The 10 most expensive goalkeepers of all time

With Onana's move to England, he became the forth-most expensive goalkeeper in history.

A shot-stopper is as important a player as any other but sometimes his fault costs teams more dearly than any other. A confident keeper gives the team strength from the back and could result in reaching the titles that happened with Liverpool and Manchester City after singing the Brazilian counterparts.

Manchester United have announced their second signing of the summer transfer window this week with the addition of Inter Milan goalkeeper, Andre Onana. Erik ten Hag has secured his number one target to replace David de Gea with Onana expected to join United on their pre-season tour of the States at the end of the week. While we are talking about goalkeepers, let's take a look at the 10 most expensive goalkeepers of all time:

10. Aaron Ramsdale: Sheffield United to Arsenal - €28m (2021-22)

Many mocked when it emerged how much Arsenal were willing to pay for a young, uncapped keeper who had been relegated in each of his previous two seasons with Bournemouth and Sheffield United. But Arsenal knew what they were doing. Ramsdale arrived at the Emirates in August 2021 when it was thought he would be phased in around Bernd Leno. That plan went out of the window amid a dreadful start for the Gunners, with changing goalkeepers a very visible way of attempting to prompt an improvement.

It worked for both keepers, not the way you think as Ramsdale hasn’t looked back and is a shot-stopper for Arsenal and Leno too, who has been superb at Fulham, but Arsenal fans took to Ramsdale immediately, not just because he’s England’s second-best goalkeeper, but also his character and presence commands the team as well. These days, goalkeepers are often expected to be calm, soothing presences, but Ramsdale prefers to play to the crowd and provoke the opposition. The signing worked out just fine for both the parties involved and Arsenal are in the safe hands of the Englishman for a long time.

9. Jordan Pickford: Sunderland to Everton - € 28.5M (2017-18)

Pickford was grasped from Sunderland in similar circumstances to Ramsdale. The Black Cats had just finished bottom of the Premier League, but Pickford was blameless in their shambolic demise. The then-23-year-old stood out – admittedly in a tiny field – as the club’s Player of the Year and he was nominated for the PFA Young Player of the Year award. Pickford had an erratic time at Everton, initially settling well and establishing himself as England’s No.1.

Then, it all got a bit bumpy down the line, before he had some personal errors and low confidence but he still managed to keep his place in both club and national team. With the recent seasons gone, he found his stride back, fortunate for Everton since no one has done more than two-time club Player of the Season Pickford to keep the Toffees in the Premier League.

8. Manuel Neuer: Schalke to Bayern Munich - €30m (2011-12)

It isn’t clear on how much Neuer cost Bayern Munich as the transfer fees was undisclosed at the time when he moved to Bavaria from Schalke in 2011, Bayern paid an initial fee of £13 million. But with add-ons, it seems the final price was almost double that figure. The stipulations reportedly were that if Bayern won the Bundesliga twice and reached the Champions League semi-finals twice in Neuer’s first four seasons at the club, then Bayern would be liable for just over £24 million.

They achieved both targets but were one more Champions League triumph away from having to cough up another £5 million. Regardless, it would have been money well spent. Neuer has reigned for much of his 12 years in the Bayern goal as the world’s best keeper. The recent season has not been exactly planned due to Neuer getting injured on a vacation in the beginning of the season and Bayern having a fallout with the player but this World Cup winner was the synonym to Bayern for over a decade.

7. Thibaut Courtois: Chelsea to Real Madrid - €35m (2018-19)

The Belgium keeper secured his dream move from Chelsea to Real Madrid in 2018 after winning the Golden Glove at the World Cup in 2018. But it threatened to descend into a nightmare when he endured a rough debut season at the Bernabeu. He was dropped by Zinedine Zidane after a series of mistakes before he eventually turned his form around. And how! In 2020, Zidane described Courtois as the best in the world when he kept Real in the title race with a number of huge saves throughout the competition.

Others disputed that assertion but Courtois proved he might have had a point when he put in a superhuman performance to beat Liverpool in the 2021-22 Champions League final. The Belgium No.1 has a chip on his shoulder about his critics, but the desire to prove others wrong has driven him to turn things around at Real and put himself in the discussion when it comes to debating the world’s best.

6. Jasper Cillesen: Barcelona to Valencia - €35m (2019-20)

This one is a bizarre transfer that is as bizarre as it gets because Are we really to believe that Valencia coughed up in excess of £30 million for a goalkeeper who spent the previous three years on the Barcelona bench? Cillessen, then 30, made only five LaLiga appearances in three seasons as Marc-Andre ter Stegen’s stand-in. He moved to Valencia in the same week Neto went in the other direction for a similar amount – apropos of nothing, a couple of days before their financial year-end.

As a Valencia player, Cillessen missed large chunks of his three seasons at the Mestalla due to injury and relinquished his place as Holland’s No.1. He’s now back where it all began, at NEC, who paid less than £1million in 2022 summer. Hence proving, not all expensive transfers guarantee you a player as big as their price tag.

