The 50 most important transfers of all time (40-31)

FT Desk

• Updated: 23 May 2023 08:55 CDT
• 12 min read

So here it is, the 50 most important transfers in football history.

FootballTransfers global team of experts - including Paul Macdonald, Robin Bairner, Carlo Garganese, Stefan Bienkowski, Martin Macdonald and Ronan Murphy – considered every major and noteworthy transfer dating back to the end of the nineteenth century.

We focused on influential, legacy-making transfers that changed or had a huge impact on the beautiful game.

It could be because of a record-breaking or history-making transfer fee. It could be a transfer that broke down a social or cultural or racial barrier. It could be a transfer that transformed the fortunes of a team and led to a period of dominance. It could be a transfer that simply transcended the sport.

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Our team of experts compiled a shortlist before voting on their most important transfers of all time. We added up all the votes to form a list of the top 50.

Only transfers that actually took place were considered, so we did not include Jean-Marc Bosman himself.

Youth transfers also were discarded, only first-team to first-team deals are allowed.

Therefore, Lionel Messi’s move to Barcelona as a young kid does not count.

We have five articles counting down the top 50: 50-41, 40-31, 30-21, 20-11 and then finally 10-1.

In this article, we will reveal those placed 40 to 31.

READ MORE: The 50 most important transfers of all time (50-41)

READ MORE: The 50 most important transfers of all time (30-21)

READ MORE: The 50 most important transfers of all time (20-11)

READ MORE: The 50 most important transfers of all time (10-1)

40. Yaya Toure & David Silva

THE TRANSFER: Barcelona/Valencia to Man City (2010)

THE BACKGROUND: Manchester City's Abu Dhabi project moves to the next level in the space of a fortnight as both Yaya Toure and David Silva move to the Etihad for a combined fee of £50m.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT: While Robinho's deadline day move is more memorable, it had nowhere near the impact of this duo being signed from Barcelona and Valeniai respectively within the space of two weeks in 2010. Silva and Toure would go on to become both club and league legends and delivered a series of Premier League titles. But this was a shift in more ways than one; City's signings until that point were expensive but not transformative. This duo, however, were current talents, coveted by many teams, and they chose City. From there, many others made that choice too.

THE LEGACY: The double transfer that catapulted City from rich club to serious contenders.

39. Ashley Cole

THE TRANSFER: Arsenal to Chelsea - £5m (2006)

THE BACKGROUND: A transfer that still leaves somewhat of a bitter taste, Arsenal finally allowed Ashley Cole to leave for Chelsea amidst a tapping-up scandal.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT: Chelsea stalked Cole, illegally tapped him up, and yet the transfer still happened, which was an indictment of how aggressive they were in their recruitment process at the time and how brazen they had become. They chased Steven Gerrard and while he ultimately never joined, Cole became the finest left-back in the world at Stamford Bridge, showcasing all of the modern attacking elements that would come to define the position much later. But it also represented Arsenal lacking their transfer market strength as they moved out of Highbury, and had a new stadium to pay for.

THE LEGACY: A seedy transfer, one that represented a seemingly permanent power shift.

38. Andrea Pirlo

THE TRANSFER: Milan to Juventus - Bosman (2011)

THE BACKGROUND: A Juventus team in crisis since the Calciopoli crisis - with consecutive seventh-placed finishes - needed a savior. Enter, Andrea Pirlo.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT: Juventus were relegated to Serie B following the Calciopoli scandal, a punishment that had a devastating impact on the club. By the summer of 2011, they were in crisis after finishing seventh for two seasons in a row. Serie A champions Milan then made the fatal mistake of allowing a 32-year-old Andrea Pirlo to join Juventus on a Bosman Transfer. Pirlo - along with new manager Antonio Conte - resurrected the Old Lady. They stormed to the Scudetto unbeaten and dominated Italian football for the next decade.

THE LEGACY: A reborn Juventus won a record nine Scudetti in a row.

37. Pele

THE TRANSFER: Free Agent to NY Cosmos (1975)

THE BACKGROUND: The world's most famous footballer comes out of retirement to take soccer global in the Unied States.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT: When Pele came out of retirement to join the New York Cosmos, football – or soccer – was far from a popular sport in the United States. Pele transcended the sport and single-handedly made soccer glamorous in the United States. He opened the door for many other superstars from Europe and South America – some of them still in the peak of their career – to move to the NASL too. Superstars such as Giorgio Chinaglia, Franz Beckenbauer (who played with him for the Cosmos), Johan Cruyff, George Best, Carlos Alberto, Bobby Moore and many more. Pele was a celebrity on the level of any Hollywood star, musician or politician and he mixed with presidents and many celebrities.

THE LEGACY: The NASL and Cosmos collapsed in the 1980s after Pele's departure but the Brazilian will always be remembered as the footballer who first made America interested in soccer.

36. Gianluigi Lentini

THE TRANSFER: Torino to Milan - £13m (1992)

THE BACKGROUND: With Serie A the centre of world football, Milan spent £13m on winger Gianluigi Lentini - shattering the world transfer record in the process.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT: From 1984 until 1992 Italian teams broke the world transfer record six times, and three of those were Milan, whose deal for Lentini was so big it led to criticism from the Catholic church. The Serie A excess took a pause - it would be another five years, and Ronaldo, before it was broken again - but the legacy was in the tragedy. Lentini suffered a horrific car crash the following season, fracturing his skull and never retaining his balance and poise that made him such a skilled wide player.

