There can’t be many clubs whose list of biggest-ever signings is quite as star-studded as Real Madrid’s, which makes sense, given that’s basically their entire thing.
A glut of megastars have made their way to the Bernabeu over the years, and they have broken the world record for a transfer fee five times since the year 2000.
Unsurprisingly, all five of them feature here… but none of them are in pole position for Real Madrid’s biggest transfer fee of all time.
Who is the most expensive Real Madrid player of all time?
It’s currently Jude Bellingham, though possibly only on a technicality.
The €103m Real Madrid paid Borussia Dortmund in 2023 may have been exceeded by the signing-on fee Kylian Mbappe agreed to as a free agent after leaving Paris Saint-Germain, though sources differ on what that figure is: some put it above Bellingham’s transfer fee, others below.
There’s also an argument that Eden Hazard may have cost more, but he is unlikely to have triggered many of the extra €60m reportedly payable to Chelsea in add-on fees.
Either way, Mbappe’s wasn’t a transfer fee and so it doesn’t really count, while Bellingham’s move has add-ons of its own, so we’re sticking with Bellingham as the answer.
Fair to say that the England international is proving to be worth the money so far: Bellingham is ranked at no.4 in FourFourTwo’s list of the best players in the world right now
Who held the all time record transfer fee for a Real Madrid player before Bellingham?
Bellingham broke a record that had been equalled but not beaten for a decade.
Gareth Bale became the first €100m player when he moved from Tottenham Hotspur in 2013, marking the last time Real Madrid broke the world transfer record.
Although often unpopular with the Madridistas, Bale’s record speaks for itself: he helped them to three league titles and five Champions Leagues during his nine years at the club and ranked at No.32 in FourFourTwo’s list of the greatest Real Madrid players of all time.
Hazard cost the same initial €100m fee when he moved from Chelsea in 2019, but he struggled badly for form and fitness and never established himself as a genuine regular in the side.
The Belgian left Real Madrid by mutual termination in summer 2023 and announced his retirement a few months later.
The other previous world-record holders besides Bales, in case you wondered, were Cristiano Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane, Kaka and Luis Figo.
| Rank | Fee | Player | From | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | €103m | Jude Bellingham | Borussia Dortmund | 2023 |
| 2= | €100m | Gareth Bale | Tottenham Hotspur | 2013 |
| 2= | €100m | Eden Hazard | Chelsea | 2019 |
| 4 | €94m | Cristiano Ronaldo | Manchester United | 2009 |
| 5 | €80m | Aurelien Tchouameni | Monaco | 2022 |
| 6 | €76m | Zinedine Zidane | Juventus | 2001 |
| 7 | €75m | James Rodriguez | Monaco | 2014 |
| 8 | €67m | Kaka | AC Milan | 2009 |
| 9 | €62m | Luis Figo | Barcelona | 2000 |
| 10 | €60m | Luka Jovic | Eintracht Frankfurt | 2019 |
