Online Reporter
JOAO FELIX has become the fourth most expensive player of all time in terms of career transfer fees.
The forward’s £43.7million move from Chelsea to Saudi club Al-Nassr has pushed him above some of the world’s most sought-after footballers in the rankings. The fee takes the total value of the 25-year-old’s career moves to £195m.
The Portuguese star broke through at Benfica before being snapped up by Atletico Madrid for a colossal £113m in 20 – the fourth most expensive single transfer of all time. He had loan spells with Chelsea and Barcelona during his five years at Atleti.
Felix joined Chelsea permanently for £38.4m last year, but has been swiftly sold on after making little impact in the Premier League and failing to impress on loan with AC Milan.
He is set to receive £420,000 per week on a five-year deal at Al-Nassr, which is more than every Premier League player bar Erling Haaland.
He is in illustrious company at the top of the all time most expensive players list, which is topped by Brazilian superstar Neymar.
He has generated £345m in transfer fees between moves to Barcelona, PSG and Al Hilal.
Felix’s fellow Chelsea alumnus Romelu Lukaku sits in second with £318m spent on the Belgian across nine transfers, including notable spells at Man Utd, Chelsea and Inter Milan.
Cristiano Ronaldo is third, with £213m being paid for Felix’s compatriot and new team-mate across his two spells at United, as well as moves to Real Madrid and Juventus.
Following up Felix in fifth is PSG star and Champions League winner Ousmane Dembele, whose moves to Borussia Dortmund, PSG and Barcelona were enough to generate £190m.
Journeyman Alvaro Morata and French star Antoine Griezmann take up sixth and seventh place with £180m and £178m respectively across their moves – both stars have featured heavily for Atletico Madrid. A Man Utd duo take up eighth and ninth place in the form of Matthijs de Ligt and new signing Matheus Cunha.
De Ligt generated a frenzy of hype as a youngster at Ajax in the 2018/19 season which saw him produce £170m in fees across moves to Juventus, Bayern Munich and Utd. New attacking recruit Matheus Cunha’s £62.5m signing from Wolves takes his figure up to £166m total, bolstered by a previous move to Atletico. Finally, ex-Liverpool ace Philippe Coutinho garnered £156m in fees during his career, thanks mostly to a monstrous £116m move to Barcelona in 2018. – Sun
