Three Man Utd stars in top ten 

©TM/IMAGO

The transfer window is heating up as clubs ramp up their business after the end of Euro 2024 and Copa América. It was a slow start this summer with so many players away with their national teams but several big transfers have been completed this week with Leny Yoro’s move to Manchester United the headline deal. 

The French sensation had his heart set on joining Real Madrid but the Spanish giants failed to agree an acceptable fee with Lille and United swooped in. Yoro’s arrives at Old Trafford as the most expensive 18-year-old in history after United paid Lille an initial fee of €62 million with potentially another €8m in add-ons. Yoro is also amongst the top ten most expensive centre-backs in history but where does the Frenchman rank.

The most expensive centre-backs in history

Yoro is the third Man United signing in the top ten most expensive centre-backs in history and Harry Maguire tops the list. United paid Leicester City an eye-watering €87m to acquire the Englishman in 2019 and he became the club captain before being stripped of that title by Erik ten Hag last summer. Lisandro Martínez is the other Man United player on the list in ninth and the Argentinian will be expected to form a centre-back partnership with Yoro. 

 As the graphic above illustrates, Matthijs de Ligt became the second most expensive centre-back in history when he moved from Ajax to Juventus for €85.5m in 2019. The Netherlands defender features twice as his €62m move from Juventus to Bayern Munich in 2022 is the 6th biggest fee ever paid for a centre-back. Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk ranks third and two other current Premier League players complete the top five in Wesley Fofana and Rúben Dias.