10 most profitable transfers of all time
In modern-day club football, what happens on the pitch has to be complemented well by the business away from it for any club to keep competing at the highest levels. Players getting bought for around €100 million has become quite commonplace in today's inflated transfer market.
Teams have to keep a balance between the money they spend through roping in players and the money they earn from selling one of their own. Sometimes, the growth that a player has at a particular club helps them gain a ridiculous amount of money when they do end up selling him.
On that note, let's take a look at the 10 most profitable transfers of all time in football history.
#10 Eden Hazard to Real Madrid (Profit- €80 million)
Chelsea bought Eden Hazard from LOSC Lille in the summer of 2012 for €35 million. That was €35 million well spent because Eden Hazard would then go on to be one of the Premier League's best players for the next 7 years.
At Chelsea, the Belgian won 2 Premier League titles, 2 Europa League titles, 1 League Cup and was the club's player of the year on 4 occasions. Real Madrid finally signed him in June 2019 after knocking on the doors for several seasons.
Chelsea sold him to Real Madrid for a whopping €115 million and made a profit of €80 million on the talismanic winger.
#9 Matthijs De Ligt to Juventus (Profit- €85.5 million)
Matthijs De Ligt joined the famed Ajax academy at the age of 9 and became the club's youngest captain at the age of 19. De Ligt also won the Golden boy award in 2018 and became the first defender in history to win it.
He would also go on to become the youngest captain to have scored in the knockout stages of the Champions League, getting a goal in Ajax's win against Real Madrid. He led his exciting Ajax side to the semi-finals before losing to Tottenham in the last minute of the tie.
De Ligt immediately became the centre of attention in the transfer market and it was Juventus who finally managed to prise him away from Ajax. They signed him for €85.5 million. Since De Ligt was a youth academy product, all of that €85 million gets counted as profit.
#8 Gareth Bale to Real Madrid (Profit- €86.3 million)
Gareth Bale's career at Real Madrid has now taken an unfortunate turn and the relationship between the club and player has soured over the past few seasons. Gareth Bale was yet another Galactico signing back in the day after he had gone on to become a world beater at the age of 24 at Tottenham Hotspur.
Spurs had initially signed Gareth Bale as a left-back from Southampton for €14.7 million. The Welshman started tearing the league up producing eye-catching displays week in and week out and it wasn't long before he became the most sought after player in Europe.
Real Madrid announced the signing of Gareth Bale in September 2013 for a whopping €101 million. Spurs made an €86.3 million profit from it.