If you want to buy a high-end player in La Liga, Real Madrid and Barcelona are the two teams that stand out. They have made some of the most expensive purchases in football history.

Real Madrid may have started the arms race in assembling their original Galacticos, but Barcelona have not been shy about exoɾbitant and wasteful spending.

Here breaks down the 10 most expensive signings in LaLiga history👇👇

Real Madrid may have started the arms race when they put together the first Galacticos, but Barcelona has also been known to waste a lot of money.

Teamtalk lists the 10 most expensive signings in the history of La Liga.

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10. Frenkie De Jong to Barcelona for €86 million until July 2019

When Barcelona came calling in 2019, Ajax took advantage of Frenkie De Jong’s promise. They sold the midfielder and got €86 million in return.

De Jong has been criticized for not standing out on Barcelona and Netherlands teams that were full of exciting stars.

De Jong missed 21 games in 2023–24 because of two ankle injuries, which was the worst run of injuries he had ever had in La Liga.

9. Neymar to Barcelona for €88 million in July 2013

Barcelona really wanted to get Neymar to La Liga for a long time before they finally paid €88 million to get him from Santos.

Not much new has been said about Neymar’s time at Barcelona, which has caused fans to disagree. However, the club would make a huge profit from selling him to PSG in 2017, which was the most expensive transfer in history.

Spanish authorities charged Neymar, his father, the two clubs, former Barcelona presidents Josep Maria Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell, and former Santos president Odilio Rodrigues with fraud over the transfer. However, after a trial in 2022, all of them were found not guilty.

8. Ronaldo to Real Madrid for €94 million in July 2009

Real Madrid won’t be sorry they paid €94 million to get Cristiano Ronaldo when he was at the top of his game.

When he went to Juventus, Real were able to get that fee back plus a little more. This made the deal look even better.

Ronaldo’s time at Real Madrid was unforgettable, and the club was able to easily cover his transfer fee with the value of his name.

7. Gareth Bale to Real Madrid for €101 million in September 2013

A lot of money was spent on Ronaldo four years ago, and now Real Madrid has one of the best players in the Premier League in Gareth Bale.

Even though Bale wasn’t as successful as Ronaldo, he shouldn’t be called a failure since he cost €101 million.

During his time at Real Madrid, he had more moments of great play than long-lasting ones.

6. Jude Bellingham to Real Madrid for €103 million until July 2023

Jude Bellingham took the less-traveled path and ended up at the Santiago Bernabeau after getting €103 million from Borussia Dortmund. Birmingham City got 5% of that payment because they had a sell-on option on the young star.

Bellingham is now a fan favorite at Real Madrid and a key player for the league and cup winners.

If Bellingham left Real Madrid soon, he could get Real Madrid a world record fee because he is tied with Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland as the most expensive player in the world right now.

5. Antoine Griezmann to Barcelona for €120 million up until July 2019

Although Barcelona paid €120 million for Antoine Griezmann, the player never really won over Barça fans. This is seen as a big mistake by the Spanish giants.

Griezmann soon tried to get back to Atletico Madrid, and he was able to do so. Atletico Madrid was the big winner in the long transfer dɾama.

Griezmann returned to Atletico Madrid for €22 million, four years after leaving for Barcelona for €120 million.

4. Eden Hazard is going to Real Madrid for €120.8 million in July 2019.

At the same time in 2019, Real Madrid paid a lot of money for a forward who didn’t live up to his high price tag.

Real had to have known that when they paid €120.8 million for Eden Hazard, they were taking a big ɾisk because he had already lived up to the name “mercurial.”

Hazard didn’t play 20 games in any of his four La Liga seasons. During his time with Real Madrid in the Spanish Capital, he only appeared in 72 league games.

3. Joao Felix to Atletico Madrid for €127.2 million until July 2019

Atletico Madrid really wanted Joao Felix so much that they were willing to pay their record price of €127.2m to get him playing for them when he was only 19.

Felix seemed like a great addition to the Atletico team at first, but he got into a fig𝔥t with coach Diego Simeone and was sent on loan to Chelsea and Barcelona.

Felix’s desire to play more attacking football was mentioned as the reason why he and Simeone had a fig𝔥t.

1. Ousmane Dembele to Barcelona for €135 million in August 2017

Barcelona’s spending in 2017–18 was boosted by the sale of Neymar, but it should still be a lesson for teams that have recently gotten a huge windfall.

Barça paid €270 million for two players, who together hold the record for the most expensive players ever bought by a team in LaLiga.

Even though Ousmane Dembele got a lot of attention, he was never really a part of Barcelona’s dream front three. His €135 million price tag can’t really be seen as anything but a mistake.

Phillipe Coutinho to Barcelona for €135 million in January 2018

For the cɾazy amount of €135 million, Phillipe Coutinho moved to Barcelona in January 2018 after an amazing but maybe slowing down time at Liverpool.

After 18 months, Coutinho was loaned to Bayern Munich because he couldn’t make it at Barcelona. He would return to Camp Nou for two more seasons, but he would only play a small role.

He went back to the Premier League when Aston Villa made the loan deal for the Brazilian star official in 2022. They paid €20m, which showed how much his value had dropped.