Do Brazilian Football Stars Still Hold the Same Allure Internationally?

A Brazilian football star is one of the most valuable commodities in modern football. The arrival of such a player causes supporters to wax lyrical about their new signing, especially if his name ends in "-inho." 

For the last two decades, Brazilian imports have excited and delighted fans and neutrals alike with outrageous skills and abilities.

The Selecao have delivered some of the world's biggest talents, demonstrating their talents on the European stage, particularly in the Champions League.

However, critics of late would suggest that with the rapid globalisation of football, Brazilians have somehow lost their sheen. That they no longer excite loyal supporters if their club should be linked with one.

In accordance with this trend, the latest fashion in footballers seem to be diminutive Spanish attackers, with La Roja conquering all on the international stage.

And Brazil looks to have been left by the wayside.

But is that necessarily the case? A list of all major transfers involving Brazilians since 1990 has been compiled and split into decades for your perusal and judgment, in an effort to see just how popular Brazilian stars have been in football.

So let's start with the 1990s.

Year	Player	From	To	Fee	Source
1990	Aldair	Benfica	Roma	€9m	Transfermarkt
1991	Mazinho	Bragantino	Bayern Munich	€1.8m	Transfermarkt
1992	Bebeto	Vasco da Gama	Deportivo La Coruna	€0.7m	Transfermarkt
1993	Romario	PSV	Barcelona	€12m	Transfermarkt
1994	Ronaldo	Cruzeiro	PSV	€5.5m	Transfermarkt
1995	Roberto Carlos	Palmeiras	Inter	€3.5m	Transfermarkt
1995	Juninho Paulista	Sao Paulo	Middlesbrough	€5.5m	Transfermarkt
1996	Ronaldo	PSV	Barcelona	€15m	Transfermarkt
1996	Roberto Carlos	Inter	Real Madrid	€6m	Transfermarkt
1996	Rivaldo	Palmeiras	Deportivo La Coruna	€12m	Transfermarkt
1996	Ze Roberto	Portuguesa	Real Madrid	€9m	Transfermarkt
1996	Conceicao	Palmeiras	Deportivo La Coruna	€11m	Transfermarkt
1997	Rivaldo	Deportivo La Coruna	Barcelona	€23.5m	Transfermarkt
1997	Ronaldo	Barcelona	Inter	€28m	Transfermarkt
1997	Sonny Anderson	Monaco	Barcelona	€18m	Transfermarkt
1998	Denilson	Sao Paulo	Real Betis	€31.5m	Transfermarkt
1999	Amoroso	Udinese	Parma	€28m	Transfermarkt
1999	Sonny Anderson	Barcelona	Lyon	€19m	Transfermarkt

The Brazilian influx in Europe got under way with €239 million worth of talent arriving or moving across the continent, with several World Cup stars in their midst.

Ronaldo alone fetched €48.5 million in transfer fees as he made the switch from Cruzeiro to PSV, who then sold him to Barcelona for a handsome profit, with a move to Inter coming a year later.

"O Fenomeno" was followed by the likes of Rivaldo, Roberto Carlos and lesser luminaries such as Sonny Anderson and Amoroso to prove that Brazilians were up there with some of the most valuable players on the continent.

To put it all in perspective, Ronaldo and Denilson's moves to Inter and Real Betis, respectively, broke the world record in quick succession.

The 1990s were a good time to be a Brazilian, that's for certain. But did the turn of the millennium bring any changes?

