COUNTING THE COST OF STARS
The most expensive team in the world
By Dominic Raynor
1 Zinédine Zidane - Real Madrid - £48.1m - 2001
2 LuÃs Figo - Real Madrid - £38.7m - 2000
3 Hernán Crespo - Lazio - £35.5m - 2000
4 Gianluigi Buffon - Juventus - £32.6m - 2001
5 Robinho - Manchester City - £32.5m - 2008
6 Christian Vieri - Internazionale - £32.0m - 1999
7 Andriy Shevchenko - Chelsea - £30.8m - 2006
8 Dimitar Berbatov - Man United - £30.75m - 2008
9 Pavel Nedved - Juventus - £30.6m - 2001
10 Rio Ferdinand - Man United - £29.1m - 2002
11 Gaizka Mendieta - Lazio - £29m - 2001
12 Ronaldo - Real Madrid - £28.49m - 2002
13 J Sebastián Verón - Man Utd - £28.1m - 2001
14 Wayne Rooney - Man United - £27m - 2004
15 Marc Overmars - Barcelona - £25m - 2000
Manchester City may have failed with their £108 million bid for AC Milan star Kaka but it seems only a matter of time before the billionaire club do eventually smash the world record for a transfer fee.
Earlier this season the Abu-Dhabi United Group marked their takeover of City with the £32.5 million purchase of Robinho from Real Madrid - the first piece of what they declared would become a bona fida fantasy football team - and the ill-fated Kaka deal this January is a statement by the owners that money is no object.
But while lots of lovely lucre can help lure some of football's top talents, money doesn't always buy success. Some of the most expensive transfers in history have proven to be flops.
Below Soccernet has constructed the most expensive team in world football, based on transfer fees, along with a synopsis of what success, if any, those big money signings brought to their clubs.
Soccernet
Football's costliest transfers make up ourExpensive XI
• The majority of the biggest transfer fees are paid for attacking players but we have taken the most expensive deals in each position - goalkeeper, defence, midfield, attack - and used an attacking 3-4-3 formation to reflect the proportion of cash spent on forward talent.
Also, the "Trophies" sub-section only lists major trophies, not curtain-raising events like the English Community Shield, Spanish Super Cup or Italian Supercoppa.
The most expensive team in the world
By Dominic Raynor
1 Zinédine Zidane - Real Madrid - £48.1m - 2001
2 LuÃs Figo - Real Madrid - £38.7m - 2000
3 Hernán Crespo - Lazio - £35.5m - 2000
4 Gianluigi Buffon - Juventus - £32.6m - 2001
5 Robinho - Manchester City - £32.5m - 2008
6 Christian Vieri - Internazionale - £32.0m - 1999
7 Andriy Shevchenko - Chelsea - £30.8m - 2006
8 Dimitar Berbatov - Man United - £30.75m - 2008
9 Pavel Nedved - Juventus - £30.6m - 2001
10 Rio Ferdinand - Man United - £29.1m - 2002
11 Gaizka Mendieta - Lazio - £29m - 2001
12 Ronaldo - Real Madrid - £28.49m - 2002
13 J Sebastián Verón - Man Utd - £28.1m - 2001
14 Wayne Rooney - Man United - £27m - 2004
15 Marc Overmars - Barcelona - £25m - 2000
Manchester City may have failed with their £108 million bid for AC Milan star Kaka but it seems only a matter of time before the billionaire club do eventually smash the world record for a transfer fee.
Earlier this season the Abu-Dhabi United Group marked their takeover of City with the £32.5 million purchase of Robinho from Real Madrid - the first piece of what they declared would become a bona fida fantasy football team - and the ill-fated Kaka deal this January is a statement by the owners that money is no object.
But while lots of lovely lucre can help lure some of football's top talents, money doesn't always buy success. Some of the most expensive transfers in history have proven to be flops.
Below Soccernet has constructed the most expensive team in world football, based on transfer fees, along with a synopsis of what success, if any, those big money signings brought to their clubs.

Soccernet
Football's costliest transfers make up ourExpensive XI
• The majority of the biggest transfer fees are paid for attacking players but we have taken the most expensive deals in each position - goalkeeper, defence, midfield, attack - and used an attacking 3-4-3 formation to reflect the proportion of cash spent on forward talent.
Also, the "Trophies" sub-section only lists major trophies, not curtain-raising events like the English Community Shield, Spanish Super Cup or Italian Supercoppa.