5. Ederson - Benfica to Manchester City: € 40M (2017-18)

Manchester City made Ederson the world’s one of the costliest keepers in 2017 when they bought him from Benfica. Gianluigi Buffon’s move to Juventus in 2001 equated to more Euros at the time, but City paid more pounds sterling for Ederson. His initial task was made all the more simple by City playing the ghost of Claudio Bravo in their goal the previous year.

But Ederson offered more than simply a safe pair of hands. He made big saves at crucial times in Pep Guardiola’s first Premier League title triumph – and those that followed – but his distribution over all distances has offered City a whole new dimension. He won the Golden Glove in his debut season and looked like the exact player City and Pep were looking for. In terms of defending his goal, Ederson wasn’t at his best last season but not that it mattered much.

4. Andre Onana - Inter Milan to Manchester United: €51m (2023-24)

Andre Onana has become the fourth-most expensive goalkeeper in the world after joining Manchester United for an initial fee of £43.9 million, which could rise to €51m. The Cameroonian has emerged as one of Europe’s leading goalkeepers after an outstanding season last year with Inter Milan and a successful spell with Ten Hag at Ajax previously. De Gea’s shocking departure from the club looked evident due to his short comings when it comes to long passing or pressing the opponent from the back.

Onana’s ability to start attacks is aligned with Ten Hag’s philosophy of building from the back and he is expected to transform the way United play. The ex-Ajax and Inter Milan is seen as the ideal goalkeeper for Erik ten Hag’s style of play but spending big money on a goalkeeper is by no means a guarantee of security.  In all likelihood, this brings the spending at Old Trafford to over £100 million for the summer, combined with the cost of midfielder Mason Mount.

Centre-forward is now the position the club is likely to focus on, with no recognized number nine available to Ten Hag. Inter will be happy with this deal as they signed Onana for free from Ajax and now earned them big bucks. It will be interesting to see how he fairs in England surrounded among some of the biggest forwards trying to penetrate his defense.  

3. Gianluigi Buffon - Parma to Juventus: €52.88m (2001-02)

The Italy legend, arguably the greatest goalkeeper ever, held the title of the world’s most expensive keeper for 17 years after joining Juventus from Parma in 2001, to around €52million. That not more eyebrows were raised at the time said much about how certain everyone was that Buffon would go on to become great. Juve’s sale of Zinedine Zidane in the same summer perhaps overshadowed Buffon’s move somewhat, but both deals turned out to be inspired.

Buffon earned 10 Serie A titles and four Italian cups as a Juve player, becoming a World Cup winner along the way. He holds the record for most Serie A appearances, the record for the longest streak without conceding a goal in Serie A and the highest number of caps for Italy. He is a legend of the game and still going on where he doesn’t seem to hang up his gloves yet. Aged 45, he’s still breaking strikers’ hearts back at Parma.

2. Alisson Becker- AS Roma to Liverpool: €62.5m (2018-19)

The Brazilian’s arrival at Liverpool after their Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid was evident. Their keeper Karius made two horror judgements which cost them a 3-1 defeat. Alisson’s Roma stunned the world by eliminating Barcelona and reaching the Champions League final the same season. Going from Loris Karius to Alisson is one of the biggest upgrades ever to take place in any goalmouth.

Alisson spent only a month as the world’s most expensive goalkeeper ever before Chelsea did Liverpool and the rest of the Premier League a favor by signing Kepa. Alisson was at his very best last term. This is handy because it’s difficult to imagine how grim things might have got for Liverpool had he not been. The 30-year-old has always been ahead of Ederson in the Brazil reckoning and like his compatriot, Alisson could hardly fail given how wretched the fella he replaced was. He has since won almost every club trophy available to him and is still their main man between the poles.

1. Kepa Arrizabalaga - Athletic Club to Chelsea: €80m (2018-19)

The Spaniard remains the most expensive goalkeeper in history. This remains ridiculous despite Kepa clawing back some credibility at Chelsea. A year ago, it would have been hard to pinpoint how Kepa could have fared worse at Stamford Bridge. He arrived to replace Thibaut Courtois and the Blues can hardly claim that they rushed to a rash judgement because the Belgian’s desire to move to Spain was abundantly clear for all to see.

They had plenty of time to identify a replacement and in his first year wasn’t the error-riddled show that his second season became, but he still made a fool of Maurizio Sarri when the coach wanted to substitute his keeper in the Carabao Cup final. When Frank Lampard replaced Sarri, Kepa’s form plummeted. He was dropped twice in Lampard’s first season in charge, then again early the following campaign, prompting Chelsea to sign Eduoard Mendy to replace him.

Mendy didn’t last and Thomas Tuchel’s last act was to reinstate Kepa and amid the Chelsea’s tumble, he did pretty well last season, certainly in comparison to his previous efforts. Well, enough to remain No.1 under Mauricio Pochettino? Possibly, largely because there are more urgent problems and positions in the team roster for Chelsea to address.