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Luis Enrique's 10 most expensive signings
16 May 2026 02:30 CDT |
8 min read
Analysis
Having constructed two of the most exciting teams in modern football history, Luis Enrique has worked with his fair share of superstars.
From Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar, the dazzling front three who fired Barcelona to the treble in 2014-15, to Joao Neves, Vitinha and Fabian Ruiz, the lifeblood of Paris Saint-Germain's maiden Champions League triumph in 2024-25.
But when analysing Luis Enrique’s incredible CV, which also includes managerial spells with Roma and Celta Vigo, which players has he signed en route to winning football’s biggest prizes? And how much did they cost?
With those questions in mind, FootballTransfers has decided to delve into the top 10 most expensive signings in the Spaniard’s career to date.
10. Lucas Chevalier/Willian Pacho (PSG - €40m/£34.6m)
Looking to strengthen both PSG’s goalkeeping and defensive ranks, Luis Enrique spent the same amount of money when acquiring Lucas Chevalier from Lille and Willian Pacho from Eintracht Frankfurt respectively.
Despite Gianluigi Donnarumma playing a key role in helping PSG win their first Champions League crown, Luis Enrique made the surprise decision to replace the Italy shot-stopper with Chevalier last summer.
However, while Donnarumma has been able to lick his wounds and help new club Manchester City win the Carabao Cup this season, a poor run of form has led to Chevalier being dropped in favour of Matvey Safonov at PSG.
Chevalier’s struggles are in stark contrast to the performances of Ecuador international Pacho, who has become one of Luis Enrique’s main lieutenants following his move in August 2024.
In a dream first season in France, Pacho made 57 appearances in all competitions for the Parisians, helping them keep a clean sheet in the 5-0 thrashing of Inter Milan in the 2025 Champions League final.
9. Bradley Barcola/Lucas Hernandez (PSG - €45m/£39m)
Luis Enrique once again decided to shell out the same fee to lure two players to PSG, although unlike Pacho and Chevalier, Bradley Barcola and Lucas Hernandez were each signed in the summer of 2023.
Arriving from Lyon as one of the most exciting young wingers in France, Barcola earned plenty of minutes in his first season with PSG, contributing five goals in a forward line which also featured Kylian Mbappe at the time.
On the other hand, France defender Hernandez made 47 appearances in all competitions in 2023-24, notably facing off against his brother Theo for the first time as PSG locked horns with AC Milan in the Champions League that year.
8. Ousmane Dembele/Desire Doue (PSG - €50m/£43.3m)
If there is one player who is the embodiment of Luis Enrique’s world-class coaching abilities, it is Ousmane Dembele.
Having struggled for consistency at Barcelona, the World Cup winner sought pastures new by joining PSG in the summer of 2023, in a move which saw him link up with France team-mate Mbappe.
However, following Mbappe’s departure to Real Madrid in 2024, Dembele has since become the heartbeat of Luis Enrique’s new-look PSG which is built on collective strength rather than individual skill.
Operating as a false nine for the first time, Dembele went on to record the greatest season of his career in 2024-25, scoring 35 goals in all competitions as the forward earned the Ballon d'Or for his remarkable efforts.
Flanking Dembele in PSG’s all-conquering 2024-25 side was Desire Doue, who not only followed in his footsteps by first emerging through Rennes’ famed youth system but he did so again by moving to the Parc des Princes in August 2024.
In a debut season for the ages, Doue scored twice in PSG’s 5-0 victory over Inter in the 2025 Champions League final, becoming the first teenager to score a brace in the showpiece at the age of 19 years and 362 days.
7. Manuel Ugarte (PSG - €60m/£52m)
In the same summer window which saw PSG sign Dembele, Hernandez and Barcola, Luis Enrique also decided to splash the cash on Uruguay international Manuel Ugarte.
Regarded as one of Europe's most promising young midfielders at the time, Ugarte moved to PSG after helping Sporting CP reach the Europa League quarter-finals under Ruben Amorim’s tutelage in 2022-23.
