Inter Milan's 25 most expensive transfers of all time

FT Desk

• Updated: 22 Oct 2025 08:15 CDT
• 10 min read

Analysis

With achievements such as their treble win in 2010, and legendary players like Ronaldo, Javier Zanetti and Sandro Mazzola, Inter Milan are engrained as one of the world's biggest clubs.

With success in Italy dating back to their 1909-10 title, they have been a force to be reckoned with for decades, and they even managed to win five Serie A titles in a row between 2005-06 and 2009-10, despite being challenged by an exceptional AC Milan side.

Below, we run through the 25 most expensive Inter Milan signings in history.

25-16

25. Clarence Seedorf - €24m (from Real Madrid, 1999)

An AC Milan legend, it is often forgotten that Seedorf played also for Inter earlier in his career.

Despite some memorable moments, he played at Inter during a chaotic time, and the club made the fateful decision in 2001 to swap him for Milan’s Francesco Coco.

24. Matías Vecino - €24.0m (from Fiorentina, 2017)

Signed from Fiorentina in the years where Inter were starting to build towards something big again.

Vecino was a serviceable and reliable player with a knack for scoring big goals in big games.

23. Ricardo Quaresma - €24.6m (from Porto, 2008)

Signed on the request of countryman Jose Mourinho, Quaresma was a disaster at Inter.

A classic case of style over substance, Quaresma was quickly dubbed a flop and loaned to Chelsea before being sold to Besiktas.

22. Zlatan Ibrahimović - €24.8m (from Juventus, 2006)

One of the most controversial transfers of all time, Zlatan quit Juventus after the Calciopoli scandal to join their most hated rivals.

Zlatan won three Scudetti with Inter before jumping ship in 2009 to join Barcelona, who famously were knocked out by his former club in the semi-final of the Champions League that season.

21. Stefano Sensi - €25m (from Sassuolo, 2020)

A supremely talented and diminutive midfielder, Sensi had a great start to his career at Inter and really looked the part.

However, his career would be ravaged by injuries, which was such a shame as he could have had a great career.

20. Lautaro Martínez - €25m (from Racing Club, 2018)

A modern Inter legend, Lautaro established himself as one of the best attackers in the world at San Siro.

A club symbol, the Argentine has won two Scudetto and reached to Champions League finals with the Nerazzurri.

19. Ronaldo - €26.5m (from Barcelona, 1997)

Inter broke the world transfer record to sign the best player in the world from Barcelona in 1997.

El Fenomeno enjoyed a brilliant debut season at San Siro but then suffered two horrible injuries that ruled him out for over two years. He joined Real Madrid in 2002 after a fallout with manager Hector Cuper.

18. Francesco Toldo €26.5m (from Fiorentina, 2001)

At the turn of the millennium Francesco Toldo was one of the world’s best goalkeepers and he impressed during nine years at Inter.

A penalty specialist he won multiple Scudetti and when at his best he was feared by strikers everywhere.

17. Christian Eriksen - €27m (from Tottenham, 2020)

Inter made a big coup picking up Eriksen mid-season from Tottenham in 2020 and after a slow start he played a pivotal role in them winning the Scudetto under Antonio Conte.

However, following his cardiac arrest at Euro 2021 he was forced to leave Italy due to health rules forbidding players wearing an implantable cardioverter defibrillator.

16. Joaquín Correa - €27.3m (from Lazio, 2022)

Correa had been a favourite of then-Inter manager Simone Inzaghi when the pair were at Lazio.

But he became something of a meme at Inter, more famous for hosting the team barbeques than contributing on the pitch.

15-11

15. Robin Gosens - €27.4m (from Atalanta, 2022)

Gosens joined Inter after emerging as one of Serie A’s best wing-backs in an exciting Atalanta team.

However, he never reached close to those levels at Inter and also suffered with injuries before being sold to Union Berlin a year later.

14. Diego Milito - €28.0m (from Genoa, 2009)

An Inter legend after his heroics in the treble-winning season of 2009/10.

Milito scored 30 goals that season, including a double in the Champions League final success over Bayern Munich, the winner in the Coppa Italia final, and the key goal that won Inter the Scudetto on the final day.

13. Gabriel Barbosa - €29.5m (from Santos, 2016)

One of the worst signings in Inter’s history, ‘Gabigol’ as he was better known was an almighty flop with the Nerazzurri.

He made just 10 appearances, scored one goal and was soon offloaded.

12. Alessandro Bastoni - €31.1m (from Atalanta, 2017)

Plucked out of Atalanta’s successful youth academy as a teenager, Bastoni soon developed into one of Europe’s best defenders.

Brilliant building the play from the back, Bastoni played a pivotal role in Inter’s Scudetto successes and Champions League final appearances.

11. Davide Frattesi - €31.4m (from Sassuolo, 2024)

Part of an exciting Sassuolo team that emerged under Roberto De Zerbi, Frattesi joined Inter hoping to take the next step in his career.

He struggled to find a regular starting place but still chipped in with some key goals, especially in Inter’s run to the 2025 Champions League final.

10. Benjamin Pavard - €31.4m (from Bayern Munich, 2023)

Benjamin Pavard completed a €31.4m move from Bayern Munich to Inter Milan in 2023 and he was seen as a perfect fit for the right centre-back role in Simone Inzaghi’s 3-5-2 system.

