Ten ten transfers in history that made the selling club the most profit.
10. Radamel Falcao (Net profit: £30.8m)
The Colombian has established himself as one of the deadliest strikers in world football but was snapped up by Porto for a mere £3.9m from River Plate in 2009. The Primera Liga club, who have a reputation for making huge profits on players, soon realised they’d found another bargain. Falcao scored a staggering 72 in 87 appearances in Portugal, prompting Atletico Madrid to cough up £34.7m to bring him to Spain. Astonishingly, the La Liga club made a tidy profit of their own this summer, when they flogged Falcao to AS Monaco for a reported £49m.
9. Luis Figo (Net profit: £32.8m)
It takes an act of astonishing betrayal to prompt a Spaniard to smuggle a pig’s head into a football stadium and throw it at you. But that’s exactly what mercurial Portuguese playmaker Figo managed, after joining Real Madrid from Barcelona for a whopping £37m in 2000. The forward was one of the most gifted players on the planet at the time and it will have been little consolation for Barca that they earned a £32m profit from their arch rivals, having bought Figo for a mere £4.2m from Sporting Lisbon five years earlier.
7= James Rodriguez (Net profit: £33.5m)
We’ve already told you Porto are good at selling players for monstrous profits and, like his compatriot Falcao, winger Rodriguez made huge money for the Portuguese club. The 22-year-old was signed by mega-rich AS Monaco in a £60m double-deal along with teammate Joao Moutinho this summer, with Rodriguez reportedly accounting for £38.5m of the fee. Porto had signed him for just £5m from Atletico Banfield in 2010. Why someone from the Premier League hasn’t kidnapped their chief scout yet remains unclear.
7= Hernan Crespo (Net profit: £33.5m)
One of the deadliest strikers in Serie A history, Crespo arrived on European soil in 1996, costing Parma just £2m from Buenos Aires outfit River Plate. The Argentine spent just four seasons at the club but was voted the best player in their history, before joining Lazio for a tasty £35.5m in 2000. Like Rodriguez and Falcao, the long-haired marksmen arrived from South America, proving there’s money to be made from effective scouting in the Latin American continent.
6. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Net profit: £36.5m)
No list centred on transfer fees would be complete without the man who has commanded more combined fees than any other player in history. When Inter Milan snapped up Zlatan for £20m in 2006, the Nerazzurri can hardly have expected to make a huge profit on the mercurial Swede. But Barcelona came calling in 2009 with an offer of £40m plus Samuel Eto’o. With the Camerooian valed at around the £16.5m mark, Inter turned a tidy profit of £36m. Zlatan’s time at the Nou Camp proved ill-fated, however, and he departed after one season.
5. Edinson Cavani (Net profit: £40m)
The emergence of silly-rich PSG and AS Monaco as major players on the European football scene has seen transfer fees spiral and Napoli were the recipients of a huge profit this summer. Edinson Cavani was far from prolific at Palermo before Napoli coughed up £14m for his services in 2010 but the Uruguayan scored a whopping 100 goals in 138 appearances in Naples, before PSG signed him for £54m. The Uruguayan now forms a delicious partnership with Zlatan at the Parc des Princes.
4. Zinedine Zidane (Net profit: £42.8m)
It is testament to Zidane’s genius that Juventus’ £42m profit made in 2001 is still the fourth highest in history. After signing Zizou for just £3m from Marseille in 1996, Juve watched as the playmaker achieved global stardom with his performances at World Cup 1998 and Euro 2000, prompting Real Madrid to pay £45.8m for the Frenchman in 2001. Zidane became a legend at the Bernabeu, where he is now assistant manager and sporting director. His son is also on the La Liga giant’s books so if genius runs in the family, Los Blancos won’t have to pay through the nose for it this time.
3. Kaka (Net profit: £51m)
Controversial AC Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi described Kaka’s transfer fee as ‘peanuts’ after landing the playmaker from Sao Paulo for just £3m. The ex-Italian PM couldn’t have known what an astronomical profit he would make on the Brazilian, who joined Real Madrid for £57m in 2009, having claimed the Ballon d’Or two years earlier. Kaka struggled to reach the same heights in the Spanish capital, however, and returned to Milan this summer, where he is beginning to shine once again.
2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Net profit: £67.7m)
A man who needs no introduction, Cristiano Ronaldo was spotted by Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson in a friendly with Sporting Lisbon in 2003 and the Scot was so impressed with the teenager he paid £12.2m for him shortly afterwards. A stunning six years at Old Trafford saw Ronaldo establish himself as one of the world’s best players but he he has reached even dizzier heights at the Bernabeu, following a then-world record £80m transfer in 2009. United made a £67.7m profit, but how they would love the 2013 Ballon d’Or winner back at Old Trafford now.
1. Gareth Bale (Net profit: £78.3m)
This summer’s most tedious transfer saga was finally concluded one day before the end of the August window, when Real Madrid finally caved to the demands of Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy. Spurs fans were heartbroken to see Bale depart after the Welshman wowed the Premier League with some super-human performances last season but Real paid a world record £85m for Bale, who cost Spurs just £7m from Southampton in 2007. Saints allegedly wavered a 25% sell-on clause in 2008 inserted in the deal which saw Tottenham buy Bale due to financial constraints at the time. Ouch.