The 10 most expensive English players of all time

Carlo Garganese

• Updated: 16 Sep 2024 04:43 CDT
• 4 min read

Jude Bellingham is the most expensive transfer for an English footballer. He joined Real Madrid from Borussia Dortmund for an incredible €134 million (if we include add-ons).

It brought an end to the long, drawn-out saga that he would be making a move to Liverpool. In the end, terms were agreed with Los Blancos for the Englishman, who enjoyed a brilliant first season in the Spanish capital.

Declan Rice is the second most expensive English footballer of all time - when add-ons are included - as Arsenal showed themselves willing to potentially pay West Ham as much as €122m for the defensive midfielder in 2023. Interestingly, if we only take the base fee and use British pounds as the currency, Rice is actually the most expensive English player at £105m.

READ MORE: The 10 most expensive Italian players of all time

He narrowly beats out competition from Harry Kane for whom Bayern Munich agreed to pay an eventual €120m to sign him from Tottenham in the summer of 2023.

Jack Grealish's previously held the record transfer fee for an Englishman when Man City paid €118m for the then-Aston Villa star in the summer of 2021.

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

Grealish has largely struggled to pay back that fee despite winning the league title in his first season and the treble in his second.

The fifth most expensive English soccer player in history is Harry Maguire, who moved to Manchester United from Leicester City in the summer of 2019 for €87m.

Maguire is the most expensive defender in football history and has had a mixed time of things at Old Trafford. He started well in his first two seasons at United before seeing his form drop.

Jadon Sancho, who moved to Man Utd from Dortmund in 2021 for €85m is next. Sancho has proven to be a huge disappointment at Old Trafford.

The seventh most expensive Englishman ever is Mason Mount, who moved to Man Utd in 2023 from Chelsea for a fee that could rise to €70m. He has had a miserable first season with United, being plagued with injuries.

The 2024 summer window saw Dominic Solanke move from Bournemouth to Tottenham for €64m. It was the most expensive transfer for that window for the Premier League.

Raheem Sterling is next after he made the leap to Man City from Liverpool in the summer of 2015 for the same price.

Sterling enjoyed seven outstanding seasons at the Etihad, winning four league titles and scoring 131 goals, before moving to Chelsea. He is currently at Arsenal on loan from the Blues.

Ben White transferred from Brighton to Arsenal for €58m in 2021. The move raised eyebrows but White has performed well for the Gunners.

The 10 most expensive English soccer players of all time