Jude Bellingham is the most expensive transfer for an English footballer. He joined Real Madrid from Borussia Dortmund for an incredible €134 million (if we include add-ons).
It brought an end to the long, drawn-out saga that he would be making a move to Liverpool. In the end, terms were agreed for the Englishman by Los Blancos, marking the first huge signing of the summer transfer window in 2023.
Declan Rice is the second most expensive English footballer of all time – when add-ons are included – as Arsenal showed themselves willing to potentially pay as much as €122m for the defensive midfielder. Interestingly, if we only take the base fee and use British pounds as the currency, Rice is actually the most expensive English player at £105m.
He narrowly beats out competition from Harry Kane for whom Bayern Munich agreed to pay an eventual €120m to sign him from Tottenham.
All three of the above transfers were completed in the summer of 2023, meaning that Jack Grealish’s previous record was broken three times in the same window. In the summer of 2021, Man City had paid €118m for the then-Aston Villa star.
READ: What are the most expensive transfers of all time? The 50 highest fees in history
Grealish made the move to the Premier League giants in 2021 but has largely struggled to pay back that fee despite winning the league title in his first season and the treble in his second.
The fifth most expensive English soccer player in history is Harry Maguire, who moved to Manchester United from Leicester City in the summer of 2019 for €87m.
Maguire is the most expensive defender in football history and has had a mixed time of things at Old Trafford. He started well in his first two seasons at United before seeing his form drop and eventually losing his place in his fourth season at the club.
Jadon Sancho, who moved to Man Utd from Dortmund in 2021 for €85m is next. Sancho has proven to be a huge disappointment, eventually even being exiled after publicly calling his manager Erik ten Hag a liar.
The seventh most expensive Englishman ever is Mason Mount, who moved to Man Utd in 2023 from Chelsea for a fee that could rise to €70m.
He nudges out Raheem Sterling, who made the leap to Man City from Liverpool in the summer of 2015 for €64m.
Sterling enjoyed seven outstanding seasons at the Etihad, winning four league titles and scoring 131 goals.
The winger appears twice on this list as he also moved for a big sum from Man City to Chelsea in 2022 for €56m.
Ben White transferred from Brighton to Arsenal for €58m in 2021. The move raised eyebrows but White has performed well for the Gunners.
The 10 most expensive English soccer players of all time
| Player | Clubs | Fee | Season |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jude Bellingham | Dortmund to Real Madrid | €134m | 2023 |
| Declan Rice | West Ham to Arsenal | €122m | 2023 |
| Harry Kane | Tottenham to Bayern Munich | €120m | 2023 |
| Jack Grealish | Aston Villa to Man City | €118m | 2021 |
| Harry Maguire | Leicester to Man Utd | €87m | 2019 |
| Jadon Sancho | Dortmund to Man Utd | €85m | 2021 |
| Mason Mount | Chelsea to Man Utd | €70m | 2023 |
| Raheem Sterling | Liverpool to Man City | €64m | 2015 |
| Ben White | Brighton to Arsenal | €58m | 2021 |
| Raheem Sterling | Man City to Chelsea | €56m | 2022 |
