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Disclaimer: For players that would have appeared twice in this list, they have instead been chosen once with their latest transfer figure deciding where they rank on this list.
With the transfer market as inflated as it is right now, some of the fees paid in this list might not be as surprising to you as they could have been a couple of years ago. But as we get into the top three, I think you might just be shocked at the staggering numbers on display.
It's difficult to comprehend the sheer amount that's spent on players nowadays, with tens of millions being thrown around as if it's Monopoly money. But the brutal reality here is that in the footballing world, clubs have to virtually empty their pockets to ensure they get the player at the top of their shortlist, or they risk missing out to other clubs willing to do just that.
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It becomes a Snowball Effect in the sense that once one player goes for, say, £50 million, another player of around the same calibre will have their market value soar to match. And any player who thinks that they're better than the £50 million player will immediately want to be transferred for a higher fee, and on it goes.
Without any further adieu, let's take a look at the ten most expensive players in world football right now.
#10 Virgil Van Dijk = £75,000,000 (Southampton to Liverpool)
Virgil Van Dijk is a 27-year-old centre-back who plays for Liverpool in the Premier League. He has also featured for the Netherlands 26 times, and currently captains the side.
Van Dijk first gained attention when he signed for Celtic from FC Groningen in July 2013. Celtic only spent £2.5m on the defender, yet within two years, they had sold him to Southampton for almost £15m.
So good was Van Dijk that he quickly adapted to life in the Premier League and became a rock for the Saints at the back, which drew attention from top European clubs, as well as those who had to come up against him in the division - like Liverpool.
The Reds had quite the ordeal when trying to sign Van Dijk in the summer of 2018, though. Just when it looked as if they were about to buy him, they were forced to apologise for illegally approaching the defender, an act which Southampton said that they would report to the Premier League if they did not apologise.
As a result, they had to end their interest in the player, which meant Van Dijk would remain with Southampton for a bit longer. However, he was desperately unhappy with how things had turned out and promptly handed in a transfer request in the lead-up to the January transfer window.
Liverpool were not going to miss out this time and offered Southampton £75m for the Dutch anchor, which they duly accepted, coming to the realisation that Van Dijk was going to remain a nuisance until he got the move he so desired. The amount paid for Van Dijk would set the record for the most ever paid for a defender, and it still stands to this day.
#9 Romelu Lukaku = £75,000,000 (Everton to Manchester United)
Romelu Lukaku is a 25-year-old centre-forward who plays for Manchester United in the Premier League. He is also a Belgium international, who has played 79 games since his debut back in March 2010.
Despite initially struggling after his move from Anderlecht to Chelsea, Lukaku's career was revitalised during his loan spell with West Bromwich Albion in the 2012/13 Premier League campaign. He scored a staggering 17 goals in the league, an amount rarely seen from a teenager -- he was 19 at the time.
However, Mourinho still didn't have the room for him to fit in on his return to Stamford Bridge, and so he was loaned out to Everton the following season. He performed well here, too, and impressed the Toffees so much that they signed him for a flat-out £30m fee in July 2014.
Lukaku showed no signs of slowing down and continued to do great things at Goodison Park, prompting looks of envy from the top-tier clubs who had foolishly dismissed him as a one-off. It would Man United, though, that splashed the cash three years after he signed with Everton, buying him for a whopping £75m.
The final fee was to be paid overtime; Everton were handed the initial £75m but it would be the £15m in additional bonuses that notched it up even further.
#8 Gonzalo Higuain = £75,300,000 (Napoli to Juventus)
Gonzalo Higuain is a 31-year-old centre-forward who currently plays for Chelsea in the Premier League, on loan from Juventus, the club who paid the staggering fee which earns him a spot in this list. He also plays for Argentina's national side, having made 75 appearances since October 2009.
People knew that Higuain was bound to be special from the moment he was signed with Real Madrid from River Plate back in January 2007. He excelled with the Spanish giants and later bagged himself a move to Napoli for £35m in 2013. This is where many people argue that Higuain reached his peak in terms of his footballing ability, as the performances he showcased in a Napoli shirt were nothing short of breathtaking.
He swiftly became a fan-favourite and the club almost seemed to revolve around him for several years. So it was a huge shock to almost everybody when he suddenly left the club for Juventus in the summer of 2016. His buy-out clause of 90m euros (£75.3m) was met and paid out in two instalments.
This, of course, left Napoli helpless in keeping hold of their star player and the final decision rested on Higuain's shoulders; as mentioned before, given all that he had contributed to the club, most expected him to turn it down, but it didn't pan out that way and off he went to Turin.
Since that move, though, Higuain's career has taken a sharp decline due to his inconsistent form. He was shipped out on loan last summer to AC Milan, before joining Chelsea in January. At both clubs, he has struggled, which doesn't bode well for when he returns to Juventus.
#7 Gareth Bale = £85,300,000 (Tottenham Hotspur to Real Madrid)
Gareth Bale is a 29-year-old right winger who currently plays for Real Madrid in La Liga. He has also featured for Wales' national side 75 times since making his debut back in May 2006.
A product of Southampton's prestigious youth academy (Theo Walcott, Luke Shaw, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, etc.), Gareth Bale stood out from the rest almost immediately. His rapid speed, skill and footballing intelligence marked him out as one to watch from the get-go and, sure enough, scouts from top clubs began to attend his games.
Within a year of Bale being in Southampton's senior squad, he was signed by Tottenham Hotspur for £13m. His development at Spurs was swift and he progressed from being a left-back to a left winger, to finally being played as a centre-forward, a position in which he flourished for many years.
By September 2013, the inevitable happened: Gareth Bale was signed by a top European club - Real Madrid. Los Blancos paid 100m euros (£85.3m) for the 24-year-old which set a record for the most amount of money a player had been signed for at that point, eclipsing the £80m deal Madrid had agreed with Ronaldo several years prior.
