- 23 hours ago
The 10 most expensive French players of all time
Carlo Garganese
- Updated: 3 Dec 2023 11:24 GMT
- 4 min read
Kylian Mbappe is the most expensive French footballer of all time for his transfer to PSG from Monaco for €180 million.
PSG shocked the world of football during the summer of 2017 when they splashed out over €400m on the two signings of Neymar and Mbappe.
Neymar moved for a world record fee of €222m from Barcelona, while Mbappe remains the second most expensive footballer in history at €180m.
READ: What are the most expensive transfers of all time? The 50 highest fees in history
The second most expensive French footballer ever is Antoine Griezmann, who moved to Barcelona for €120m in 2019 from Atletico Madrid.
However, Griezmann proved to be a disaster at Camp Nou and never managed to coexist with Lionel Messi. He eventually returned to Atletico two years later.
In third place is another flop Barcelona signing in the form of Ousmane Dembele.
Barca spent much of the Neymar money in 2017 on Dembele from Borussia Dortmund but his time in Catalonia was plagued by injuries and controversy.
Dembele left Barcelona for PSG for €50m in 2023.
Paul Pogba is the fourth most expensive French soccer player for his then-world record move back to Man Utd from Juventus in 2016.
However, Pogba's return to Man Utd was not the success it was hoped it would be as he suffered from inconsistency and injuries before seeing out his contract and returning to Juve on a Bosman.
Aurelien Tchouameni is the fifth most expensive French player ever after his €100m transfer to Real Madrid from Monaco in 2022. Tchouameni was signed to be the heir to Casemiro, who moved to Man Utd the same summer.
The 10 most expensive French soccer players of all time
| Player | Clubs | Fee | Season |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kylian Mbappe | Monaco to PSG | €180m | 2017 |
| Antoine Griezmann | Atletico Madrid to Barcelona | €120m | 2019 |
| Ousmane Dembele | Borussia Dortmund to Barcelona | €105m | 2017 |
| Paul Pogba | Juventus to Man Utd | €105m | 2016 |
| Aurelien Tchouameni | Monaco to Real Madrid | €100m | 2022 |
| Randal Kolo Muani | Eintracht Frankfurt to PSG | €95m | 2023 |
| Wesley Fofana | Leicester CIty to Chelsea | €81m | 2022 |
| Lucas Hernandez | Atletico Madrid to Bayern Munich | €80m | 2019 |
| Zinedine Zidane | Juventus to Real Madrid | €77.5m | 2001 |
| Thomas Lemar | Monaco to Atletico Madrid | €65m | 2018 |
The sixth most expensive Frenchman ever is Randal Kolo Muani, who also joined PSG in the summer of 2023.
PSG paid €95m for the attacker to gain his services from Eintracht Frankfurt.
The next most expensive Frenchmen is Wesley Fofana, who joined Chelsea during their world record splurge under new owner Todd Boehly in the summer of 2022.
Lucas Hernandez's €80m move to Bayern Munich is also on the list, although the defender has had a horrible time with injuries at the German team.
Zinedine Zidane is still on the list more than 20 years after he broke the world record with his €77.5m move from Juventus to Real Madrid.
Completing the top 10 is Thomas Lemar.
