Seven years ago, Neymar Jr. transferred from Barcelona to PSG in what was the most expensive transfer in the history of football.
For context, Neymar had already spent five years at the Spanish club as a part of an unstoppable offensive trio that included Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi which won eight trophies together. Neymar was young and extremely talented, looking to establish himself as one of the best players in the world. However, after the 2016-17 season with 13 goals and 14 assists in 30 appearances, Neymar was looking to win a Ballon d’Or and realized it would be difficult to do when he wasn’t even the best player on his team. His position at Barcelona was certain, but it was apparent Neymar had bigger aspirations and wanted to find a place where he could perform and compete for the spotlight separate from the two world-class players on his team.
With Messi staying at Barcelona, Neymar looked to League 1 where Paris Saint Germain had expressed an interest in buying the Brazilian. While many people thought it was unlikely that the massive transfer would go through, on August 3, 2017, Neymar announced that he would be moving to PSG for a record €222 Million. The transfer heard around the world.
More money than someone could spend …
With an extra €222 Million in their budget and no replacement for Neymar, Barcelona was frantic to find a replacement for the Brazilian. Not even a month after Neymar’s move to PSG was announced, BVB Dortmund and Barcelona reached an agreement regarding the transfer of Ousmane Dembélé for €135 Million. It didn’t stop there though, as Barcelona would go on to sign Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho for about €135 Million (Transfermarkt).
After these two transfers, the dominoes began to fall. A combination of high transfer fees and deals falling into place caused the high-priced transfers that we see today. The value of players wasn’t necessarily inflated, rather the cost that surrounded acquiring those players did. The high price of the Paris Neymar deal normalized larger transfer fees for the player market, meaning players were being bought for more, despite their actual value being lower.
For instance, just a year before his move to Barcelona, Dembele had moved from Ligue 1 side Stade Rennais for a transfer fee of €35 Million. While Dembele was a promising young player, with many teams hoping to put his name on their jerseys, his €100 Million increase in market value was at least partially the result of this inflated transfer cost. And while both Dembele and Coutinho worked to prove their worth, clubs like Liverpool were looking to capitalize on their increased budget.
After Coutinho’s transfer, Liverpool was searching for top talents with their newfound funds. They would go on to sign Virgil Van Dijk for a whopping €84.5 Million, making him the most expensive defender in the world. On top of that, they also signed Mohammed Salah for €42 Million, and Brazilian Goalkeeper Alisson for €62.5 Million a year later. In 2019, Liverpool would add Fabinho to the roster for €40 Million and go on to win both the Premier and Champions League titles.
The spending didn’t stop there
PSG not only recruited one of the best players in the world but reaped the financial benefits of Neymar’s popularity as well, as he carried his 220+ Million Instagram followers with him to Paris. The resulting boost in ticket and merchandise sales meant PSG had no trouble recuperating the massive expense that came with signing the Brazilian. A year later, in another massive deal, they signed 18-year-old Kylian Mbappe for €180 Million, making it the 2nd most expensive transfer in history under Neymar.
In the same year, the high transfer fees continued, as Barcelona and Atletico reached an agreement, transferring Antoine Griezmann for €120 Million in 2019. A transfer that led to another one of the highest transfer deals in the sport, when Atletico purchased Joao Felix from Benfica in the same year for €126 Million.
Looking back, player transfers like Christiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale’s transfer to Real Madrid were unthinkable. Even a year before, Paul Pogba’s €105 Million transfer to Manchester United had fans all over the world excited for the biggest transfer ever. Transfers like this only come once every couple of years, and yet four of the most expensive transfers ever were made over those three years. Total people aren’t as shocked by those massive deals especially with big contracts being made with iconic players on their way to the Saudi Arabian League, most transfers aren’t even talked about if they don’t exceed €50 million.
With the number of incredibly talented players on different teams around the world, maybe it was inevitable that someone would empty their pockets to recruit the next Messi or Ronaldo. But if the record is ever to be broken, the world is left wondering: how good would that player have to be?
