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Transfer Records: Alexis Sánchez and the 20 Most Profitable Transfers Ever

Andres EhrliJul 21, 2011

Alexis Sanchez has been bought for โ‚ฌ26 million plus incentives today. He's undoubtedly a huge profit for Udinese.

There have been lots of profitable transfers like his.

This list will review the Top 20 most profitable transfers ever in football.

Where will Alexis rank?

Start the slideshow and find out!

Undecided: Alexis Sánchez

1 of 21

From: Udinese

Bought for: โ‚ฌ3 million from Cobreloa

Sold for: โ‚ฌ26 plus 11.5 in incentives to FC Barcelona

Profit: โ‚ฌ23 to 34.5 million

Alexis will land on this list on number 13 if Barcelona pay his fee in full.

If he under-performs, he'll be out of it altogether.

He'll still be a very profitable player for Udinese, though.

20. Pippo Inzaghi

2 of 21

From: Juventus

Bought for: โ‚ฌ10.4 million from Atalanta

Sold for: โ‚ฌ37 million to AC Milan

Profit: โ‚ฌ26.6 million

Superpippo makes this list thanks to the massive fee Milan paid to steal him out of Turin.

He doesn't quite play football, but he's there's no doubt he's the 20th most profitable transfer ever.

19. Danny

3 of 21

From: Dinamo Moscow

Bought for: โ‚ฌ3 million from Sporting Lisbon

Sold for: โ‚ฌ30 million to Zenit St. Peterburg

Profit: โ‚ฌ27 million

Danny? Really?

There's no way he's worth even โ‚ฌ15million.

But Zenit still bought him for โ‚ฌ30 million.

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18. Ronaldinho

4 of 21

From: Paris Saint-Germain

Bought for: โ‚ฌ5.1 million from Gremio

Sold for: โ‚ฌ32.25 million to FC Barcelona

Profit: โ‚ฌ27.15 million

R10 gets in at number 18.

And he was bought on a fairly cheap price by Barcelona.

17. Pepe

5 of 21

From: FC Porto

Bought for: โ‚ฌ2 million from Marรญtimo

Sold for: โ‚ฌ30 million to Real Madrid CF

Profit: โ‚ฌ28 million

The assasin was very profitable for Porto.

He was almost a complete unknown when he signed for Madrid.

When not on a killing spree, he's one of the top defenders in the world.

16. David Villa

6 of 21

Bought for: โ‚ฌ12 million from Real Zaragoza

Sold for: โ‚ฌ40 million to FC Barcelona

Profit: โ‚ฌ28 million

Maravilla was a huge profit for Valencia.

He exploded at Mestalla, so they deserve their bounty in full.

15. Fabio Coentrao

7 of 21

From: SL Benfica

Bought for: โ‚ฌ0.9 million from Rio Ave FC

Sold for: โ‚ฌ30 million to Real Madrid CF

Profit: โ‚ฌ29.1 million

The new Galactico was bought for โ‚ฌ30 million when it only cost Benfica โ‚ฌ900 thousand.

Now that's how you make money!

14. David Luiz

8 of 21

From: SL Benfica

Bought for: โ‚ฌ0.5 million from Vitรณria

Sold for: โ‚ฌ30 million to Chelsea FC

Profit: โ‚ฌ29.5 million

Another Benfica super-profitable sale.

They know what they're doing, don't they?

13. Didier Drogba

9 of 21

From: Olympique Marseille

Bought for: โ‚ฌ6 million from Guingamp

Sold for: โ‚ฌ37 million to Chelsea FC

Profit: โ‚ฌ29.5 million

Drogba brought a huge profit Marseille's way.

They used that money to try to bounce back in Ligue 1 (with not much success).

12. Marc Overmars

10 of 21

From: Arsenal FC

Bought for: โ‚ฌ7.5 million from AFC Ajax

Sold for: โ‚ฌ40 million to FC Barcelona

Profit: โ‚ฌ32.5 million

Overmars was a fantastic sell for Arsenal.

And a horrible buy for Barcelona.

Especially when you add Emmanuel Petit into the mix.

