The most expensive teenagers in football history as Liverpool prepare improved Diomande bid
Liverpool have had an opening offer of €100m (£86.7m) rejected for RB Leipzig winger Yan Diomande.
Leipzig have turned down the proposal, worth an initial €90m with a further €10m in add-ons, for the Ivorian teenager.
Liverpool are expected to return for the Bundesliga breakout talent, and a transfer could take the 19-year-old Diomande into the list of the most expensive teenagers in football history.
The expensive teenage transfers in football history
5. Joao Neves – Benfica to Paris Saint-Germain (£50.5m)
Benfica have raked in a fortune for their academy talents in recent seasons, but Paris Saint-Germain will feel they got a bargain with Neves.
The French side signed Neves for an initial £50.5m in 2024 and the midfielder made an immediate impact in Paris. Neves was an integral figure as PSG won a historic Ligue 1, Coupe de France and Champions League treble in his debut campaign, before helping Luis Enrique’s side to back-to-back European crowns in 2026.
4. Matthijs de Ligt – Ajax to Juventus (£77m)
Matthijs de Ligt was named Ajax captain while still a teen and led the Dutch side to a domestic double, alongside a remarkable run to the Champions League semi-finals, in 2018/19.
Juventus won the race for his signature, beating Europe’s top teams to a deal. De Ligt won the Serie A title in his debut campaign and spent three seasons in Italy, before another high-profile move to Bayern Munich.
The Dutch defender added another league title in Germany, but was sold on to Manchester United in 2024.
3. Jude Bellingham – Borussia Dortmund to Real Madrid (£88.5m)
Jude Bellingham signed for Real Madrid in a deal that could reach £115m including add-ons. The midfielder took the transfer in his stride, with a remarkable first-season impact.
Bellingham scored 23 goals from midfield as Real Madrid won a La Liga andChampions League double, earning him La Liga’s Player of the Season prize.
Things haven’t run quite as smoothly since, during a turbulent time at the Bernabeu, but Bellingham remains recognised as one of the world’s top talents.
2. Joao Felix – Benfica to Atletico Madrid (£113m)
Atletico Madrid paid a monumental fee for Joao Felix in 2019, breaking the bank to land the teenager after only one season of senior football.
Felix has starred in Portugal, but he struggled to hit those same heights in Madrid. An up-and-down period with Atletico saw the forward score only 34 goals in 131 games and depart on loan for Chelsea and Barcelona.
Now 26, Felix is in the Saudi Pro League with Al-Nassr.
1. Kylian Mbappe – AS Monaco to Paris Saint-Germain (£166m)
A mega-money move and an undoubted hit.
Kylian Mbappe‘s electric emergence in a swashbuckling Monaco team saw Paris Saint-Germain make the French forward the second-most expensive player in history.
Mbappe justified his huge fee by becoming PSG’s all-time top goalscorer, netting 256 goals in 308 appearances in all competitions. He was Ligue 1’s leading scorer in a record six seasons, and won six league titles and five Player of the Season awards.
His time in Paris ended under a cloud, however, as Mbappe departed for Real Madrid on a free transfer in 2024.
