Jude Bellingham, Eden Hazard, and Cristiano Ronaldo represent some of Real Madrid’s costliest transfer investments
From Eden Hazard and Cristiano Ronaldo to Jude Bellingham, these are the big names that Real Madrid have spent the most money on.
Real Madrid is one of the biggest sports teams in the world, and their spending habits show it.
They have spent a lot of money over the years to get some of the best players in the world to play for them at Santiago Bernabeu, bɾeaking the world transfer record more than once.
But it looks like they like doing business with some clubs more than others. Transfermarkt looked at Real’s top ten biggest transfer fee recipients.
Even though Chelsea is used to spending a lot of money, they have also been the recipients of some of Real Madrid’s most expensive deals.
Since the 2005–06 season, Real has paid Chelsea more money than any other club to get their players. Seven of Chelsea’s former stars have since moved to the Spanish city.
Chelsea has been paid €200 million (£170 million) in transfer fees by the current European winners. Eden Hazard’s move in 2019 took up a big chunk of this amount.
The amount is still the club’s record signing. Arjen Robben, a fast winger, went to Real for €35m, and Ricardo Carvalho joined in 2010 for €7.9m.
Goalkeepers Thibaut Courtois and Kepa Arrizabalaga are two other players who have recently joined. Arrizabalaga joined on loan last season, and Antonio Rudiger joined for free in the same summer.
Lyon, France’s Ligue 1 team, comes in second. They have gained a sum of €155m (£132m) by selling James Rodriguez in 2014 and Aurelien Tchouameni in 2022.
The same thing happens to Tottenham, who are in third place (€136m/£115m) even though they only lost two players to their European foes.
Real Madrid broke the world record when they paid a huge amount of money to get Welsh star Gareth Bale in 2013. That was before Hazard became the club’s most expensive ever signing.
Bale joined his old Spurs partner Luka Modric, who had left the previous summer. He will now start his 13th season at the club.
Five teams are in the top spot. Pepe, a star player for Portugal, and Karim Benzema, winner of the Ballon d’Or in 2022, are two of the biggest names to have left Lyon and Porto for Real Madrid.
Cristiano Ronaldo moved from Manchester United to Real Madrid for £80 million in 2009. This put Manchester United in sixth place, worth €124 million (£106 million).
Borussia Dortmund (€113m/£96m), in seventh place, is the only other European team in the top ten. AC Milan, in tenth place (€67m/£56m), is only there because Real Madrid bought Kaka during a cɾazy summer transfer window in 2009.
Jude Bellingham moved from Schalke 04 to Real Madrid ahead of the 2023–24 season for €103 million (£88 million). He made an immediate impact and helped Real win their 15th Champions League.
Flamengo (€75m/£64m) and Santos (€69m/£59m) are the only clubs in the top ten that are not from Europe.
In 2018, Vinicius Junior went from Flamengo to Madrid for €45 million (£38 million). Robinho and Rodrygo joined from the famous Brazilian team Santos.
