10 GREATEST Transfers In Football History

It's often said that recruitment is the most important part of football. Signing the right players isn't always easy. Anyone who watched Andy Carroll at Liverpool will know that. Here are the 10 best transfers of all time. Diego Maradona to Napoli. £6.9 million Diego Maradona scored 38 goals in 58 games for Barcelona, but his two years at the club were filled with controversy. When Napoli offered £6.9 million for the Argentine in 1984, Barca were more than happy to cash in. It was a world record fee at the time, but it also proved to be a bargain. Napoli had never won Serie A before Maradona joined the club. By the time he left in 1991, they'd won it twice, as well as a Coppa Italia and the UEFA Cup. Napoli weren't a one-man team, but without Maradona, they wouldn't have had anywhere near as much success. The Argentine genius established himself as the world's best player in Naples. He'd been even more successful if he hadn't got caught up with the Camorra crime syndicate. I saw Maradona do things that God himself would doubt were possible, said Zico, who played against him for Udinese. When Maradona died in 2020, Napoli renamed their stadium after him, which says it all about his importance to the club. Frank Lampard to Chelsea. £11 million When Roman Abramovich bought the club in 2003, Chelsea immediately started splashing the cash. Within two years, they were champions of England for the first time in half a century. Two of the most important players of Chelsea's modern era were already at Stamford Bridge when Abramovich arrived. John Terry came through the academy, and Frank Lampard was signed from West Ham in 2001. Chelsea paid £11 million for the midfielder, who was also wanted by Aston Villa and Manchester United. Lampard went on to become Chelsea's all-time record goalscorer, with 211 strikes. For five seasons in a row in the 2000s, he scored 20 goals or more. The Premier League has never seen a more effective goalscoring midfielder. Lampard spent 13 seasons as a Chelsea player. During that time, he won three Premier League titles, four FA Cups, two League Cups, the Champions League, and the Europa League. That works out at £1 million per trophy. Cristiano Ronaldo to Manchester United. £12.2 million. Barcelona, Liverpool, and Arsenal all wanted to buy a young Portuguese starlet called Cristiano Ronaldo in 2003. Manchester United were also keen. At first, they were willing to loan him back to Sporting CP for a year. But when Ronaldo destroyed United in a pre-season friendly, Alex Ferguson knew he had to sign him immediately. It was £12.2 million, well spent. Ronaldo's talent was clear for all to see. But his end product wasn't particularly polished in the early part of his United career. He was criticised for diving, and some pundits accused him of holding onto the ball for too long. But Ronaldo didn't throw his toys out the pram. He worked hard at his game and impressed the likes of Roy Keane with his attitude and dedication. Having arrived at Old Trafford as a flashy winger, Ronaldo evolved into a ruthless all-round attacker. He scored 118 goals in 292 games for the Red Devils, winning three Premier League titles, two League Cups, an FA Cup, and the Champions League. Ronaldo also earned United a huge profit after they sold him to Real Madrid for £80 million in 2009. Johan Cruyff to Barcelona. £922,000. Johan Cruyff is the most influential figure in Barcelona's history. The Dutchman won the club's first-ever European Cup during his time as manager. He also overhauled Barca's academy and introduced the possession-based style of play that they're famous for today. Cruyff also spent five years at the Camp Nou as a player. Barcelona paid less than £1 million for him, but that was a world-record fee back in 1973. Cruyff had already won eight League titles and three European Cups at Ajax, but he was hungry for more. The Dutchman was a world-class technician and one of the most intelligent footballers of all time. He was the star of the show as Barcelona won their first La Liga title in 14 years in his debut season. If Barcelona hadn't signed Cruyff the player, Cruyff the manager might never have joined the club. And if that hadn't happened, the Barcelona of the modern era, Pep Guardiola, Xavi Hernandez, Lionel Messi, might never have come to pass. Kenny Dalglish to Liverpool. £440,000. In 1977, Kevin Keegan decided to leave Liverpool. He was wanted by clubs across Europe and eventually chose to join Bundesliga side Hamburg. That left the Reds in a sticky situation. Pundits predicted they'd struggle to replace Keegan, who went on to win two Ballon d'Ors in Germany. In fact, the Reds managed to find an upgrade on the Englishman. Kenny Dalglish arrived from Celtic for £440,000 a few weeks after Keegan's departure. That was a British record fee, and Dalglish was under pressure to deliver. He certainly did that. Dalglish scored 172 goals in 515 matches for Liverpool. He also created countless goals for his teammates. And without him, Liverpool wouldn't have won seven league titles and three European Cups between 1978 and 1986. Dalglish is widely regarded as Liverpool's greatest ever player. He went on to win