Transfers may be getting more lucrative as the years go by, but Brazilians footballers have always been among the most expensive players on the market.
There is occasionally a premium price to pay for good Brazilian players, though every great team should have at least one Selecao player as they remind us all of why we love football.
Some massive transfer fees have been paid for Brazilian players over the years, more commonly when they move from their first European club to an even bigger one, having originally moved from Brazil for a smaller fee.
Here are the ten most expensive Brazilian footballers of all time.
Richarlison enjoyed the drama that Everton provided year on year but left in 2022 when Tottenham came calling with a £60m offer.
Spurs ended the Brazilian’s debut season in north London in catastrophic fashion with Richarlison’s contribution minimal.
This was a move viewed by many as somewhat disappointing. Oscar was an impressive and important player for Chelsea and the national team but opted for the riches that Chinese clubs could offer.
He moved to Shanghai Port, known as Shanghai SIPG at the time in 2017, for a massive fee. He remains in China, suggesting he must have settled very well.
A recent entrant here, Manchester United’s deal for Casemiro in 2022 saw him leave Real Madrid after nine frighteningly successful years.
He was an immediate hit in the Premier League as he showed why he is one of the best midfielders in the world, although suspensions were an issue later in the season. It was a big fee for a player who was 30 at the time, but he seems to still be at the peak of his powers.
Before Sandro Tonali had his move to Newcastle confirmed, this was the biggest fee ever paid for an AC Milan player. Kaka was a star in Serie A but the time came for him to try an even bigger challenge in 2009.
He spent four years in Spain before he going back to Milan for a year until he left again in 2014.
Certainly the highest player on this list to make minimal impact anywhere since the move, Arthur Melo was involved in an odd transfer to Juventus in 2020. Juventus paid €72m for him but the deal was also part of a coordinated swap that saw Miralem Pjanic go the other way.
Arthur was not useless at Juventus, but his impact was not what they had hoped it would be. Most recently he was on loan at Liverpool where he made one appearance all season, with injuries beginning to mark his career.
An incredibly expensive deal for a goalkeeper which has gone on to look like value for money. Alisson Becker was a superb goalkeeper for AS Roma in Serie A and then he got the move he deserved.
It is not easy to turn up at a club like Liverpool as a goalkeeper with that kind of fee on your head, but he has cemented himself as one of, if not the best goalkeeper in the world.
Neymar has been the subject of two huge transfer fees and appears twice in the top ten. The first was the massive €86m move from Santos to Barcelona in 2014.
The eccentric attacker was part of a treble-winning side and formed a deadly partnership with Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi before he made a dramatic exit from Camp Nou.
The most recent huge fee to be paid for a Brazilian, Antony joined Manchester United in 2022 like Casemiro but much later in the summer. The €100m fee meant there was immense pressure on the new arrival from Ajax.
While ridiculed by many, the development of Antony’s game through the 2022/23 season was clear and he ended the season with eight goals and three assists.
This is a move that did not work out but Philippe Coutinho will still be able to take immense pride in his career regardless. The move from Liverpool to Barcelona in 2018 was a monster and the pressure appeared too much.
He did not fit in the system at Barcelona and could not show his best form. He had a loan at Bayern Munich before another at Aston Villa, which has become his new home.
Neymar’s spell at Barcelona was a success and led to PSG putting a frankly silly €222m on the table for his services in 2017. It remains the most expensive transfer ever.
He has scored plenty of goals for PSG, but they have not won the Champions League and now his relationship with the fans seems at a point of no return.
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