10. Gabriel Batistuta – £31m ‘Batigol’ moved from Fiorentina to Roma in 1999 after scoring 203 goals in nine seasons for the Florence-based club.
The £31 million fee was the highest any club had ever paid for a player in his 30s at the time and a record that stood for almost two decades.
9. Mats Hummels – £32 million Mats Hummels was one of Dortmund’s elite players who was pressured by Bayern Munich at the peak of their power, but Dortmund convinced him to return a few years later.
The 30-year-old was still one of the best defenders in the world at the time so £32m seemed like a pretty good deal – until you remember that they lost him for free three years ago.
8. Radja Nainggolan – £32.5 million Belgian midfielder Rajda Nainggolan is one of those players who is constantly linked with big-money transfers somewhere, but he hasn’t really got it. That is until the age of 30.
He moved from Roma to Inter Milan in 2018, but spent just one season at San Siro before being loaned to Cagliari for several years, and sadly missed out on Inter’s Scudetto-winning campaign in 2020/21.
7. Paulinho – £34m Given his career at Tottenham, it was a shock to see Paulinho parading around Barcelona’s Camp Nou stadium in 2017.
The Brazilian wasted three years in China but parachuted into Catalonia as part of the club’s hopeless reinvestment plan of the money they earned for Neymar that summer. He returned to China a year later.
6. Kalidou Koulibaly – £34m Like Nainggolan, long-time Kalidou Koulibaly was linked with some of Europe’s biggest clubs and eventually made a move when Chelsea bought him from Napoli in 2022… although it quickly became a disaster.
Not only has the Senegalese defender struggled for form in what has been a torrid season for everyone at Stamford Bridge, but Napoli also won their first Serie A title in over 30 years without him. He joined Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal this summer.
5. Leonardo Bonucci – £36 million Despite starting his career at Inter Milan and then spending most of his peak years at Juventus, Leonardo Bonucci made the shocking decision to move to AC Milan in the summer of 2019. 2017 after falling out with Juve coach Max Allegri.
He was appointed captain of the Rossoneri, but lasted only one season at the club before returning to Juventus via a swap deal with Mattia Caldara.
4. Robert Lewandowski – £43m Another man forced to leave the club where he spent his best years is Robert Lewandowski, who left Bayern Munich in dramatic fashion to join Barcelona in 2022.
The Polish striker has gradually become disillusioned with life at the Allianz Arena and although Bayern are trying to keep hold of the player who scored 344 goals in 375 games for them, they are still reluctant to agree a contract worth £43m for this 34-year-old player.
3. Miralem Pjanic – £56m There is little summary of Barcelona’s post-Neymar spending spree other than the decision to spend £56m on 30-year-old Miralem Pjanic in 2020.
The Juventus midfielder basically just integrated with the Old Lady and barely made any mark when he arrived at Camp Nou. Like Paulinho before him, he left a year later, first on loan to Besiktas and then on a permanent contract with UAE side Sharjah.
2. Cristiano Ronaldo – £100 million Juventus broke the Italian transfer record to bring 33-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo to Turin in 2018, ending his incredible nine-year spell with Real Madrid.
The Portuguese superstar scored many goals for the club and won a number of trophies but his time there was marred by suggestions that his presence in the team diminished the club’s tactical effectiveness.
1. Harry Kane – £100 million Bayern Munich has finally found a replacement for Lewandowski after bringing Harry Kane to the club just days after the former Tottenham striker’s 30th birthday this summer.
The England captain has had a strong start to his career at Allianz so far, scoring three goals in his first three starts for the club, including a brace on his home debut last week. Augsburg.
Dang Nguyen
