With Bale, Ronaldo & Dembélé: More flops than hits for transfers above €100m

12 players reached the benchmark 

There have been just 12 transfers that cost more than €100 million in the history of the game. The first player was Gareth Bale when he joined Real Madrid in 2013—the latest player to go for €100 million or more was Romelu Lukaku when he joined Chelsea in 2021. Deals of this category have to be well thought through; otherwise, they can come with significant issues for the purchasing club as the price tag also comes with considerable salary demands. With that in mind, clubs generally have a poor record when it comes to deals in that category. 

While it is too early to determine whether Lukaku’s return to Chelsea or Jack Grealish’s transfer to Manchester City was a success, other €100 million transfers have dominated the headlines negatively—four of those players will be free transfers in the summer of 2022. 

Within five months, FC Barcelona wanted to move Antoine Griezmann (now Atlético), Philippe Coutinho (now Aston Villa), and Ousmane Dembélé for a second time—players that since 2017 have cost €395 million. Dembélé has been the only player the club has not been able to move; his contract will expire on Jun. 30, 2022. It would be more than accurate to describe all those signings as a waste of money. Dembélé and Coutinho, in particular, have been often hindered by injuries. 

In Cristiano Ronaldo, a third player of the €100 million category, moved clubs in 2021—after three years at Juventus, he left the club without a significant success. Juve signed the Portuguese superstar in 2018 with the ambition to win the Champions League. The €117 million spent were a good investment, just not from a sporting perspective. 

While the Vecchia Signora gained followers on social media and were able to sign significant new sponsorship deals with Adidas and Jeep, the hoped-for success in the Champions League remained out of reach. Quarterfinal, round of 16, and quarterfinal was where Juve were eliminated with Ronaldo in the squad. Ronaldo earned €93 million during that time. 

The final season of the five-times Ballon d’Or winner saw Juventus finish fourth in Serie after having previously won the title nine times in a row. Even though Ronaldo’s performances for Juventus were excellent, the club failed to reach the lofty goals that set with the record signing’s arrival. 

Real Madrid’s €100 million transfers: Title guarantee Bale and a struggling Hazard

Real Madrid waited one year after Ronaldo’s departure before signing Eden Hazard for a club-record fee. The club was convinced about the now 31-year-old’s qualities that they paid €115 million to Chelsea, even though Hazard had just one year left on his contract. 

What followed were 63 games with just six goals—Hazard also missed 61 games with injuries. Once his salary of €30 million is added, then every goal cost… That sort of example is not necessary to underline that Hazard and Real were not a match made in heaven. 

The second top earner in Real’s squad is one of the club’s long-standing veterans, who signed one of the most significant contracts in the history of football when he was still a top player. Real boss Florentino Pérez signed Bale to a six-year contract worth €30 million a year before taxes in October 2016—after signing the new deal, Bale’s form and market value started to drop significantly. 

After five months without a game, the winger received a start in the 0-0 draw against Villarreal. “Gareth has struggled with injuries; his contract expires,” head coach Carlo Ancelotti said to realtotal. “Maybe he wasn’t very motivated lately. Now he is in good form, and he wants to end his career here on a high note.” 

Bale’s performances after his brace in the 2018 Champions League final have not matched his salary—but in the five previous seasons, the Welsh winger was instrumental in the club’s four UCL titles and two national championships, and the one Copa del Rey. Enough to satisfy the €101 million fee that Real Madrid paid to Tottenham Hotspur. It is, therefore, unfair to reduce Bale to golfing and the last two years in which he struggled with injuries. 

Dembélé aside, Kylian Mbappé and João Félix also moved as teenagers for fees above €100 million. While Félix has struggled to justify the high fee at Atlético Madrid and, as a result, has seen his market value drop, Mbappé has become the most valuable and in-demand player on the planet. The €145 million PSG paid to AS Monaco have since been repaid with goals. 

The Frenchman arrived in 2017, and together with record transfer, Neymar has formed the most expensive duo in football history. But while the two have collected several national titles, PSG are still waiting to win a major international title. This season could be the last chance for the duo to win the Champions League together as Mbappé is on the verge of joining Real Madrid on a free transfer.

Even if Mbappé leaves on a free transfer, the deal has been a good one for PSG as it accelerated the club’s ascent from a regional club to a genuine global brand. Neymar also aided that process, even if his performances and 102 missed games have made it somewhat difficult to justify the Parisians’ high price for the player. 

Available on a free transfer in the summer and often injured—those two terms are often associated with Paul Pogba. Manchester United paid a then-record €105 million for the French midfielder in 2016 and have since won just the Carabao Cup and the Europa League. Not enough to meet the ambitions of what was once one of the biggest clubs in the world. 

Pogba, who has missed 84 games for United, only showed his immense potential when he played for France’s national team. As a result, it is difficult to describe the transfer as a success. Pogba’s market value has since dropped from €100 million in 2019 to €55 million now. 

Ignoring Lukaku and Grealish, who both moved for €100 million or more in 2021, only Bale, Mbappé, and, perhaps, Neymar were able to meet the high expectations that came with their transfer fees. Dembélé, Coutinho, Griezmann, Hazard, Félix, and even Ronaldo were unable to meet the demands that came with their €100 million transfer tag. 

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