Neymar tops this ranking of the biggest reported transfer-fee margins, with Barcelona’s sale to Paris Saint-Germain carrying an estimated €134 million profit. The list covers players a club bought and later sold, using Transfermarkt’s figures in a snapshot dated July 10, 2024—not a live ranking or a measure of a club’s full net profit.
What “transfer profit” means in this ranking
Transfermarkt calculates a transfer-profit margin as the departure fee received minus the acquisition fee paid. It is a straightforward comparison of transfer fees, not the club’s net profit from the player. The calculation does not deduct wages, signing costs, agent fees, bonuses, amortization, financing or other expenses. Transfermarkt’s definition is available at Transfermarkt’s transfer-profit explanation.
The table follows Transfermarkt’s historical gallery, marked updated July 10, 2024, and excludes academy products. Fees and margins are reported in nominal euros, with no inflation adjustment indicated. They should be read as Transfermarkt estimates, not independently audited financial statements. The gallery is a dated snapshot; its ranking can change as transfers are added or values revised. See Transfermarkt’s historical gallery.
The 20 biggest reported transfer-fee margins
Ranks are ordered by reported margin, not by the size of the sale fee. Acquisition fees are shown as sale fee minus reported margin, using the figures in Transfermarkt’s gallery; the source reports the sale fees and margins.
#1 Best Overall
| Rank | Player | Selling club → buying club | Transfer season | Acquisition fee | Reported sale fee | Reported margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Neymar | Barcelona → Paris Saint-Germain | 2017–18 | €88m | €222m | €134m |
| 2 | Philippe Coutinho | Liverpool → Barcelona | 2017–18 | €13m | €135m | €122m |
| 3 | Ousmane Dembélé | Borussia Dortmund → Barcelona | 2017–18 | €35m | €135m | €100m |
| 4 | Antoine Griezmann | Atlético Madrid → Barcelona | 2019–20 | €30m | €120m | €90m |
| 5 | Moisés Caicedo | Brighton & Hove Albion → Chelsea | 2023–24 | €28.2m | €116m | €87.8m |
| 6 | Gareth Bale | Tottenham Hotspur → Real Madrid | 2013–14 | €14.7m | €101m | €86.3m |
| 7 | Eden Hazard | Chelsea → Real Madrid | 2019–20 | €35m | €120.8m | €85.8m |
| 8 | Dušan Vlahović | Fiorentina → Juventus | 2021–22 | €3.2m | €83.5m | €80.3m |
| 9 | Antony | Ajax → Manchester United | 2022–23 | €15.75m | €95m | €79.25m |
| 10 | Enzo Fernández | Benfica → Chelsea | 2022–23 | €44.25m | €121m | €76.75m |
| 11 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Manchester United → Real Madrid | 2009–10 | €19m | €94m | €75m |
| 12 | Zinédine Zidane | Juventus → Real Madrid | 2001–02 | €3.5m | €77.5m | €74m |
| 13 | Harry Maguire | Leicester City → Manchester United | 2019–20 | €13.7m | €87m | €73.3m |
| 14 | Jude Bellingham | Borussia Dortmund → Real Madrid | 2023–24 | €30.15m | €103m | €72.85m |
| 15 | Virgil van Dijk | Southampton → Liverpool | 2017–18 | €15.7m | €84.65m | €68.95m |
| 16 | Thomas Lemar | Monaco → Atlético Madrid | 2018–19 | €4m | €72m | €68m |
| 17 | Riyad Mahrez | Leicester City → Manchester City | 2018–19 | €0.5m | €67.8m | €67.3m |
| 18 | Casemiro | Real Madrid → Manchester United | 2022–23 | €6m | €70.65m | €64.65m |
| 19 | Jadon Sancho | Borussia Dortmund → Manchester United | 2021–22 | €20.59m | €85m | €64.41m |
| 20 | Aurélien Tchouaméni | Monaco → Real Madrid | 2022–23 | €18m | €80m | €62m |
Transfer seasons and acquisition fees in the table are derived from the sale fee minus reported margin; the gallery cited here supplies the sale fees and margins. The acquisition figures therefore reflect that arithmetic, not a separate audited statement of what a club paid.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to read the figures—and what they leave out
A fee margin is not a club’s overall return
A large difference between a purchase fee and a later sale fee does not establish how much a club made after all player-related costs. Salaries and other expenses are outside this margin calculation, and the table does not value sporting performance or the opportunity cost of keeping or selling a player.
Headline fees are not always directly comparable
Transfers can involve fixed and conditional sums, as well as release or buy-out fees. FIFA’s Global Transfer Report 2025 reports those fee types separately. That distinction is useful context, but it does not independently verify the historical fees in this table.
Academy players are outside the comparison
This gallery ranks resales of players clubs acquired, and explicitly excludes academy products. Including homegrown players would be a different comparison: an initial transfer fee may be zero or otherwise not comparable to the purchase price of an acquired player. FourFourTwo also distinguishes bought-and-sold players from those developed by a club in its coverage of the ranking’s scope.
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