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The 10 most expensive left-backs of all time
Lucas Hernandez is the most expensive left back in the world following his move from Atletico Madrid to Bayern Munich for €80 million in 2019.
He failed to justify his transfer fee and he left Bayern for PSG in the summer of 2023 after a tough four years.
Some will argue that Josko Gvardiol, who joined Man City for €90m in 2023, should occupy first place, but the Croatia international was a centre-back at the time of his transfer and would only subsequently be converted into a left-back.
Marc Cucurella became the second most expensive player in his position after joining Chelsea in the summer of 2022.
Cucurella moved to the Blues for a whopping €65m, four times the amount that his former club Brighton paid to bring him to the Amex Stadium on deadline day less than 12 months earlier.
Football's priciest left-backs
Benjamin Mendy cost Man City €57.5m in 2017 when he joined from Monaco, a move that in hindsight proved disastrous for the purchasers.
The player managed just 75 games for City in six seasons and was suspended for a chunk of that on rape allegations, which he was eventually cleared on. He left the club in 2023.
Ben Chilwell cost Chelsea €50.2m when he arrived from Leicester City in 2020 and was a fixture in the side that under Thomas Tuchel won the Champions League during his maiden season at the club.
In 2021-22, however, the full-back ruptured his cruciate ligament and he has never quite been the same since.
Real Madrid paid dearly for Ferland Mendy in 2019 as the anointed successor to club great Marcelo and the Frenchman proved a smart acquisition as he gradually made the starting role his own and won the Champions League in 2022.
Lucas Hernandez, who can also play centre-back, appears for a second time after he left Bayern to join PSG in the summer of 2023 for €45m.
A year earlier, Nuno Mendes had arrived at the Parc des Princes for €38.5m and eventually became an undisputed starter.
However, he still has several players ahead of him on the list. In the summer of 2024, Riccardo Calafiori joined Arsenal for €45m and Ian Maatsen moved to Aston Villa for €44.5m.
Meanwhile, Luke Shaw, a previous holder of the title of most expensive left-back, is still at Man Utd more than a decade after the Reds paid Southampton €37.5m for his services.
You can find the full top 10 in the table below, but it is just as interesting to see who is missing: Marcelo and fellow Madrid idol Roberto Carlos, for example, do not even break the top 100, having cost the Merengue a grand total of €10m combined - truly two of the biggest bargains in football history!
The most expensive left-backs in football history
| Player | Clubs | Fee | Season |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lucas Hernandez | Atletico Madrid to Bayern Munich | €80m | 2019-20 |
| Marc Cucurella | Brighton to Chelsea | €73.5m | 2022-23 |
| Benjamin Mendy | Monaco to Man City | €57.5m | 2017-18 |
| Ben Chillwell | Leicester to Chelsea | €50.2m | 2020-21 |
| Ferland Mendy | Lyon to Real Madrid | €48m | 2019-20 |
| Riccardo Calafiori | Bologna to Arsenal | €45m | 2024-25 |
| Ian Maatsen | Chelsea to Aston Villa | €44.5m | 2024-25 |
| Lucas Hernandez | Bayern Munich to PSG | €45m | 2023-24 |
| Nuno Mendes | Sporting to PSG | €38m | 2022-23 |
| Luke Shaw | Southampton to Man Utd | €37.5m | 2014-15 |