However, despite making 37 appearances in 2023-24, Ugarte was sold to Manchester United after just one season under Luis Enrique’s wing.
6. Illia Zabarnyi (PSG - €63m/£54.6m)
Keen to add depth to PSG's defence, Luis Enrique turned to the Premier League when deciding to spend big on highly-rated Bournemouth defender Illia Zabarnyi last summer.
Working under manager Andoni Iraola, Zabarnyi forged a formidable partnership with Dean Huijsen as the two centre-backs helped the Cherries finish ninth in 2024-25 - the club’s joint-best Premier League finish at the time.
Zabarnyi has made 34 appearances for PSG so far this season, scoring his first goal in a 2-0 Ligue 1 victory over Auxerre in September 2025.
5. Goncalo Ramos (PSG - €65m/£56.4m)
Before Luis Enrique decided to use Dembele as a false nine, he initially tried to build a fluid PSG attack which contained a typical centre forward.
One man who was signed with that idea in mind was Goncalo Ramos, who made a name for himself at the 2022 World Cup by bagging a hat-trick in Portugal’s 6-1 win over Switzerland in the last 16.
But despite scoring the stoppage-time equaliser which set up PSG’s penalty shootout victory over Tottenham Hotspur in the 2025 UEFA Super Cup final, Ramos has struggled to make the grade at PSG.
4. Joao Neves (PSG - €65.9m/£57.1m)
After signing Ugarte and Ramos from Sporting CP and Benfica respectively, Luis Enrique raided Portugal’s top flight once again when convincing Joao Neves to join his PSG project in August 2024.
And Neves was quick to develop a telepathic relationship with compatriot Vitinha and Spain international Fabian Ruiz in an elegant PSG midfield which made spectators weak at the knees.
En route to PSG’s Champions League success in 2025, Neves, Vitinha and Ruiz earned widespread acclaim for their performances in both legs of their last 16 tie with Liverpool.
3. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (PSG - €80m/£69.4m)
A rare foray into the winter transfer market saw Luis Enrique convince Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to leave Napoli for PSG in January 2025.
Christened ‘Kvaradona’ by the Napoli fanbase in an ode to their greatest ever player, Diego Maradona, the winger earned their adoration after helping end their 33-year wait to win Serie A in 2022-23.
But Georgia’s greatest ever player soon won the hearts of PSG fans as well after scoring goals against Brest, Aston Villa and Inter during the club’s historic Champions League triumph in 2025.
2. Luis Suarez (Barcelona - €86.4m/£75m)
The only transfer on this list which does not include PSG, Luis Enrique and Barcelona signed Luis Suarez from Liverpool in July 2014, in a deal which - now looking back - could be considered an almighty bargain.
For Barcelona and the watching world would go on to witness Suarez join forces with Lionel Messi and Neymar in the greatest front three in the history of the game.
In a 2014-15 campaign which saw Luis Enrique win the first treble of his career as Barcelona tasted La Liga, Copa del Rey and Champions League glory, Messi, Suarez and Neymar combined to score 122 goals that season.
And if that wasn’t enough, the same three players - who were colloquially nicknamed ‘MSN’ - buried 131 goals in 2015-16, a season which saw Barcelona win La Liga, the Copa del Rey, the UEFA Super Cup and also the FIFA Club World Cup.
1. Randal Kolo Muani (PSG - €95m/£82.4m)
And in the most expensive signing of his managerial career to date, Luis Enrique and PSG broke the bank to sign Randal Kolo Muani from Eintracht Frankfurt in September 2023.
Kolo Muani had established himself as one of the most complete strikers around at the time, having finished the 2022-23 Bundesliga season with a stunning 15 goals and 11 assists for Oliver Glasner’s Frankfurt.
However, after a difficult first 18 months in Paris, Kolo Muani spent the remainder of the 2024-25 campaign on loan at Juventus, where he scored 10 goals in just 22 games.
Despite his terrific form in Italy, the striker was deemed surplus to requirements by Luis Enrique at the start of the 2025-26 campaign, paving the way for a season-long loan move to Tottenham, with whom he has scored five goals in 39 appearances so far.
