# Progression of the British football transfer fee record

The progression of the British football transfer fee record tracks the increases in the record for the highest transfer fee paid or received by British association football clubs. A transfer fee is the sum of money paid by one club to purchase the contract, and therefore the playing services, of a professional footballer. Fees are not generally formally disclosed by the clubs involved, and discrepancies can occur in figures quoted in the press. Trevor Francis, for example, is regarded as Britain's first £1m player but was officially transferred for £975,000. The generally reported figure of £1,180,000 included Value Added Tax, fees to the Football League and Francis' signing fee. Discrepancies may also occur due to deals which involve additional sums to be paid at a later date after a player has made a certain number of appearances, joint fees for two or more players, or deals in which one player is exchanged for a sum of money plus another player.
The first three-figure transfer fee was the £100 paid by Aston Villa in 1893 for Willie Groves. Eleven years later, Alf Common joined Middlesbrough for the first four-figure fee, a sum which caused a national sensation and outrage amongst the football authorities. The £5,000 mark was first reached in 1922 when Falkirk paid that amount for West Ham United's Syd Puddefoot, and six years later Arsenal paid the first £10,000 fee to acquire David Jack of Bolton Wanderers. After the Second World War, the spending power of clubs in mainland Europe outstripped that of British clubs for the first time, resulting in several substantial jumps in the transfer record. John Charles became the first player from Britain to command a fee of £50,000 when he joined Juventus in 1957, and four years later Denis Law joined Torino in the first £100,000 transaction involving a British club.
The 1970s saw a rapid increase in transfer fees. Martin Peters became the first £200,000 player in 1970, but by 1977 Kevin Keegan's move to West Germany's Hamburger SV had taken the record to £500,000. In January 1979 David Mills became the first player to be purchased for £500,000 by a British club, but just one month later Nottingham Forest paid twice that amount to acquire Birmingham City's Trevor Francis. In 1981 Bryan Robson cost Manchester United £1,500,000, but fees paid by British clubs lagged behind those paid by clubs in Italy, France and Spain. The fees paid by the Premier League's top clubs began to increase at a rapid rate, with Alan Shearer commanding the first £15,000,000 fee in 1996, and the new millennium heralding the first £30,000,000 transfer, although sources differ as to whether this barrier was broken by Rio Ferdinand's move to Manchester United in 2002 or Andriy Shevchenko's transfer to Chelsea four years later.
On 1 September 2008, Manchester City agreed a reported £32,500,000 fee for Robinho, which remained the record amount paid by a British club until 31 January 2011, when Liverpool paid £35,000,000 for Andy Carroll from Newcastle United, which was also a new record amount paid for a British player. A few hours later, the record amount paid by a British club was broken again when Chelsea paid £50,000,000 for Fernando Torres from Liverpool.
On 11 June 2009, Manchester United announced that they had accepted an £80,000,000 bid from Real Madrid for Cristiano Ronaldo. The transfer was completed on 1 July 2009, setting not only a new British transfer record, but also a new world record (either in pounds or euros). In turn, that record was broken on 1 September 2013 when Real announced that their £85.3 million (€100 million) purchase of Gareth Bale from Tottenham Hotspur had been completed.
This record was broken on 8 August 2016, when Manchester United signed Paul Pogba from Juventus for a fee of £89 million, again on 6 January 2018, when Philippe Coutinho moved to Barcelona from Liverpool for a reported initial fee of £106 million, which could rise to £142 million with various clauses being met, and lastly on 31 January 2023, when Chelsea signed Argentine player Enzo Fernández for a reported deal of £106 million.