two more league titles as the club's manager, further cementing his legendary status at Anfield. Sergio Aguero to Manchester City. £35 million Sergio Aguero developed a reputation as one of the hottest young strikers in Europe at Atletico Madrid. In his final season there, he scored 27 goals in all competitions. Manchester City liked what they saw. They paid £35 million to bring the Argentine to the Etihad in 2011, hoping he'd score the goals to fire City to their first league title since 1968. Some players need time to settle in at a new club in a new country. Not Aguero. He scored twice on his debut, and 30 times across the whole campaign. His 30th goal was his most important, sealing the title for City and leaving Man United with their heads in their hands. Aguero would have been worth every penny if he'd left at the end of that season. Instead, the Argentine stuck around for a decade and won four more Premier League titles, plus six league cups and one FA Cup. In total, he scored 260 goals for Manchester City, setting a new club record. City have confirmed they're building a statue of Aguero to commemorate his achievements. Michel Platini to Juventus. £68,000 Now, even Michel Platini will admit he didn't hit the ground running at Juventus. The Italian giant snapped him up for a nominal fee in 1982 after his contract with Saint-Étienne expired. But Platini struggled to adapt in his first few months in Serie A, and he even considered leaving the club around Christmas time. Juve fans must be relieved that he didn't. Platini recaptured his best form in the second half of the season, as Juventus reached the European Cup final. The Frenchman scored 82 goals in his first three seasons in Turin. That was an exceptional tally for an attacking midfielder who was coming up against the strongest defences in world football. Platini helped Juventus win the Serie A title and the Cup Winners' Cup in 1984. In 85, he finished as the European Cup's joint top scorer and notched the winning goal in the final against Liverpool. The following year, he added another Serie A winner's medal to his collection. Gianni Agnelli, the Juventus chairman, couldn't hide his delight. We bought him for a morsel of bread and he put foie gras on top of it, he said. Thierry Henry to Arsenal. £11 million At the start of 1999, Thierry Henry was toiling on the left wing at Juventus. At that precise moment, it would have been impossible to guess that the Frenchman would become arguably the greatest player in Premier League history. Arsene Wenger gladly snapped up Henry for £11 million in the summer of 1999. The Frenchman didn't score in his first eight games for Arsenal. He admitted he had to, literally, go back to school and be retaught everything about the art of striking. Those lessons paid off. Henry soon became one of the best strikers in England, then Europe, then the world. With 226 goals in 370 games for the club, Henry remains Arsenal's all-time record goalscorer. He was an integral part of two Premier League title triumphs at Highbury, the second of which saw Arsenal go through an entire season unbeaten. Henry also won two FA Cups and helped Wenger's side reach the 2006 Champions League final, where they narrowly lost to Barcelona. The club Henry joined one year later. Eric Cantona to Manchester United. £1.2 million If it wasn't for Leeds chairman Bill Fotherby, Manchester United might never have signed Eric Cantona. In 1992, Fotherby telephoned United chairman Martin Edwards to ask whether Dennis was available for transfer. Edwards conferred with Alex Ferguson and told the Leeds chief, no, but Ferguson wanted to know whether Leeds might consider selling Cantona. To his surprise, Fotherby suggested they would. Within a few days, the deal was done. United paid just £1.2 million for the maverick Frenchman. He was the final piece in Ferguson's jigsaw. Through outstanding natural ability, tactical intelligence, and sheer force of personality, Cantona helped United take the next step. The Red Devils proceeded to win four of the first five Premier League titles. The Frenchman wasn't around for the treble in 1999, having retired from the game aged 30. But if Cantona had never joined United, an achievement like that wouldn't have been possible. Marco Van Basten to AC Milan. £1 million When he left Ajax in 1987, any club in world football would have been improved by the presence of Marco Van Basten up front. It was AC Milan who won the race for his signature. They paid around £1 million for the Dutchman, who was joined at the San Siro by his compatriots Frank Rijkaard and Ruud Gullit a year later. Van Basten wasn't an instant hit. He only played 11 games in his first season due to an ankle injury. In 1988-89, the Dutchman was magnificent. He scored 33 goals in 47 games as Milan won the European Cup under Arrigo Sacchi. They retained the trophy the following season, when Van Basten found the net 25 times. The striker's career was sadly cut short by injury. He played his last match aged 28 and was forced to retire two years later. In his prime, though, Van Basten was one of the greatest centre-forwards of all time. At £1 million, he was also one of the biggest bargains in football history.