Year	Player	From	To	Fee	Source
2000	Conceicao	Deportivo La Coruna	Real Madrid	€25m	Transfermarkt
2000	Lucas	Atletico-PR	Rennes	€21.3m	Transfermarkt
2000	Jardel	FC Porto	Galatasaray	€16m	Transfermarkt
2000	Emerson	Roma	Bayer Leverkusen	€20m	Transfermarkt
2001	Amoroso	Parma	Borussia Dortmund	€25m	Sky Sports
2001	Geovanni	Cruzeiro	Barcelona	€21m	Transfermarkt
2002	Ronaldo	Inter	Real Madrid	€35m	SI
2003	Ronaldinho	PSG	Barcelona	€30m	ABC
2004	Emerson	Roma	Juventus	€28m	CNN
2005	Julio Baptista	Sevilla	Real Madrid	€20m	Sambafoot
2005	Robinho	Santos	Real Madrid	€22.5m	ESPN
2005	Fred	Cruzeiro	Lyon	€15m	Sambafoot
2007	Anderson	FC Porto	Manchester United	€30m	FC Porto
2007	Alexandre Pato	Internacional	AC Milan	€24m	CBC
2008	Ronaldinho	Barcelona	AC Milan	€21m	Guardian
2008	Robinho	Real Madrid	Manchester City	€40m	Telegraph
2008	Dani Alves	Sevilla	Barcelona	€33m	Telegraph
2008	Jo	CSKA Moscow	Manchester City	€21m	Guardian
2008	Hulk	Tokyo Verdy	FC Porto	€19m	Transfermarkt
2009	Kaka	AC Milan	Real Madrid	€65m	BBC
2009	Felipe Melo	Fiorentina	Juventus	€20m	Goal.com
2009	Michel Bastos	Lille	Lyon	€18m	Sky Sports
2009	Diego	Werder Bremen	Juventus	€24.5m	Goal.com
2009	Nilmar	Internacional	Villarreal	€10m	Reuters

The 2000s got off to a relatively slow start where Brazilians were concerned, with only nine players moving in the first half of the decade for big fees.

But in the second half, the transfer market exploded.

Fifteen players changed clubs for huge amounts of money, putting the total up to €604.3 million for the decade, helped in no small way by Kaka's ludicrous €65 million fee, which still remains the highest fee paid for a Brazilian footballer.

Not bad at all as we headed into the 2010s.

Club	Player	From	To	Fee	Source
2010	Ramires	Cruzeiro	Chelsea	€22m	Guardian
2010	Robinho	Manchester City	AC Milan	€21m	Telegraph
2010	Carlos Eduardo	Hoffenheim	Rubin Kazan	€20m	Goal.com
2010	Luiz Gustavo	Hoffenheim	Bayern Munich	€15m	CNN
2010	Diego	Juventus	Wolfsburg	€15.5m	DW
2011	David Luiz	Benfica	Chelsea	€25m	ESPN
2012	Oscar	Internacional	Chelsea	€29m	BBC
2012	Hulk	FC Porto	Zenit St Petersburg	€40m	UEFA
2012	Lucas Moura	Sao Paulo	PSG	€45m	Independent
2012	Thiago Silva	AC Milan	PSG	€42m	Goal.com
2012	Taison	Metalist	Shakhtar	€20m	Guardian
2013	Neymar	Santos	Barcelona	€57m	Goal.com
2013	Fernandinho	Shakhtar	Manchester City	€40m	Goal.com
2013	Marquinhos	Roma	PSG	€35m	Goal.com
2013	Paulinho	Corinthians	Tottenham	€20m	Guardian
2013	Fernando	Gremio	Shakhtar	€11m	Goal.com
2013	Fred	Internacional	Shakhtar	€15m	Goal.com
2013	Alexandre Pato	AC Milan	Corinthians	€15m	Guardian
2013	Willian	Shakhtar	Anzhi	€35m	Guardian

There's clearly been an incredible boom in transfers involving Brazilians since 2010, with a staggering €522.5 million changing hands in just three years. That is set to increase even further with the 2013 summer transfer window yet to close.

Several more transfers could see it smash the €600 million barrier.

That tipping point could be reached this summer, with the likes of Hernanes, Luiz Gustavo, Bernard and Leandro Damiao all potential movers in the coming weeks.

Only three years into the 2010s, we are already set to break the total fees set in the 2000s, with the prospect of even more to come.

In addition to this, nine Brazilians are currently listed on the all-time transfer fees paid list compiled by Transfermarkt, with only Argentina coming close with seven.

So do Brazilian footballers still hold the same allure on the international stage?

Oh yes.