of a generation and after he joined Barcelona in 2010 for around £34.2m, he scored goals a-plenty (48 in 119 to be exact, with a further 24 assists) and picked up numerous trophies, including La Liga and the Champions League.

However, in 2013, he left to join rivals Atletico Madrid for a fee of just £1.8m – at a loss of £32.4m. To rub salt in the wounds, he then helped fire Diego Simeone's men to domestic glory that very next season as they won the league.

13 Aymeric Laporte, £33.5m

By the very nature of the list, you'd assume every individual ranked here must have been a flop but as you can see with Laporte and Villa, that doesn't have to be the case. The Spanish defender joined Manchester City for a club-record £57m in January 2018. He then completed a move to Saudi Pro League side Al Nassr for £23.5m this summer.

This represents a loss of £33.5m which is quite significant but when you consider that City managed to win every trophy on offer (apart from the Club World Cup) during his time in Manchester, they can probably feel quite content with this deal. It certainly seems like a great bit of business, even if it's technically one of the bigger losses in football history.

12 Mauro Icardi, £36.42m

Paris Saint-Germain signed Icardi from Inter Milan back in 2020 for €50m (£45m). At the time, it seemed like a good price, especially as they'd initially negotiated a clause to buy Icardi for €70m, but the ongoing financial uncertainty in European football due to the pandemic meant the price was significantly lower (via The Guardian).

In hindsight, PSG will be relieved they didn't pay any more as the Argentine failed to make a great impression. His stats were fine, with 38 goals in 92 games, but evidently, the Ligue 1 club weren't able to fit him in alongside Neymar, Lionel Messi, Neymar and co. After a spell on loan at Galatasaray, he turned the move permanent this summer for just €10m (£8.58m).

11 Zlatan Ibrahimović, £38.5m

Ibrahimović has done the business for some huge European clubs over the years. He impressed first at Ajax as a youngster, while also enjoying leading the line with unrelenting quality at PSG. The biggest move of his career, however – in a financial sense at least – was his £59m transfer to Barcelona.

That worked out brilliantly for Inter, who also got Samuel Eto’o in exchange and then won the treble, but was less than ideal for Barca. Indeed, Zlatan spent only one full season in Spain before heading back to Italy, joining AC Milan on loan before completing a €24m (£20.5m) switch the following summer.

10 Fred, £39m

In the summer of 2018, Manchester United completed the signing of midfielder Fred from Shakhtar Donetsk for a fee of £52m. Unfortunately, though, it's fair to say the Brazilian struggled to win over many of the Old Trafford faithful during his five-year spell in England.

He was sold this summer to Turkish side Fenerbahce this summer for a £13m fee. Having spent €1.81bn (£1.55bn) on 179 new signings in the past decade, Fred will go down as one of many who were sold at a notable loss by United in recent times.

9 Christian Pulisic, £40.45m

The "LeBron James of soccer" started brightly at Chelsea after joining from Borussia Dortmund for £57.6m in 2019, but injuries prevented him from consistently finding his best form. For that reason, the Blues sold Pulisic this summer to AC Milan for a fee of about £17.15m.

This represents a fairly hefty loss of £40.45m and seeing as the American has two Serie A goals in three outings already, Todd Boehly could come to regret letting his fellow countryman leave for the cut price. It's early days yet, though, but if the USMNT star can stay fit, this could represent a very clever bit of business for Milan.

8 Fernando Torres, £49.25m

With the striker looking electric in the Premier League with Liverpool, Roman Abramovich forked out a British record transfer fee of £50m to sign Torres in January 2011. There were doubts over how keen the Spaniard was on the move, and it's safe to say he never settled at Chelsea.

Upon making his debut, he went 732 minutes without a goal for the Blues, finally scoring on his 14th outing, but that was a sign of things to come. The flop was eventually sold to AC Milan for €1m (£0.85m) after initially heading to Italy on loan.

