10.) Falcao: Bought by Porto for £3.9m in 2009. Sold for £34.7m to Atletico Madrid in 2011. Net Profit: £30.8m) Radamel Falcao has grown into one of the big-name strikers in world football in recent years. When Porto purchased him from River Plate for just £3.9m they knew that they had a bargain. He went on to score a magnificent 72 goals in 87 appearances during his time in Portugal, which prompted Atletico Madrid to pay a huge £34.7m to bring the Colombian to La Liga. Porto netted over £30m in sales profits from this, and are known for making big money from selling star players. 9.) Luis Figo (5 million) : Bought by Barcelona for £4.2m in 1995. Sold for £37m to Real Madrid in 2000. Net Profit £32.8m) Luis Figoâs move to Real Madrid from bitter rivals Barcelona in 2000 will always be one of the most controversial transfers in football history. A fansâ favorite at the Nou Camp, Figo stunned them by moving to the Bernabeu after 5 successful years with the Catalan giants. Despite this, it was an astute piece of business by Barcelona, who made over £32m in buying and selling the Portuguese legend. With the club suffering financial problems at the time, it seemed like an opportunity that had to be taken. Figoâs transfer kick-started Florentino Pérez's "Galáctico era"at Real Madrid. 8.) James ( Ha-mess) Rodriguez: Bought by Porto for £5m in 2010. Sold for £38.5m to Monaco in 2013. Net Profit £33.5m) James Rodriguez joins his Colombian and Monaco compatriot Radamel Falcao in being one of the most profitable transfers in football history. When Monaco jointly signed Rodriguez with Porto team-mate Joao Moutinho for a combined £60m fee, the former accounted for £38.5m of that. Porto purchased him for £5m in 2010 from Atletico Banfield, and the profit they made on him is one of a number of transfers that they have made big money from over the years. Still only 22, Rodriguez has a lot of pressure to deliver under such a price tag. 7.) Hernan Crespo : Bought: By Parma for £2m in 1996. Sold: For £35.5m to Lazio in 2000. Net Profit: £33.5m) Argentine striker Hernan Crespo enjoyed a career spanning over a period of 19 years, and turned over one of the largest transfer profits in history when he joined Lazio from Parma in 2000. He had joined the latter for just £2m from River Plate 4 years prior, and ended up being voted as the best player to ever represent Parma in their history. His move to Lazio netted Parma a profit of £33.5m, and the move also broke the record amount paid for a transfer at the time. 6.) Zlatan Ibrahimovic : Bought: By Inter Milan for £20m in 2006. Sold: For £56.5m to Barcelona in 2009. Net Profit: £36.5m) When Inter Milan signed Zlatan Ibrahimovic from Juventus for £20m in 2006 they probably did not expect a large profit on the Swede. But when Barcelona came calling it was too good of an offer to turn down. The Catalan giants gave £40m in cash to the Serie A side, and added in Samuel Etoâo, who was valued at £16.5m. Inter made a tidy profit on Ibrahimovic, and were given another top class forward in return. Ultimately, Barcelona hugely regretted signing Ibrahimovic after just one controversial season at the Nou Camp. 5.) Edinson Cavani : Bought: By Napoli for £14m (including add-ons) in 2010. Sold: To PSG for £54m in 2013. Net Profit: £40m) Edinson Cavaniâs goal-scoring record at Palmero was far from prolific, but when Napoli paid around £14m in total to acquire his services for Napoli in 2010 it would turn out to be an astute and profitable piece of business by the Italians. He would go on to score over a 100 goals for the club in 138 appearances before mega-rich PSG came calling in the summer of 2013. The Parisians paid a whopping £54m to sign the Uruguayan, leaving a £40m profit in Napoli pockets. He has continued scoring at an impressive rate for his new club 4.) Zizou : Bought: By Juventus for £3m in 1996. Sold: To Real Madrid for £45.8m in 2001. Net Profit: £42.8m) After signing Zinedine Zidane for just £3m in 1996 Juventus certainly have the bragging rights for getting the greatest bargain in football history. Zidaneâs performances at the World Cup just two years later made him a national hero, and his value subsequently soared. This lured Real Madrid to pay a then world record fee for the Frenchman, which left Juventus with £42.8m profit on the man they paid pennies for 5 years earlier. Zidane went on to become a legend at the Bernabeu, and is now assistant coach and sporting director. 