THE LEGACY: A testament to Italian excess and a story that has a tragic conclusion.

35. Sergio Aguero

275 games
184 goals
5 titles
1 ‘Agueroooo'

Sergio Aguero says goodbye to the Premier League 🍾 pic.twitter.com/656sVOicxe

— B/R Football (@brfootball) May 23, 2021

THE TRANSFER: Atletico to Man City - £20m (2011)

THE BACKGROUND: Twelve months after signing Yaya Toure and David Silva, Manchester City snap up one of the greatest young talents in Sergio Aguero from Atletico Madrid.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT: Like Silva and Toure before him, Aguero could have had his choice of clubs in Europe, but the fact he chose City was testament to their rise, how much they were paying, but also how players were beginning to take them seriously. Aguero would go onto have the best goals per minute ratio of any Premier League great, but besides all of that, his arrival created the most dramatic finish to a football match ever seen, when his injury-time goal against QPR created a singular moment in history that will almost certainly never be repeated.

THE LEGACY: AGUERRROOOO! And much more.

34. Oscar

THE TRANSFER: Chelsea to Shanghai - £60m (2017)

THE BACKGROUND: In one of the biggest coups for the Chinese Super League, Oscar leaves Premier League holders Chelsea for Shanghai SIPG for a huge fee and even bigger salary.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT: Oscar's transfer at the time felt like it could be the start of a shift. The Brazilian was just 25 when he chose to make the move east, earning an incredible £400k a week in the process, and it was expected that China could be a seriously competitive force in the transfer market going forward. But ultimately it never really got bigger than Oscar in terms of the players they could attract; many, many others moved and hundreds of millions were spent, not only on players, but coaches too. The route has now effectively been closed and the money curtailed, but Oscar's deal is a reminder that, for a period, China threatened the western monopoly of the transfer market.

THE LEGACY: The symbol of the rise, and subsequent fall, of China as a transfer market giant.

33. Neymar

⚠️ Neymar, Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu will go to trial at a court in Barcelona, not at the National Court.

• They are accused of corruption and fraud related to Neymar's transfer from Santos to Barcelona back in 2013.#FCB 🇧🇷⚖

Via: @sport pic.twitter.com/Q1UhLpZpyb

— Barça Buzz (@Barca_Buzz) March 29, 2021

THE TRANSFER: Santos to Barcelona - £80m (2013)

THE BACKGROUND: After protracted negotiations with agents and others, Neymar finally moves to Europe, joining Barcelona for a huge fee.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT: Never before has a transfer indirectly led to the downfall of a president, but Sandro Rosell's reputation was tied up in a simply dirty deal, as numerous stakeholders demanded their pound of flesh for the Brazilian talent of his generation. The actual fee was carved up in numerous places but Rosell was at the centre and investigations were launched into where some of the money ultimately ended up. Rosell ended up in jail and four years later Neymar was smashing the world transfer record when joining PSG. It was another deal that showcased the seediness of football's underbelly when it comes to transferring young talent.

THE LEGACY: A hugely talented player whose off-field circus led to prison time for the president of one of the world's biggest clubs.

32. Gianluca Vialli

Gianluca Vialli speaking to the media on the day he signed for Chelsea! ✍️#OnThisDay in 1996! pic.twitter.com/5NSUgYXj4q

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) May 24, 2020

THE TRANSFER: Juventus to Chelsea - Bosman (1996)

THE BACKGROUND: Champions League winner Gianluca Vialli swaps Turin for London, joining Chelsea under the Bosman ruling.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT: Vialli's move was seismic for two very different reasons; one, alongside Edgar Davids he was one of the most high-profile players to take advantage of the newly-formed Bosman ruling. But secondly, he chose England, at a time when it was miles behind Serie A in every aspect. Vialli was somewhat a trailblazer in that respect, an internationally renowned talent choosing England over anywhere else. These days it's commonplace, but at the time the Premier League did not have the pull it now does; the arrival of players like Vialli opened the door for many others to follow.

THE LEGACY: The largely domestic-based Premier League became the home for top-class international footballers.

31. Didier Drogba

THE TRANSFER: Marseille to Chelsea - £24m (2004)

THE BACKGROUND: Chelsea spend what was at the time a huge sum for Marseille forward Didier Drogba, splashing out £24m on his services.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT: Chelsea and Jose Mourinho spent a significant amount of money during his time at the club but arguably none of it was spent better than on Drogba. The season prior he had battered Ligue 1 and the Europa League simultaneously as Marseille reached the final, but you could argue that Drogba never really hit his stride until his third season, scoring 33 goals in 60 games. The fact he kept it up and even played a role when Mourinho returned is testament to his longevity and position as one of the Premier League's most dynamic, difficult-to-play-against forwards it has ever seen.

THE LEGACY: Was the driving force of Chelsea's success, particularly post-Mourinho.

READ MORE: The 50 most important transfers of all time (30-21)

Read more about: La Liga, Serie A, Premier League, Arsenal, Barcelona, Chelsea, Juventus, Man City