The 10 most expensive Brazilian players of all time

Carlo Garganese

• Updated: 22 Mar 2024 13:01 GMT
• 4 min read

Neymar is the most expensive Brazilian footballer of all time thanks to his transfer to Paris Saint-Germain from Barcelona for €222 million.

PSG shocked the world of football when they paid Neymar’s release clause in his Barcelona contract in the summer of 2017.

This transfer fee remains to this day they biggest in football history and it is unlikely to be broken anytime soon.

The second most expensive Brazilian soccer player in history is Philippe Coutinho, who moved to Barcelona from Liverpool in January 2018 for €135m.

READ: What are the most expensive transfers of all time? The 50 highest fees in history

Coutinho was a replacement for Neymar at Barcelona but fell badly short of matching the success of his compatriot.

A big disaster at Camp Nou, Coutinho was loaned away twice before being sold permanently to Aston Villa in 2022.

The third most expensive Brazilian player ever is Antony, who moved to Man Utd from Ajax in 2022 for €95m.

The tricky right winger has so far failed to justify that huge price tag but time is on his side to prove his worth.

Neymar has three spots in the top ten, boasting the fourth most expensive transfer after leaving PSG for Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia in 2023, while his initial transfer to Barcelona from Santos in 2013 was the fifth highest fee at €86m.

This was a controversial transfer also for legal reasons but he proved a hit on the pitch in his four years at Barca, winning the treble in 2015.

In sixth place is Arthur Melo, who joined Juventus as part of the exchange which saw Miralem Pjanic go the other way to Barcelona.

This was registered in the accounts as two separate transfers but both nonetheless were disasters. Juventus loaned Arthur to Liverpool in 2022 and are desperate to sell now after loaning him to Fiorentina in 2023.

Next in the top 10 Brazilian signings is Casemiro, who helped Man Utd win silverware in his debut season after moving for €70.7m from Real Madrid in 2022.

Kaka is the oldest name on the list after his €67m move to Real Madrid from Milan. At the time Kaka was one of the best players in the world but he was never the same player at Madrid that he was at Milan.

Alisson Becker, who has been one of the best goalkeepers in the world since joining Liverpool from Roma for €62.5m in 2018 has the eighth-highest transfer for a Brazilian player.

He has proved pivotal in winning the Premier League and lifting the Champions League. He is also the second most expensive goalkeeper ever after Kepa.

Completing the top 10 is Oscar, who left Chelsea for the Chinese Super League in 2017.

The 10 most expensive Brazilian soccer players of all time