3.) Kaka : Bought: By AC Milan for £6m in 2003. Sold: To Real Madrid for £57m in 2009. Net Profit: £51m) When Kaka moved to the San Siro from Sao Paolo in 2003, the £6m fee paid by AC Milan was described as âpeanutsâ by owner Silvio Berlusconi. This would turn out to be true, with Kaka winning a number of individual accolades at the club, including the 2007 Ballon dâOr. He turned down a world-record move to Man City, but financial problems at AC Milan prompted the club to heart breaking move the Brazilian on, accepting a huge £57m fee from Real Madrid. Kaka struggled to reach the same heights at the Bernabeu, and consequently returned to Milan in 2013. 2.) Cristiano Ronaldo: Bought: For £12.24m by Man United in 2003. Sold: To Real Madrid for £80m in 2009. Net Profit: £67.76m) Cristiano Ronaldo caught the eye of Man United manager Sir Alex Ferguson when his club Sporting Lisbon defeated Man United 3-1 in a 2003 summer friendly. When the club bought him for £12.24m it would turn out to be a steal, with the Portuguese international enjoying a successful six-year spell at Old Trafford. Real Madridâs long-term pursuit of Ronaldo finally saw success in 2009, when they paid a world-record £80m to bring him to the Bernabeu. Man United profited near £70m on Ronaldo, but with the club having debts they did not reinvest it in the squad. 1.) Gareth Bale : Bought: For £7m by Tottenham in 2007. Sold: For £85.3m to Real Madrid in 2013. Net Profit: £78.3m) Tottenham fans were heartbroken to see Gareth Bale leave the club in 2013, but his £85.3m world-record move to Real Madrid bagged them the largest profit in transfer history. Bale took a while to find his feet at Tottenham, and grew from a stumbling left-back into a lethal attacking player. Southampton allegedly wavered a 25% sell-on clause in 2008 that they had inserted in the deal which saw Tottenham buy Bale, which was due to financial constraints at the time. This means they missed out on a potential £20m. Bale has started off his Real Madrid career well. [HR][/HR] Amazed the likes of Carroll weren't there as he was homegrown then sold on for 35? Berbatov was probably what around 10-15 for Spurs and was sold on for quite a lot. Torres possibly even as that was pretty much a 25 mil increase? Any others that were probably forgotten about? Maybe even Ronaldo Fenomeno from Barca to Inter?
My mates wife cheated on him, so he sold me her car for for 90 pounds. Three years later I scrapped it for 95 pounds. Interesting article, think it should be percentage based though. I prefer everything to be relative, (except carnal activites.)
Some of that profit though! If only the prem was able to get the south americans over straight away like the other leagues do, they could probably turn unreal profit! I feel like Aguero might be up there too from going from Independiente- Atletico-City. EDIT: Nevermind they spent about 23 mil euros to get him.
that one deal funded henry and vieria fee. arsenal were built on real stupidity.... pity purs wasted real's latest brain fart
Typically simplistic way of appraising footballing assets (footballers for the great unwashed!). It's fine comparing figures but lets start asking some searching questions: 1. Over what period was the fee paid (if it were ever fully paid?) 2 If add-ons were included were they achieved or paid 3 What was the players salary and bonuses during his stay with the club 4 How much did the selling club have to play for a replacement 5 What (in financial terms) were the consequences of selling the player (shirts, etc.) 6 What was the financial cost to the club of any dip in team performance
I bought a brand new Camry for $16k (usd) about 10 years ago. Sold it 18 months later for same price.
We had the chance to buy C Ronaldo but the board wouldn't give Houllier £12m especially as he'd blown same amount on El-hadji Doiuf a year or so earlier .