## Record progression

| Date | Player | From | To | Fee |
| 18931893 | Willie Groves | West Bromwich Albion | Aston Villa | £100 |
| 1899April 1899 | Jimmy Settle | Bury | Everton | £400 |
| 1903October 1903 | Benny Green | Barnsley | Small Heath | £500 |
| 1904January 1904 | Andy McCombie | Sunderland | Newcastle United | £700 |
| 1905February 1905 | Alf Common | Sunderland | Middlesbrough | £1,000 |
| 1907November 1907 | George Wilson | Everton | Newcastle United | £1,600 |
| 1911 (1)February 1911 | John Simpson | Falkirk | Blackburn Rovers | £1,800 |
| 1911 (2)October 1911 | Billy Hibbert | Bury | Newcastle United | £1,950 |
| 1913November 1913 | George Utley | Barnsley | Sheffield United | £2,000 |
| 1914February 1914 | Percy Dawson | Heart of Midlothian | Blackburn Rovers | £2,500 |
| March 1920 | Joe Lane | Blackpool | Birmingham | £3,650 |
| May 1920 | Johnny Crosbie | Ayr United | Birmingham | £3,700 |
| November 1920 | Stan Fazackerley | Sheffield United | Everton | £4,000 |
| December 1920 | David Mercer | Hull City | Sheffield United | £4,500 |
| 1922 (1)February 1922 | Syd Puddefoot | West Ham United | Falkirk | £5,000 |
| 1922 (2)March 1922 | Warney Cresswell | South Shields | Sunderland | £5,500 |
| 1923November 1923 | Andy Wilson | Middlesbrough | Chelsea | £6,500 |
| 1927April 1927 | Jimmy Gibson | Partick Thistle | Aston Villa | £7,500 |
| 1928October 1928 | David Jack | Bolton Wanderers | Arsenal | £10,647 |
| 1938August 1938 | Bryn Jones | Wolverhampton Wanderers | Arsenal | £14,000 |
| 1947 (1)September 1947 | Billy Steel | Morton | Derby County | £15,500 |
| 1947 (2)November 1947 | Tommy Lawton | Chelsea | Notts County | £20,000 |
| 1948February 1948 | Len Shackleton | Newcastle United | Sunderland | £20,500 |
| 1949 (1)February 1949 | Johnny Morris | Manchester United | Derby County | £24,000 |
| 1949 (2)December 1949 | Eddie Quigley | Sheffield Wednesday | Preston North End | £26,500 |
| 1950October 1950 | Trevor Ford | Aston Villa | Sunderland | £30,000 |
| 1951March 1951 | Jackie Sewell | Notts County | Sheffield Wednesday | £34,500 |
| 1955July 1955 | Eddie Firmani | Charlton Athletic | Sampdoria | £35,000 |
| 1957April 1957 | John Charles | Leeds United | Juventus | £65,000 |
| 1961June 1961 | Gerry Hitchens | Aston Villa | Internazionale | £85,000 |
| 1962July 1962 | Denis Law | Torino | Manchester United | £115,000 |
| 1968January 1968 | Martin Chivers | Southampton | Tottenham Hotspur | £125,000 |
| 1968June 1968 | Allan Clarke | Fulham | Leicester City | £150,000 |
| 1969June 1969 | Allan Clarke | Leicester City | Leeds United | £165,000 |
| 1970March 1970 | Martin Peters | West Ham United | Tottenham Hotspur | £200,000 |
| 1971December 1971 | Alan Ball | Everton | Arsenal | £220,000 |
| 1972August 1972 | David Nish | Leicester City | Derby County | £225,000 |
| 1974January 1974 | Alan Hudson | Chelsea | Stoke City | £240,000 |
| 1974February 1974 | Bob Latchford | Birmingham City | Everton | £350,000 |
| 1977June 1977 | Kevin Keegan | Liverpool | Hamburger SV | £500,000 |
| 1979 (1)January 1979 | David Mills | Middlesbrough | West Bromwich Albion | £516,000 |
| 1979 (2)February 1979 | Trevor Francis | Birmingham City | Nottingham Forest | £1,180,000 |
| 1979 (3)September 1979 | Steve Daley | Wolverhampton Wanderers | Manchester City | £1,450,000 |
| 1979 (4)September 1979 | Andy Gray | Aston Villa | Wolverhampton Wanderers | £1,469,000 |
| 1981October 1981 | Bryan Robson | West Bromwich Albion | Manchester United | £1,500,000 |
| 1984May 1984 | Ray Wilkins | Manchester United | Milan | £1,500,000 |
| 1986May 1986 | Mark Hughes | Manchester United | Barcelona | £2,300,000 |
| 1987June 1987 | Ian Rush | Liverpool | Juventus | £3,200,000 |
| 1989July 1989 | Chris Waddle | Tottenham Hotspur | Marseille | £4,250,000 |
| 1991July 1991 | David Platt | Aston Villa | Bari | £5,500,000 |
| 1991August 1991 | Trevor Steven | Rangers | Marseille | £5,500,000 |
| 1992June 1992 | Paul Gascoigne | Tottenham Hotspur | Lazio | £5,500,000 |
| 1995 (1)January 1995 | Andy Cole | Newcastle United | Manchester United | £7,000,000 |
| 1995 (2)June 1995 | Dennis Bergkamp | Internazionale | Arsenal | £7,500,000 |
| 1995 (3)June 1995 | Stan Collymore | Nottingham Forest | Liverpool | £8,500,000 |
| 1996July 1996 | Alan Shearer | Blackburn Rovers | Newcastle United | £15,000,000 |
| 1999August 1999 | Nicolas Anelka | Arsenal | Real Madrid | £22,500,000 |
| 2001July 2001 | Juan Sebastián Verón | Lazio | Manchester United | £28,100,000 |
| 2002July 2002 | Rio Ferdinand | Leeds United | Manchester United | £29,100,000 |
| 2006July 2006 | Andriy Shevchenko | Milan | Chelsea | £30,800,000 |
| 2008September 2008 | Robinho | Real Madrid | Manchester City | £32,500,000 |
| 2009July 2009 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Manchester United | Real Madrid | £80,000,000 |
| 2013September 2013 | Gareth Bale | Tottenham Hotspur | Real Madrid | £85,300,000 |
| July 2016 | Paul Pogba | Juventus | Manchester United | £89,000,000 |
| 2018January 2018 | Philippe Coutinho | Liverpool | Barcelona | £105,000,000 |
| 2023January 2023 | Enzo Fernández | Benfica | Chelsea | £106,800,000 |
Notes
* ↑ Ferdinand's fee was also quoted as £30m, with the potential to rise to £33.3m based on additional clauses. Also reported as £29.3m, the total amount paid was eventually reduced by £1.75m to help Leeds avoid entering administration.