13 August 2026

Football clubs are constantly searching for the next superstar, and they are prepared to spend huge sums on gifted young prospects.

While older players bring plenty of experience and can deliver an instant impact, they do not offer the same long-term value and usually come with little or no resale potential.

Here is a look at the 10 most expensive teenagers in football history and what happened after they completed those high-profile transfers.

Note: Potential add-ons have been included even if every clause was not activated, and all transfer fees are listed in Pounds rather than Euros.

Despite Southampton being relegated from the Premier League in the 2022/23 season, Romeo Lavia still received widespread praise for his displays at St Mary's.

Liverpool were ready to pay £60million for the Belgium international, but he turned down the Reds and made it clear that he wanted to join Chelsea.

Chelsea then managed to agree a slightly lower package, paying Southampton an initial £53million plus a further £5million in possible add-ons.

However, the midfielder has had an injury-hit beginning to life at Stamford Bridge and has still not completed the full 90 minutes in an official match for Chelsea.

Year: 2015

Once labelled the next Thierry Henry, Anthony Martial became the world’s most expensive teenager when he moved from Monaco to Manchester United in 2015.

He joined for an initial £36million, with a number of performance-related bonus clauses included that could have taken the overall fee to £58million.

The France international made a superb early impression by scoring against Liverpool on his Manchester United debut and also won the 2015 Golden Boy award.

But he did not fully realise his potential at Old Trafford, scoring 90 goals in 317 appearances across all competitions before leaving on a free transfer at the end of the 2023/24 season.

Year: 2024

Nine years after Martial arrived, Manchester United moved for another French prodigy and struck a deal with Lille for Leny Yoro.

The defender had already made 60 first-team appearances for his childhood club and was included in the Ligue 1 Team of the Season for 2023/24.

Real Madrid were also in the race for his signature, but they did not match Manchester United’s proposal, which consisted of an initial £52.1million and a further £6.7million in potential add-ons.

He has shown flashes of his ability during his first two years at Old Trafford, but injuries have also hampered him and he has not yet nailed down a place as the first-choice centre-back.

One of three Benfica academy graduates on this list, Joao Neves made his first-team debut in January 2023 and quickly became an important figure for both club and country.

Paris Saint-Germain paid an initial £50.5million for the midfielder, and that figure could increase to £59.3million through performance-based add-ons.

The Portugal international has since played a key role in PSG winning back-to-back Champions League titles, with the first of those coming as part of a continental treble.

“We did great last year with the players we signed, and Joao was one of them,” Luis Enrique said in 2025. “He is very young, but we didn’t have any doubts about him because of his intensity and quality on and off the ball.”

Year: 2016

To: Bayern Munich

After an impressive breakthrough campaign at Benfica in 2015/16, Renato Sanches joined Bayern Munich in a transfer worth an initial £27.5million plus another £35.5million in add-ons.

The move looked an excellent one after he helped Portugal win Euro 2016 and collected the Young Player of the Tournament award.

But the midfielder was unable to make his mark in Munich and then endured a disastrous loan spell at Swansea City before completing a permanent move to Lille in 2019.

“The beginning was difficult,” he said while reflecting on the transfer. “I went there alone, I was 18, and I thought I was ready to be alone, to face this challenge, but now I know I wasn’t.”

Year: 2019

Matthijs de Ligt rose to prominence in the 2018/19 season after captaining Ajax to a domestic double and the semi-finals of the Champions League.

Juventus beat competition from Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona to sign the centre-back in a deal worth up to £77.1million.

He won the Serie A title in his first season and lifted the Coppa Italia in 2020/21, but he could not reproduce his Ajax level in a Juventus shirt and was sold to Bayern Munich in 2022.

“I was captain at Ajax and felt like I had to lead this team,” he said. “Of course, if you then go to a team that has such legends in defence and in goal, for a guy of 19 it might be a bit difficult at first to express yourself in the way you actually could.

“In a way, I was less myself but I learned a lot and tried to absorb things every day to become a better player and leader.”

Year: 2019

There was plenty of surprise when Atletico Madrid paid a club-record £112.9million for Joao Felix, who had only one season of senior football behind him.

To be fair, that had been an outstanding campaign from the then-19-year-old, as he helped Benfica win the Primeira Liga title with 15 goals and seven assists in 21 starts in 2018-19.

But he was not a natural fit for Atletico’s style under Diego Simeone and could not show his best form, managing just 34 goals and 18 assists in 131 appearances for the LaLiga club.

The Portugal international later fell out with Simeone and spent time on loan at Chelsea and Barcelona before rejoining Chelsea permanently in a £46.3million move in 2024.

Year: 2023

To: Real Madrid

Jude Bellingham made two major transfers while still a teenager, first leaving boyhood side Birmingham City for Borussia Dortmund in a £22.5million deal in 2020.

He spent three years at Dortmund before moving to Real Madrid, who paid an initial £88.5million with another £26.5million in potential add-ons.

The transfer was officially confirmed by both clubs only two weeks before his 20th birthday, which allowed him to qualify for this list.

The midfielder won both the LaLiga title and the Champions League in his debut season at the Bernabeu and is now considered one of the finest players in world football.

Year: 2026

The newest entry on the list, Diomande joined RB Leipzig last year as a relatively little-known player, but his reputation soared after an outstanding debut season.

He was named the Bundesliga Young Player of the Season for 2025/26 after scoring 12 goals and providing eight assists in the competition.

RB Leipzig were keen to keep the 19-year-old winger for one more season and turned down £85.4million offers from both Liverpool and Real Madrid, along with a £102.5million bid from Paris Saint-Germain.

But Madrid did not back off, and their second offer was too strong to refuse, with the LaLiga club agreeing a total package worth £120million including add-ons.

Year: 2018

After helping Monaco win Ligue 1 and reach the Champions League semi-finals in 2016/17, Kylian Mbappe established himself as one of the most coveted young players in world football.

He initially joined Paris Saint-Germain on loan, and the transfer was later made permanent for £166million, making him the most expensive teenager ever and the second-most expensive signing overall.

The France international lived up to that valuation and became PSG’s all-time leading goalscorer, scoring 256 goals in 308 appearances in all competitions.

But his spell at Parc des Princes ended on a bitter note, and he joined Real Madrid on a free transfer in the summer of 2024.