#3 Lilian Thuram - €41.5m
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The young defender - winner of the 1998 World Cup and 2000 Euro Championships with the Les Blues - caught the eye of many a club’s scouting team. Finally, it was Juventus who swooped in and shelled out the most for a defender back then to make Thuram part of the setup at the Old Lady in 2001.
He provided stability to the Juventus defence; along with ex-Parma team-mate Gigi Buffon, he became a constant feature in their back-line and a dependable player for the club. The France international won the Scudetto twice with Juventus during the 2001/02 and 2002/03 seasons and continued his rock-solid performances as he racked up more than 140 appearances for the club until 2006.
Thuram moved to Barcelona after Juve were relegated to the second tier in 2006 and continued to impress at the Catalan club as he notched up more than 200 appearances for them.
