Who is the most expensive defender in the world? You are wondering if football defenders are ever valuable? Well, they are!
NaijNaira has compiled a list of the 10 most expensive defenders in the world currently and they are all named below with their fees.
Ten Most Expensive Defenders In Football History
10. João Cancelo – Juventus to Man City (£58.5M)
Cancelo plays for Premier League club Manchester City as a defender. He started his career at Benfica in 2014 before moving to Valencia in 2015.
The Portuguese international played for Valencia for 3 years before leaving for Juventus in 2018. He then joined City in 2019 for a fee of £58.5M making him the most expensive right back in the world at the time.
9. Aymeric Laporte – Athletic Bilbao to Man City (£58.5M)
Laporte currently plays as a defender for Premier League club Manchester City. He started his career in 2012 with Spanish side Athletic Bilbao.
The Spanish International played there for six years before joining City in January 2018 for a massive fee of £58.5M.
8. Marc Cucurella – Brighton & Hove Albion to Chelsea (£58.8M)
Cucurella plays for Chelsea as a defender in the English Premier League. The 24-year-old started his career in Barcelona in 2017 before moving to Getafe in 2020. He played for Getafe for just one year before going to Brighton in 2021.
The 2020 Summer Olympic silver medalist also played for Brighton for one year before finally moving to Chelsea this summer for a fee reported to be around £58.8M which was a record fee received by Brighton.
7. Achraf Hakimi – Inter Milan to Paris Saint-Germain (£59.9M)
Hakimi currently plays as a defender for Paris Saint-Germain in the French Ligue 1. He started his career at Real Madrid in 2017 and moved to Inter Milan in 2020.
He played for Inter Milan for just one year and moved to PSG in 2021 for a reported fee of £59.9M making him the most expensive right back in the world.
6. Rúben Dias – Benfica to Manchester City (£64.4M)
Rúben plays for Premier League club Manchester City as a defender.
He started his career at Benfica in 2017 and played there for three years before joining the Cityzens in 2020 for a huge fee of £64.4M.
5. Lucas Hernandez – Atlético Madrid to Bayern Munich (£72M)
Hernandez currently plays his club football in Bayern Munich as a defender.
He started his career at Atletico Madrid in 2014 and played there for five years before joining Bayern in 2019 for a reported fee of £72M.
4. Wesley Fofana – Leicester City to Chelsea (£72.4M)
Fofana plays as a defender for Premier League club Chelsea. He started his career at Saint-Étienne in 2019 and moved to Leicester City in 2020.
The Frenchman played for Leicester City for two years before leaving to join Chelsea this summer for a fee of 72.4M.
3. Virgil van Dijk – Southampton to Liverpool (£76.2M)
Van Dijk plays as a defender for Liverpool in the English Premier League. Widely regarded as one of the best defenders in the world, The 31-year-old started his career at Groningen in 2011 before joining Celtic in 2013.
He played for Celtic for two years before leaving for Southampton in 2015. The 2019 UEFA Men’s Player of the Year winner played for the Saints for three years before moving to Liverpool in 2018 for a fee of £76.2M making him the most expensive defender at the time.
2. Matthijs de Ligt – Ajax to Juventus (£77M)
De Ligt currently plies his trade as a defender for Bayern Munich in the German Bundesliga.
The 23-year-old started his career with Ajax in 2016 and then moved to Juventus for a fee of £77M before joining Bayern this summer.
1. Harry Maguire – Leicester City to Manchester United (£78.3M)
Maguire plays as a defender for Manchester United in the English Premier League. He started his career at Sheffield United in 2011 and spent three years with them before joining Hull City in 2014.
The England international played for Hull City for three years before moving to Leicester City in 2017. The 29-year-old then joined The Red Devils in 2019 for a fee of £78.3M a world record fee for a defender and that record is yet to be broken.
Article updated 2 months ago. Content is written and modified by multiple authors.