7 Ousmane Dembélé, £53.5m

Barcelona signed Dembélé from Borussia Dortmund for an initial £97m, in what was a chaotic summer (we'll get to that later) for the Catalan giants. Injuries were a major problem for the Frenchman during his time in Spain, though, as he struggled for consistency as a result.

Under Xavi more recently he looked to finally be living up to his potential, making 35 appearances in all competitions as his side won La Liga last term. However, much to the frustration of Barca and his "disappointed" manager, Dembélé then opted to depart this summer, moving to PSG for just £43.5m.

6 Nicolas Pépé, £69m

As alluded to before, Pépé's recent reported £3m move to Turkish outfit Trabzonspor, represents an eye-watering loss of £69m after Arsenal paid a club-record £72m transfer to Lille back in August 2019.

He departs having at least won the FA Cup with the Gunners, but will largely be remembered for being part of a fairly abject era before Mikel Arteta turned things around in North London. Pépé truly is a cautionary tale on spending big on a player who has just had one breakout season.

5 Luis Suárez, £69.5m

Another striker to shine at Anfield, Suárez at least went on to do great things at Barcelona – scoring 195 goals and claiming 113 assists in 283 games – after completing a £75m transfer back in 2014. Indeed, he won it all as he formed the formidable MSN trio with Messi and Neymar.

However, after six years, four league titles, four cups, and a Champions League trophy, Barca were done with their man and allowed him to join rivals Atletico Madrid for just £5.5m. This proved to be an unwise decision as Suarez netted 21 league goals the following season as his new team won La Liga.

4 Antoine Griezmann, £86m

The World Cup winner switched Atletico Madrid for La Liga rivals Barcelona in 2019 after his €120m (£107m) buyout clause was met. An €800m (£717m) release clause was put in his new contract, but it's safe to say no one ever had any interest in paying that much for Griezmann.

Like so many others on this list, the Frenchman didn't shine quite so brightly in his new surroundings, and he soon returned to his former club. While an initial fee of £35m was spoken about relating to clauses in initial loan, the two clubs eventually settled upon a figure closer to £21m in 2022.

3 Cristiano Ronaldo, £86.4m

Despite reaching the peak of football with Ronaldo in their ranks for nine years, Real Madrid still managed to flog him to Juventus for more than the initial £80m they paid Man United back in 2009. Indeed, the Italian outfit landed him for £99.2m shortly after the 2018 Russia World Cup.

Paying so much for a 33-year-old didn't feel like great business at the time and Juve could probably count themselves fortunate they got anything for Cristiano when he later moved back to Old Trafford in 2021 for £12.8m. Even though he did at least win Serie A twice during his three-year stay in Italy, his failure to deliver a Champions League trophy suggests the money should have been spent elsewhere.

2 Philippe Coutinho, £129m

Expectations on Coutinho were huge when he moved from Liverpool to Barca in January 2018 for a mammoth £146m transfer fee – with the Reds landing a huge profit on the £8.5m they paid Inter for the Brazilian way back in 2013. Life in Spain did not go well for the midfielder, however.

Indeed, after just one and a half years of uninspired action in La Liga, he was shipped off a season on loan at Bayern Munich before then being sold to Aston Villa in 2022 for just £17m. This means for his 25 goals in 106 outings, Barcelona made a loss of £129m.

1 Neymar, £122.4m

We all know the figure... €222m (£200m). Just a ridiculous fee to pay, but that's what ended up in the lap of Barcelona as Neymar completed a world-record transfer to Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2017. Six years on, and with no Champions League medals to show for it, or the much-coveted Ballon d'Or, it's hard to say it worked out for either player or club.

Of course, the Brazilian still managed to shine on an individual level with 118 goals and 77 assists in 173 games at PSG. But his weekly dominance in Ligue 1 has felt irrelevant for some time now, largely due to his inability to deliver the goods in Europe. The 31-year-old's talent can't be denied though and this is why Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal stumped up €90m (£77.6m) to land Neymar this summer. That huge loss of £122.4m on Neymar feels representative of a career that just didn't deliver what it once promised.