Now, though, with talks of Bale being unsettled at Madrid, he could be set to leave them this summer. Could we see another potential record breaker soon?
#6 Paul Pogba = £89,000,000 (Juventus to Manchester United)
Paul Pogba is a 26-year-old midfielder who plays for Manchester United in the Premier League. He has also featured for France's national side 66 times, and even won the FIFA World Cup with them last summer in Russia.
This story is perhaps the strangest of them all. Pogba joined United initially as a youngster back in the summer of 2009 from Le Havre's U19s. He was trained in United's U18 and U23 squads before finally being promoted to the senior side in January 2012. However, he would only be with the side until the summer as the Red Devils let him join Juventus on a free transfer.
Possibly the worst mistake Sir Alex Ferguson ever made in letting him go, Pogba's achievements whilst at Juventus illustrate just what an incredible player he turned into, and all it took was to be given that opportunity to showcase what he could do. At the time, he was never going to get that shot with the superstar-filled midfield at Old Trafford.
Red-faced United then re-signed Pogba out of desperation through trying to find a world class player to bolster their deteriorating midfield. Pogba fit the bill perfectly and they had no choice but to try and sign him. The fee they paid for the Italian was around 105m euros (£89m), plus another 5m euros in additional bonuses; Pogba's agent Mino Raiola also received a reported 27m euros from Juventus, from a portion of the aforementioned transfer fee from Manchester United.
#5 Ousmane Dembele = £96,800,000 (Borrusia Dortmund to Barcelona)
Ousmane Dembele is a 21-year-old left winger who plays for Barcelona in La Liga. He has also featured for France 21 times since making his debut in September 2016, and even won the FIFA World Cup with them in the summer.
Scouted by Borussia Dortmund, they signed Dembele from Stade Rennais in the summer of 2016 for around £13.5m. His talent was then showcased on a global stage and many heads from top European clubs had no choice but to turn and pay attention. Once the 2016/17 season had ended, a plethora of clubs were reportedly trying to sign the 20-year-old, but it would be Barcelona who ultimately trumped the rest.
The Catalans paid an initial 105m euros (£96.8m) for the France international, with additional bonuses that could see the final fee rise to around 147m euros (£135.5m), which made him the world's second most expensive player at the time.
Since joining Barcelona, Dembele has been impressive overall, despite a rocky start due to an injury that forced him out for several months.
#4 Cristiano Ronaldo = £99,200,000 (Real Madrid to Juventus)
Cristiano Ronaldo is a 34-year-old left winger who plays for Juventus in Serie A. He has also featured 156 times for Portugal and is currently their captain.
Ever since he signed with Manchester United from Sporting Lisbon all the way back in 2003, Ronaldo was destined for greatness. His move to Real Madrid in the summer of 2009 for £80m set the record for a transfer fee at that time, before it was eclipsed by Gareth Bale four years on.
Ronaldo's switch to Juventus came suddenly, though, as he looked like he was set to stay at Madrid until he retired. But things clearly didn't pan out that way and once a deal worth around 112m euros (£99.2m) was offered to Madrid, they had no choice but to let the unsettled Ronaldo take his leave at last.
He said, "the time has come to open a new stage in my life, that's why I asked the club to accept transferring me."
Ronaldo did what many expected him to do at Juventus, and that's steady the ship. The Old Lady had suffered a few setbacks in the season prior to Ronaldo's arrival, but his goals and assists for the side this season have ensured that they're back in the driver's seat once more.
#3 Philippe Coutinho = £106,000,000 (Liverpool to Barcelona)
Philippe Coutinho is a 26-year-old attacking midfielder who plays for Barcelona in La Liga. He has also featured for Brazil 47 times since making his debut back in October 2010.
Coutinho's move from Inter Milan to Liverpool first drew attention to the youngster, but it was his development at Anfield that made him into the player he is today. He was a key player in their squad in no time at all and by the end of his five-year tenure in Merseyside, top clubs from all over the world were vying for his signature.
It would be Barcelona, however, who won the race for Coutinho, paying 120m euros (£106m) up front, plus a reported 40m euros in bonuses. He signed to a five-and-a-half-year deal at the Nou Camp and has a buyout clause of 400m euros (£355m).
#2 Kylian Mbappe = £158,000,000 (Monaco to Paris Saint-Germain)
Kylian Mbappe is a 20-year-old centre-forward who plays for Paris Saint-Germain in Ligue 1. He has also featured 30 times for France since making his debut in March 2017; he won the World Cup with them last summer.
PSG went about signing Mbappe in a very unique way. They brought him in on a season-long loan with an option to make the deal permanent for 180m euros (£165.7m). The delay in signing the striker, who was 18 at the time, was so that they could still comply with the Financial Fair Play regulations after having spent a huge sum of money already that summer.
It was a very clever way of getting round the rules that threatened to stop them from getting him, and is perhaps a method that UEFA should look into soon to prevent clubs from finding more loop holes in their rules.
#1 Neymar = £198,000,000 (Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain)
Neymar is a 27-year-old left winger who plays for Paris Saint-Germain in Ligue 1. He has also featured 96 times for Brazil since making his debut back in August 2010.
Neymar had already made huge waves when he signed for Barcelona from Santos back in 2013 for a whopping £79m, but to then almost triple that figure four years later by signing with PSG for close to £200m is simply mind-boggling.
It's true that Neymar is one of the best players in the world right now but there's no doubt that his age would have helped the price soar as high as it did. He has plenty left to give the club, and any future clubs, should he choose to move again. Moreover, the 27 to 29 age bracket is regarded by most as a player's peak footballing years, so we could see the very best from Neymar soon.