The Frenchman had established himself as a top defender during his spell at Bayern and he racked up 70 appearances across two seasons at San Siro, winning two trophies.

In 2025, Pavard joined Marseille on loan, with Manuel Akanji arriving from Manchester City to replace him.

9. Nicolo Barella - €32.5m (from Cagliari, 2020)

After progressing through the Cagliari youth system, Nicolo Barella emerged onto the Serie A stage in 2016-17 and after three years of consistent form, he joined Inter on loan in 2019.

One year later, the Italian giants made the deal permanent for €32.5m and Barella has gone from strength-to-strength ever since.

His first season as a permanent player at San Siro saw Inter emerge triumphant in the Serie A title race, while he helped the side reach the Champions League final in both 2023 and 2025.

8. Milan Skriniar - €34m (from Sampdoria, 2017)

Signed in the same summer as Alessandro Bastoni, Milan Skriniar became a key player upon walking through the door at Inter and he played every single league minute in his debut campaign.

After that, the Slovakian established himself as one of the outstanding centre-backs in Europe, and he helped Inter win their first Scudetto since 2010 when they were victorious in the 2020-21 season under Antonio Conte.

Skriniar subsequently joined Paris Saint-Germain upon the expiration of his contract in 2023 and he left as one of Inter's most successful signings in recent years.

7. Geoffrey Kondogbia - €36m (from Monaco, 2015)

Geoffrey Kondogbia arrived at Inter during a period in which the club were extremely disappointing and his move to San Siro was an undoubted failure.

Inter finished eighth in the season before Kondogbia joined, and whilst he helped them climb back to fourth during his first year, Inter fell back down to seventh the following campaign.

He was then loaned and subsequently sold to Valencia for €22m in the summer of 2018. In total, Kondogbia played 56 times for Inter, and although he recouped some of his transfer fee, it was most certainly a poor move for the club.

6. Radja Nainggolan - €38m (from Roma, 2018)

This transfer didn't make any sense at the time, and it still doesn't. Radja Nainggolan was 30 years old when, for some reason, Inter decided that spending €38m on him was a good piece of business.

Sure, he had scored 15 goals and assisted 14 in the two league seasons prior to the move, but he was an ageing player who wouldn't be able to contribute for long.

He netted six times and grabbed three assists in his first Serie A campaign for Inter, but he then moved to Cagliari on loan to be closer to his wife. Nainggolan spent both the 2019-20 and the 2020-21 seasons at Cagliari, before leaving permanently to return to Belgium.

5. Hernan Crespo - €40m (from Lazio, 2002)

In 2002, after selling Ronaldo to Real Madrid, Inter picked up a more than adequate replacement in the form of Hernan Crespo.

The move ensured Inter poached another top centre-forward from Lazio, having signed Christian Vieri in 1999.

Crespo scored 16 goals in 30 appearances for Inter, but the second half of his debut season was marred by injury and he was sold to Chelsea after just one year, a decision that was heavily criticised by team-mate Vieri.

4. Achraf Hakimi - €43m (from Real Madrid, 2020)

After two excellent seasons on loan at Borussia Dortmund, Inter splashed the cash on the ideal right wing-back for Antonio Conte's 3-5-2 system - Achraf Hakimi.

Viewed as a bargain by many at the time, Hakimi scored seven goals and assisted nine in all competitions as he helped Inter win the Serie A title in his debut campaign.

Unfortunately for Inter, the club were forced to sell him to Paris Saint-Germain for €68m after just one season due to financial problems.

3. Joao Mario - €44.8m (from Sporting CP, 2016)

Much like many on this list, Joao Mario cost Inter an awful lot, yet they didn't receive much in return. He was 23 years old when he made the move from Portugal to Italy and he featured fairly regularly upon his arrival.

He made 30 Serie A appearances during his first campaign, scoring three and assisting five, but he was less heavily relied upon in 2017-18 and he spent the second-half of that season on loan at West Ham.

After becoming a rotation option at Inter during the 2018-19 campaign, Mario was loaned to Lokomotiv Moscow and subsequently back to Sporting CP for their title-winning season in 2020-21. He was released in the summer of 2021.

2. Christian Vieri - €46.5m (from Lazio, 1999)

After impressing for Atletico Madrid and then at the 1998 World Cup with Italy, the aforementioned Vieri completed a big-money move to Lazio.

However, Lazio would only enjoy him for a single season as a year later he became the most expensive player in history, at the time, joining Inter for a world-record fee of €46.5m.

The Italian striker would go on to score a fantastic 123 goals in 190 appearances for the Nerazzurri and he enjoyed excellent partnerships with the likes of Ronaldo, Crespo and Adriano at San Siro.

1. Romelu Lukaku - €74m (from Man Utd, 2019)

After being unfairly criticised during his time at Manchester United, Romelu Lukaku moved to Inter for a huge sum of money, but he instantly hit the ground running in Italy.

The Belgium superstar scored 34 goals and assisted six in his debut campaign, forming an incredible strike partnership with Lautaro Martinez, and he followed that up by notching 33 goals and assists in the 2020-21 Serie A season as the Nerazzurri won the title.

Inter were forced to sell Lukaku back to Chelsea for €113m in 2021, but that deal proved a masterstroke as the Belgian returned to Inter on loan one year later after a poor stint at Stamford Bridge. His second spell was less successful despite Inter reaching the Champions League final.

The 10 most expensive Inter signings of all time

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