Real Madrid most expensive signings: Bellingham pipped to top spot

Real Madrid have regularly splashed the cash on elite talent over the years and while they’ll be happy with much of their recent transfer business, not every big money buy has worked out.

The list of Real Madrid’s most expensive signings includes some modern-day greats, but it doesn’t feature Kylian Mbappe given his move from PSG this summer was technically a free transfer. That’s despite an astronomical signing-on fee which alone would have made him Real’s record buy had it been a transfer fee.

Real Madrid most expensive signings: The top five

1) – Eden Hazard – €120.8m

Real Madrid’s most expensive ever signing remains Eden Hazard who joined for just over €120m from Chelsea in 2019.

Hazard was arguably the best player in the Premier League at the time, scoring 16 and assisting 15 in his final season in the English top flight. However, his decline in Spain was sudden and spectacular, with the Belgian managing just 11 goal contributions in La Liga across four years before his retirement at the age of just 32 in 2023.

2) – Jude Bellingham – €103m

Los Blancos forked out €103m to sign Jude Bellingham from Borussia Dortmund in 2023 and that already feels like an incredibly shrewd piece of business, despite the Englishman being the club’s second most expensive purchase.

Bellingham hit the ground running in Spain, scoring on his La Liga debut in Bilbao and contributing massively as Carlo Ancelotti’s side were crowned Spanish and European champions in his first season.

The 21-year-old scored 19 times in La Liga as he thrived in an advanced midfield role.

3) – Gareth Bale – €101m

Another British player completes the top three with Gareth Bale joining for a then world-record fee in 2013. The Welsh international won five Champions Leagues before his departure nine years later and scored more than 100 goals in the famous white shirt.

On many levels, Bale was a huge hit, yet his legacy was tarnished by a severe decline in form and fitness during his final years in Spain, as well as the perception that he was more interested in playing for Wales or playing golf, than representing Los Blancos.

4) – Cristiano Ronaldo – €94m

Expectation levels at the Santiago Bernabeu are often unbearably high and even Cristiano Ronaldo had his critics at times during a ridiculously successful nine-year stay in Madrid.

The legendary forward scored 450 goals for Los Blancos in all competitions, at a rate of better than one per game following his big money move from Manchester United in 2009.

5) – Aurelien Tchouameni – €80m

Midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni completes the top five most expensive Real Madrid signings. The Frenchman joined from Monaco ahead of the 2022/23 season and was seen as a younger replacement for Casemiro in the holding midfield role.

While the Brazilian’s subsequent decline in Manchester would suggest that was smart business, Tchouameni hasn’t convinced everyone that he’s going to be a key player for Real Madrid for many years to come, although he still has time to further develop his game.