Once the undisputed greatest domestic league in European football, La Liga has lost some of its shine in recent years as the likes of the Premier League and Bundesliga continue to grow thanks to more substantial funding and television rights deals. The home of stars from years gone by such as Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldinho and Lionel Messi, the Spanish first division has never been shy about bringing in some of the biggest names in the game.
That means plenty of money has been spent, but this is not always a guarantee that players will be a success. For the 10 most expensive stars in the league’s history, there have been as many misses as hits. From Champions League winners to those who quickly moved on, every one of these players has been categorised based on whether or not they were a success or a flop.
| Top 10 Most Expensive La Liga Players | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Player | Club Left | Club Joined | Fee |
| 1 | Philippe Coutinho | Liverpool | Barcelona | £146m |
| 2 | Ousmane Dembele | Borussia Dortmund | Barcelona | £135.5m |
| 3 | Joao Felix | Benfica | Atletico Madrid | £113m |
| 4 | Antoine Griezman | Atletico Madrid | Barcelona | £107m |
| 5 | Eden Hazard | Chelsea | Real Madrid | £90m |
| 6 | Jude Bellingham | Borussia Dortmund | Real Madrid | £88.5m |
| 7 | Gareth Bale | Tottenham Hotspur | Real Madrid | £85m |
| 8 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Manchester United | Real Madrid | £80m |
| 9 | Neymar | Santos | Barcelona | £75m |
| 10 | Frenkie de Jong | Ajax | Barcelona | £65m |
Successes
Jude Bellingham, Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar
When it comes to spending the big bucks, Real Madrid have proven to be the kings of doing so, with Los Blancos having by far the most success stories.
Starting with the most recent story, Jude Bellingham proved very quickly that he was ready for a stage as big as the Santiago Bernabeu as he spearheaded Carlo Ancelotti’s team full of superstars to a league and Champions League double during his first season in the Spanish capital. The Englishman scored 10 goals in his first 11 La Liga games and would go on to be named the division’s player of the season.
Bellingham followed in the footsteps of fellow Brit, Gareth Bale. Although the Welshman was not always beloved by the increasingly hard-to-please Madrid fanbase, his record speaks for itself. Bale won four Champions League titles, scored in two separate finals, including one of the greatest goals in the competition’s history, and scored more goals than Ronaldo Nazario and Fernando Morientes before his retirement in 2023.
Then comes Real Madrid’s greatest ever player. Cristiano Ronaldo made the move in Spain in 2009 for what was then a world record fee, and still managed to make it look like a bargain. Multiple Ballon d’Or honours later, there are very few accolades that Ronaldo doesn’t have to his name at the legendary club. Spells at Juventus and a return to Manchester United followed for the goal machine, who is now leading the line for Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia.
Proving that it isn’t just the 36-time champions who can get things right is Neymar, whose move to Barcelona was an undoubted success. Not only did the Brazilian form one third of the deadliest trios in European football, but he also handed the club an extreme profit with his move to Paris Saint-Germain in 2017, where he stayed until a 2023 move to Al-Hilal.
Failures
Philippe Coutinho, Ousmane Dembele, Joao Felix, Antoine Griezmann, Eden Hazard, Frenkie de Jong
When the top five most expensive transfers are all deemed as failures, you know there’s a problem. Philippe Coutinho tops the list, but he would end up crumbling as the sidekick to Lionel Messi at the Camp Nou, eventually being loaned out to Bayern Munich and sold to Aston Villa, who have currently loaned him to Brazilian side Vasco da Gama. Ousmane Dembele had the potential to be a world beater and is still operating at an international level, but injuries have stunted his development and he joined PSG in a cut-price deal back in 2023.
Breaking the tradition of Real and Barca doing all the spending is Joao Felix’s move to Atletico Madrid. A starlet at Benfica, the Portuguese attacker has never settled in Spain and is now on the verge of completing a permanent move away to Chelsea for less than half what was paid for his services. At least Atletico were on the receiving end of a staggering amount for Antoine Griezmann, who suffered a similar fate to Coutinho when he made his £107m move to Barcelona, only to return to Atleti, where he is still at.
Eden Hazard was the best player in the Premier League when he completed his dream move to Real Madrid, but he never hit the same heights as fitness issues plagued his five-year stint in the Spanish capital before his retirement in 2023. Finally, Frenkie de Jong has spent most of his Barcelona being linked with a move to Manchester United. The Dutchman has by no means been as bad as others on this list, but as the highest-earning player in La Liga, he has failed to recapture the form that attracted the powers that be at Barcelona to him in 2019.