The 10 most expensive Portuguese players of all time

Carlo Garganese

• 18 Sept 2024 15:36 BST
• 4 min read

Joao Felix is the most expensive Portuguese footballer of all time for his transfer to Atletico Madrid from Benfica for €126 million.

The attacker made the move to the Wanda Metropolitano in the summer of 2019, becoming the fourth most expensive transfer ever at the time.

Felix, 19 at the time of the transfer, failed to live up to his potential at Atletico and he was loaned to Chelsea in January 2023 and then Barcelona in the summer of 2023 before joining Chelsea permanently in 2024.

READ: What are the most expensive transfers of all time? The 50 highest fees in history

The second most expensive Portuguese soccer player in history is Cristiano Ronaldo, who moved to Juventus from Real Madrid in 2018 for €100m.

Ronaldo was already 33 at the time of this transfer but such was his greatness he still commanded a three-figure sum.

READ MORE: Top 10 most expensive Spanish players of all time

He scored over 100 goals in just three years in Turin.

The third most expensive Portuguese transfer ever is also Ronaldo for his move to Real Madrid from Man Utd for €94m in 2009.

Ronaldo broke the world transfer record at the time with this move and became one of the greatest players in Real Madrid’s history during nine years there.

He became the club’s all-time top goalscorer and won a horde of trophies, including four Champions Leagues.

The fourth most expensive Portuguese player ever is Ruben Dias for his €72m move to Manchester City from Benfica in 2020.

Dias soon developed into arguably the best defender in the Premier League as Man City dominated English football under Pep Guardiola.

The fifth biggest Portuguese transfer is another Man City signing in the form of Joao Cancelo’s €65m move from Juventus in 2019.

This deal saw Danilo move the other way, but there was no doubt who were better off as Cancelo became one of the best full-backs in the world.

The 10 most expensive Portuguese soccer players of all time

Goncalo Ramos also moved for €65m in the summer of 2023, leaving Benfica for PSG.

In seventh place is Bruno Fernandes for his €63m move to Man Utd from Sporting Lisbon.

Bruno has been one of United’s most successful transfers of the last decade.

In eighth is an oldie in the form of Luis Figo’s infamous switch from Barcelona to Real Madrid in 2000 for €63m.

Figo broke the world record at the time in one of the most controversial transfers in history as Madrid created a team of Galacticos.

Completing the top 10 are Pedro Neto's €60m move to Chelsea from Wolves in 2024 and Otavio's €60m move to Saudi Arabia in 2023.