11. Edin Dzeko

11 of 21

Bought for: โ‚ฌ4 million from FK Teplice

Sold for: โ‚ฌ37 million to Manchester City

Profit: โ‚ฌ33 million

Edin seemed like he was worth โ‚ฌ37 million.

He hasn't proved it so far at City...

Wolsfburg will still swim in their money, though.

10. Nicolas Anelka

12 of 21

From: Arsenal FC

Bought for: โ‚ฌ0.76 million from Paris Saint-Germain

Sold for: โ‚ฌ35 million to Real Madrid CF

Profit: โ‚ฌ34.24 million

Le Sulk on his sulkiest days joined Madrid for a hefty fee.

He only cost Arsene Wenger 760 thousand euros.

Great buy, better sell.

9. Rui Costa

13 of 21

From: AC Fiorentina

Bought for: โ‚ฌ5.5 million from SL Benfica

Sold for: โ‚ฌ42 million to AC Milan

Profit: โ‚ฌ36.5 million

The Portuguese maestro commanded a heavy fee when he left Fiorentina.

Evenwith the huge profit, the viola still went down because of financial hardships.

8. Pavel Nedved

14 of 21

From: SS Lazio

Bought for: โ‚ฌ3.5 million from Sparta Prague

Sold for: โ‚ฌ41.2 million to Juventus

Profit: โ‚ฌ37.7 million

Great buy from Lazio snatching Nedved for under โ‚ฌ4 million euros from the Czech Republic.

But he should have been worth more than what Juve paid for him.

Still, good profit.

7. Dani Alves

15 of 21

From: FC Sevilla

Bought for: โ‚ฌ0.55 million from Bahia

Sold for: โ‚ฌ41.5 million to FC Barcelona

Profit: โ‚ฌ40.95 million

Monchi and Sevilla are magnificent at making profit.

But none like Alves who was bought for under 600 thousand euros and was sold for just shy of โ‚ฌ42million to Barcelona.

6. Zlatan Ibrahimovic

16 of 21

Bought for: โ‚ฌ24.8 million from Juventus

Sold for: โ‚ฌ69.5 million (โ‚ฌ49.5 million plus โ‚ฌ20 million valued Samuel Eto'o) to FC Barcelona

Profit: โ‚ฌ44.7 million

Moratti robbed Laporta.

There's no other way to understand this transfer today.

5. Hernán Crespo

17 of 21

From: FC Parma

Bought for: โ‚ฌ4 million from River Plate

Sold for: โ‚ฌ55 million to SS Lazio

Profit: โ‚ฌ51 million

Hernรกn Crespo at 5?

And for โ‚ฌ55 million?

Lazio ran a tight ship back then. Not!

4. Kaká

18 of 21

From: AC Milan

Bought for: โ‚ฌ8.25 million from Sao Paolo

Sold for: โ‚ฌ65 million to Real Madrid

Profit: โ‚ฌ56.75 million

Kakรก has been a huge bust at Real.

I'm sure Milan will be happy with their โ‚ฌ65 million profit.

3. Luís Figo

19 of 21

From: FC Barcelona

Bought for: โ‚ฌ2.5 million from Sporting Lisbon

Sold for: โ‚ฌ60 million to Real Madrid CF

Profit: โ‚ฌ57.5 million

Judas Iscariot himself at least borught lots of money after Barcelona got him for โ‚ฌ2.5 million.

Shame they spent it all in Overmars.

2. Zinedine Zidane

20 of 21

From: Juventus

Bought for: โ‚ฌ3.5 million from Bordeaux

Sold for: โ‚ฌ73.5 million to Real Madrid

Profit: โ‚ฌ70 million

Madrid got Zidane on the cheap.

And Juve should've seen more profit.

1. Cristiano Ronaldo

21 of 21

Bought for: โ‚ฌ17.5 million from Sporting Lisbon

Sold for: โ‚ฌ94 million to Real Madrid CF

Profit: โ‚ฌ76.5 million

A fair price and profit for CR97 if you ask me.

Both parties must be happy with what they got from this deal.

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