Most expensive footballers in the world in each position 

Midfielder - Philippe Coutinho | Barcelona | €135 million

Newcastle United v Aston Villa - Premier League

Philippe Coutinho was setting the Premier League alight for Liverpool on a regular basis when Barcelona registered a concrete interest in him. The Brazilian international had been vocal about the fact that Barcelona was his dream destination and Liverpool were not too keen to stand in the way of that.

But the form that Coutinho was in, he was not going to come for cheap. Barcelona, rich after the Neymar deal, coughed up €135 million to sign Coutinho. Strangely enough, it became clear that they did not really have a cogent plan in place for the new signing.

Coutinho, who was arguably the best attacking midfielder in the Premier League before his departure, was deployed on the left wing at Barcelona. Although he impressed in his first half-season at the Camp Nou, his influence deteriorated considerably in his first full campaign with the Catalans.

He was subsequently sent out on loan to Bayern Munich. The Brazilian international then suffered a serious knee injury which saw him miss the majority of the 2020-21 season.

Coutinho is currently on loan at Aston Villa from Barcelona and is likely to go down in history as the biggest transfer flop in the history of the La Liga giants.

Winger - Neymar Jr. | Paris Saint-Germain | €222 million

Paris Saint-Germain v Real Madrid: Round Of Sixteen Leg One - UEFA Champions League

Neymar Jr. is the most expensive signing of all time. PSG paid a then-unbelievable sum of €222 million to sign the Brazilian from Barcelona in 2017. Neymar was doing incredibly well for the Catalans alongside Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez but he had made up his mind to leave the club in the summer of 2017.

Neymar has been phenomenal for PSG since joining the club. In 132 appearances across all competitions for the Parisians, the 30-year-old has scored 91 goals and provided 56 assists. He even led them to the final of the Champions League in the 2019-20 season where they eventually fell to Bayern Munich.

Striker - Romelu Lukaku | Chelsea | €113 million

Al Hilal v Chelsea FC: Semi Final - FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2021

When Chelsea decided to bring their former striker Romelu Lukaku back last summer, it looked like a decent idea. The price tag, which was in excess of €100 million, seemed a bit much. But Lukaku had just played a starring role in Inter Milan's Serie A triumph and he was going to cost a fortune.

Chelsea had the money and were in desperate need of a striker who was better at converting chances than Timo Werner. Unfortunately, the move hasn't worked out to anyone's liking thus far.

Lukaku also fell out of favor with the management and fans after he undermined the club and publicly flirted with his former club Inter Milan in an interview with Sky Sports.

His performances have been very lackluster of late and it remains to be seen whether the Belgian international will be able to redeem himself. Otherwise, he will go down in history as one of Chelsea's biggest transfer flops of all time.