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In the last decade or so, the football transfer market has become inflated as top European clubs have spent lavishly on star players.
South American players, in particular, bring plenty of flair to the game, and they have been involved in some major transfers in the last few years.
Here, we take a look at the five most expensive transfers featuring South American players.
#5 Luis Suarez - €81.72 million (Liverpool to Barcelona)
Luis Suarez took the Premier League by storm while playing for Liverpool, and is perhaps one of the best players to have ever donned the No. 7 jersey at Anfield.
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He combined finesse with deadly goal-scoring ability and almost single-handedly won Liverpool the Premier League in the 2013-14 season. The Reds narrowly missed out after finishing second behind Manchester City.
Suarez scored an incredible 31 goals and provided 17 assists in the 2013-14 season and formed a deadly partnership with Daniel Sturridge.
In the summer of 2014, he earned a big-money move to Barcelona, where he pretty much hit the ground running.
Together with Lionel Messi and Neymar, Suarez was part of one of the most feared attacking trios in Europe as Barcelona lifted the treble in 2015.
#4 Neymar - €88.20 million (Santos to Barcelona)
Neymar was seen as the next big thing in 2013, and a big-money move to Barcelona transpired after the Brazilian impressed for his local club Santos.
Neymar was pretty young when he moved to Barcelona, and the pressure was on his young shoulders because of his massive transfer fee. However, he didn’t let that faze him in any way.
The Brazilian didn’t change his style and his exhilarating pace and skills wowed the fans at Camp Nou. A part of the famous ‘MSN’ front line, Neymar scored 105 goals in 186 appearances for the Blaugrana and won every domestic trophy on offer with the Catalans.
Neymar spent only five seasons at Camp Nou, though, as he left the club to win in a bid to come out of Lionel Messi’s shadow. He joined PSG in a move that changed the dynamics of the transfer window for a while.
#3 Gonzalo Higuain - €90 million (Napoli to Juventus)
Gonzalo Higuain spent the peak years of his career at Napoli, and boy did he impress.
Higuain broke the record for the highest number of goals scored in a single season on his way to the Capocannoniere in the 2015-16 season, a tally that was matched by Ciro Immobile in 2020.
The Argentine star’s 91 goals in 146 appearances for Napoli earned him a €90 million move to Juventus in 2016, which was a club record at the time.
Higuain fired Juventus to another Serie A title in the 2016-17 season with 24 goals in 38 league appearances. However, he will perhaps be best remembered for his incredible spell at Napoli.
#2 Philippe Coutinho - €135 million (Liverpool to Barcelona)
It’s clear from this list that Barcelona love signing South American players. Philippe Coutinho’s move to Barcelona in the 2018 winter window was a consequence of a transfer that had happened the preceding summer, one we will soon talk about.
Coutinho’s spell at Liverpool was perhaps the best a Brazilian has ever had in the Premier League, as the diminutive attacking midfielder shone under Brendan Rodgers and then Jürgen Klopp.
Although he failed to win a trophy at Liverpool, his quick feet and ability to find the back of the net from distance made him the talk of the town at Merseyside.
A club-record transfer to Barcelona followed, but Coutinho failed to find his feet at the Camp Nou. Now 29, Coutinho is still on Barcelona books, although the Catalans are trying to get rid of him for a fee of just €20 million!
#1 Neymar - €222 million (Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain)
Paris Saint-Germain have resources like no other club in France, and the Parisians flexed their financial muscle when they signed Neymar for a world record fee in 2017.
It was a transfer that sent shockwaves through the footballing world, and the domino effects were felt for several windows. The chance to experience the culture of Paris and finally get out of Lionel Messi’s shadow was too tempting for Neymar as he moved to PSG amidst a lot of fanfare.
His spell at Barcelona was incredible, but Neymar still finished behind Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the race for the prestigious Ballon d’Or award.
Although Neymar is yet to get his hands on the coveted individual award or even the Holy Grail of European football – the Champions league – he has had an incredible spell at PSG.
