The annual GDP of the Marshall Islands, the island group found in the Pacific Ocean, is an estimated £291 million, making it one of the smallest economies for a recognised country on the planet.
So small, in fact, that it’s now been dwarfed by the cumulative transfer fees of one footballer: Neymar.
The Brazilian completed his move to Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal in August for a fee in the region of £86 million. And it means that his combined transfer moves – from Santos to Barcelona, from Catalonia to PSG and from Paris to the Middle East – have come at a cost of some £351 million.
“I am here in Saudi Arabia, i am HILALI 💙”@neymarjr #AlHilal
pic.twitter.com/q7VUhf0FnQ— AlHilal Saudi Club (@Alhilal_EN) August 15, 2023
You’d need some abacus to work out the amount he’s earned in that time – if you were worried about Neymar’s finances, have your mind eased by the fact he will be taking home £2.5 million per week for his stint in Saudi Arabia.
You perhaps won’t be shocked to learn that Neymar leads the way in our rundown of the players with the highest cumulative transfer fees paid for them in football history.
Neymar – £351 Million
It’s nice to be wanted in life, and few footballers have enjoyed that self-esteem boost quite like Neymar.
Many of the leading clubs in world football deploy their scouts in Brazil, a country which has perhaps created more talent than any other on the planet. And it was here that Neymar made his first-team breakthrough with Santos as a sprightly 17-year-old in 2009.
After four years and 107 goals in 177 appearances, the vultures began to circle Santos – Neymar deciding that Barcelona, the spiritual home of samba football outside of Latin America, was for him. It took £75 million for the Brazilian club to agree to the sale.
Neymar, for the most part, fulfilled his incredible potential in Spain, scoring 105 goals in 186 games – including 39 in 51 during a glorious 2014/15 campaign – as Barca won two La Liga titles and a Champions League with the Brazilian on the left wing.
PSG wanted a piece of the action, forking out £190 million – still the world record transfer fee – to snap up Neymar’s services. Five Ligue 1 titles, but with the Champions League remaining elusive, would leave the jury out on whether the Brazilian was worth the eye-popping fee or not.
And his career looks likely to end, in an elite sporting sense, with that £86 million move to Saudi Arabia. Neymar will go down, at least for the time being, as the most expensive footballer that has ever laced up his boots.
Romelu Lukaku (£273 Million)
Having been part of five permanent transfers before the age of 30, it’s no wonder Romelu Lukaku is high up on this list.
His first transfer was a relatively meagre £13 million – the amount Chelsea paid Belgian club Anderlecht for the strapping teenager in 2011.
Lukaku never really made it at the Blues, so despite scoring his fair share of goals in spells on loan at West Brom and Everton, he was sold to the Toffees for £30 million in 2014.
It was there that Lukaku established himself as a prolific goalscorer, so in 2017 the frontman was uprooted again as Manchester United came calling with a £71 million offer.
But the Belgian never really settled at Old Trafford – perhaps not aided by the conservative tactical style of Jose Mourinho, and so after two trophy-less seasons it was off to Inter Milan for a fee of £63 million.
Lukaku located his shooting boots in Italy, firing 64 goals in 95 games in a spell which brought the Serie A title to the blue half of Milan and a run to the Champions League final. It was enough to convince Chelsea that their former employee was back to his best, so they paid another £96 million for his services in 2021.
With rumours abounding that Lukaku is now unhappy in London, could he yet add another big money transfer to his collection?
Cristiano Ronaldo (£211 million)
Despite being a professional footballer for 20 years, only four clubs have ever paid a fee for Cristiano Ronaldo – and two of those got their hands on CR7 for less than £20 million.
The Portuguese ace made his breakthrough at Sporting Lisbon, where he showed enough precocious talent as a teenage to convince Manchester United to pay £16 million for him in 2003.
Was it a wise decision? 118 goals, 43 assists, three Premier League titles and a Champions League win – all within six seasons – suggests that Ronaldo was worth every single one of those 16 million pounds.
But his heart yearned for more continental climes, and so United – largely against their will – were forced to sell CR7 to Real Madrid in 2009 for £80 million.
You could argue that Real got a bargain too, with Ronaldo firmly establishing himself as a club legend. In nine seasons in Madrid, the Portuguese forward contributed a mammoth 450 goals – better than a goal per game – to two La Liga wins and four Champions League triumphs, including three in a row between 2016 and 2018.
But with discontent bubbling up behind the scenes, Ronaldo made the most expensive move of his career in 2018 when he joined Juventus for £100 million. Two more league titles would follow, but it wouldn’t be long before the cash-strapped Italians wanted CR7 off the payroll.
So he made a spiritual pilgrimage home to Old Trafford in 2021, albeit for a cut-price £14.5 million. It would be the last transfer fee that Ronaldo commanded, after being released from his United contract for a questionable interview conducted by the even-more questionable Piers Morgan, he joined Saudi club Al-Nassr for free in 2023.