Top Ten Most Expensive Premiership Transfers

Transfer fees for the FA Premier League are gradually getting larger and larger as more and more money is being pumped into English football. In the Premiership the current big spenders are Manchester City who were bought in 2008 by the Abu Dhabi United Group and are thought to be one of the wealthiest football clubs in the world. Many Premiership teams are now full of multi-million pound players and fees of over £20 million are no longer a rarity in the English game. Here is a rundown of the most expensive transfers to the English Premier League to date:

1: Robinho – Real Madrid to Manchester City – £32.5m (2008)

2: Dimitar Berbatov – Tottenham Hotspur to Manchester United – £30.75m (2008)

3: Andriy Shevchenko - AC Milan to Chelsea – £30m (2006)

4: Rio Ferdinand – Leeds to Manchester United – £29.1m (2002)

5: Juan Sebastian Veron – Lazio to Manchester United – £28.1m (2001)

6: Carlos Tevez – Manchester United to Manchester City – £25m (2009)

7: Emmanuel Adebayor – Arsenal to Manchester City – £25m (2009)

8: Michael Essien – Lyon to Chelsea – £24.5m (2005)

9: Didier Drogba – Marseille to Chelsea – £24m (2004)

10: Wayne Rooney – Everton to Manchester United – £23m (2004)

I wouldn’t be surprised if Robinho’s £32.5 million transfer fee is surpassed in the near future and there is sure to be much more football transfer news in the upcoming January transfer window. The most expensive transfer fees for footballers to the FA Premier League are small compared to the record worldwide transfer fees. None of the transfers above feature in the top 5 worldwide transfer fees for footballers, with Ronaldo leading the way after his £80 million transfer from Real Madrid to Manchester United last summer.