Football has ceased to be a game of millions - it has become a game of billions. The simplicity of the rules and ease of understanding made it so popular.
Because of its great popularity, football is considered an expensive sport. The price of tickets can reach 700 euros, and the salaries of football players - up to 72 million. Because of this, the players themselves are also expensive.
Neymar. €220,000,000
Brazilian player, striker of Saudi "Al-Hilal". Winner of the Puskas Award, record holder of the football transfer market.
In 1999, he joined the Santos academy. After 9 years, he signed his first professional contract. Real Madrid and Manchester United were already interested in him. On March 7, 2009, the footballer made his debut for the main team in a match against Oeste. The following season, he scored 11 goals and was the top scorer in the Brazilian Cup that year.
At that time, Chelsea of London, Juventus of Turin, Real Madrid of Madrid and Barcelona were interested in him. But he chose the Catalan team. In this club, the Brazilian showed his best abilities, taking 3rd place in the Ballon d'Or voting.
In 2017, the most expensive transfer in the history of football took place. Neymar moved from "Barcelona" to "Paris Saint-Germain" for €222 million. Including VAT, this amount increases to €268 million. He scored his first goal in the very first match against "Guingham". In the first seasons, he showed his best level , making a minimum of 25 effective actions. But after a series of injuries, the high transfer price was questioned.
Kylian Mbappe. €180,000,000
French football player, striker of Real Madrid. 2018 World Champion, multiple contender for the Golden Ball.
He began his football career at the Clairefontaine academy. In 2013, he moved to Monaco. After 2 years, he made his debut for the main adult team. Later, he became her second scorer, scoring 26 goals.
2017 18-year-old Mbappe joined Paris Saint-Germain on loan with an option to buy for €145 million + €35 million in bonuses. 2020 Kylian became the top scorer in French Ligue 1.
The Frenchman dreamed of playing for Real Madrid all his childhood. On February 19, 2024, both parties concluded an oral contract. And on July 16, Mbappe signed a real contract, taking number 9.
Philippe Coutinho. €135,000,000
Midfielder of the Qatari "Ad Duhail" and the Brazilian national team, a pupil of the "Vasco da Gama" football school.
With his game, he attracted the attention of Internazionale Milan. But he failed to gain a foothold in the main ones. Therefore, the 20-year-old Brazilian moved to Espanyol, and later to Liverpool. In the 2014/2015 season, he became the best player among the "Mancunians" and entered the symbolic Premier League team.
In 2017, the Spanish "Barcelona" signed a football player for 106 million pounds. This transfer was a failure, because Coutinho did not work half of the money paid.
Ousmane Dembele. €135,000,000
Winger of PSG and the French national team, 2018 world champion.
On October 1, 2015, he signed a professional contract with Rennes. The first goal was scored in a match with "Bordeaux". He attracted the attention of the German "Borussia Dortmund" with his great speed and skillful play for the team.
On August 25, the transfer of Dembele to the "blue garnet" team was announced. He became their next financial failure - Usman could not score more than 9 goals in a season for 5 years, which is unacceptable for a winger of this level.
Joan Felix. €127,200,000
Portuguese football player, striker of Barca, pupil of "Porto". He studied at this school for 7 years, but was expelled due to weak physical data.
Since the beginning of the 2018/2019 season, he has been training in the Benfica system. Then he was first accepted into the main team. On August 11, 2019, he became the youngest performer of a hat-trick in the history of the Europa League. Joan scored three goals against Eintracht Frankfurt when he was 19 years and 152 days old. The previous record was set by the Portuguese Eusebio (20 years, 301 days).
Impressed by Felix's performance, Atletico Madrid offered €127.2 million for him. But the transfer was not one hundred percent successful, so the striker went to Chelsea on loan.
Enzo Fernandez. €121,000,000
Argentinian player, 2022 world champion, best young player of the World Cup.
His father admired three-time Copa America winner Uruguayan Enzo Francescoli. Therefore, he named his son after him.
Fernandez is a pupil of the River Plate Academy. In 2020, he won the first trophy of his career - the South American Cup. After that, he became the main member of the team.
At the victorious World Cup 2022, he showed himself as a top midfielder. He made 10 interceptions in the final match. Because of this, agents of "Chelsea" began to follow him. And in the winter of 2023, Enzo joined the ranks of the "pensioners".
Antoine Griezmann. €120,000,000
Left winger of "Atletico Madrid", captain of France. Takes first place among the scorers of his club (181 goals).
He learned to play football at the youth academy of Real Sociedad. When he was 14, he was noticed by scouts of several European clubs. Between the ages of 18 and 23, he played more than 200 matches for the first club.
In 2014, he started playing for Atletico Madrid, where he immediately became the main attacking force.
On June 12, 2019, he signed a contract with Barca. Her style of play did not suit him, so Griezmann returned to the second club.
Jay Grealish. €117,500,000
English flank attacking midfielder "Manchester City".
The culture of the game was given to him by his native "Aston Villa", with which Jack won the international tournament "NextGen series". Then went on loan to "Notts County" (3rd division of England). He played 37 games there and scored 5 goals. He first played for the Villans on May 7, 2014. In the same year, his club reached the final of the FA Cup, losing 0:4 to London's Arsenal.
For 100 million pounds, he moved to the "townsmen", which became a transfer record in English football.
Cristiano Ronaldo. €116,600,000
Portuguese football player, Al-Nasra player. The first billionaire football player. According to the Globe Soccer Awards, Krish is the best player of the 21st century.
Five-time winner of the Golden Ball. Four-time UEFA Golden Boot winner.
The record holder of his national team in terms of the number of goals scored and matches played.
In 2009, he moved to the "cream" and immediately became the center of the attacking game.
In 2018, his Turin "Juventus" took the Portuguese, giving him his favorite number 7.
Declan Rice. €166,600,000
The main midfielder of "Arsenal" and the England national team.
From the age of seven, he trained in the "Chelsea" system. In 2014, he became a player of West Ham United. 2019 scored the first goal against the future team. For the entire time of playing for the "Hammers" he played 204 games and scored 10 times.
2023 moved to "Pushkari", where he already has 4 on his account.
End
Everyone is born with their own potential. It is not revealed before birth - it must be developed. And it should be done under any circumstances. Some of the boys on the list came from poor torch or families. Someone had health problems, and someone was under a lot of pressure on the way to development. But they all did not give up. Only in this way these football players became great.
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