10 Manuel Rui Costa
Fiorentina to Milan (£27m, 2001)
The Portuguese playmaker did not want to leave Florence and cried when the news was broken to him. The Rossoneri hijacked a proposed move to Parma when they swooped for Rui Costa – ironically the man whose position Kaka stole when he broke into the Milan first XI.
9 Juan Sebastian Veron
Lazio to Manchester United (£28.1m, 2001)
La Brujita departed Italy after five years with Sampdoria, Parma and Lazio but discovered that life isn’t always greener on the other side as his move to Old Trafford turned sour. Moved on to Chelsea in 2003 – taking the combined total spent on him in his career up to £77m.
8 Ronaldo
Inter to Real Madrid (£28.5, 2002)
After suffering yet another injury, Ronaldo was nursed back to health by Inter’s medical staff. His return was just in time to get him fit and ready for the 2002 World Cup. He excelled in Japan-Korea as Brazil took their fifth Mondiale. How did Ron repay Inter for their faith in him? By signing for Real.
7 Gaizka Mendieta
Valencia to Lazio (£29m, 2001)
The Spanish Kurt Cobain lookalike emerged from almost nowhere to become arguably the best midfield anchor in Europe with Valencia at the turn of the century. However, once he arrived in Rome his talent appeared to disappear overnight. Played just 20 games for Lazio.
6 Pavel Nedved
Lazio to Juventus (£30.6m, 2001)
The Bianconeri used a large part of the money they received for Zinedine Zidane to pry the Czech maestro from Lazio. A Ballon d’Or winner in 2003, Nedved perfectly filled the Frenchman’s playmaker boots and remained loyal to Juve when they dropped to Serie B.
5 Andriy Shevchenko
Milan to Chelsea (£30.8m, 2006)
Perhaps the first transfer that really confirmed the financial shift of power from Italy to England. Sheva’s departure from Milan – where he was chasing Gunnar Nordahl’s all-time scoring record – never seemed to be entirely to his liking and by 2008-09 he was back at San Siro.
4 Christian Vieri
Lazio to Inter (£32m, 1999)
With more clubs than Tiger Woods a fair bit of cash has been spent on Bobo. Ironically left the Aquilotti the season before their Scudetto win, but his relationship with Inter was his longest with any club – six seasons that included 103 goals in 143 Serie A games.
3 Gianluigi Buffon
Parma to Juventus (£32.6m, 2001)
At the turn of the century the peninsula was awash with money, to the extent that in excess of £30m was spent on a goalkeeper. That said, what a ‘keeper. Buffon has consistently been in the top two or three net-minders in the world for the past decade. Money well spent.
2 Hernan Crespo
Parma to Lazio (£35.5m, 2000)
An impressive 61 goals in 116 appearances in Serie A for Parma convinced the cash rich Biancocelesti to break the world transfer record of the time. Reigning domestic champions, the purchase was supposed to elevate the Olimpico club to the pinnacle of Europe but things never quite worked out for them.
1 Zinedine Zidane
Juventus to Real Madrid (£46m, 2001)
Still the biggest transfer in the world and the closest any player has come to moving for £50m. Zizou had made himself a household name at Juventus but his star went into galactic orbit after his mega-bucks switch to Spain. Picked up the European Cup in his first season with Real.
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