Top 10 most expensive over-age veterans in the world: Ronaldo is number 1
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10 Anthony Modeste | 29 million euros
Modeste only played for mediocre clubs like Bordeaux, Hoffenheim or Koln… Yet the French player was recruited for 29 million Euros when he was 30 years old. The club that recruited him at that time was Tianjin Quanjian, at a time when the Chinese National Championship was tending to splash money like water.
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9 Matt Hummels | 30.5 million euros
Hummels only switched back and forth between the two top German teams, Bayern and Dortmund.
He joined Dortmund for the second time in 2019. At that time, Hummels was 31 years old but still one of the most expensive midfielders in the world.
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8 Leonardo Bonucci | 35 million euros
Bonucci was paid very highly by AC Milan and had high expectations to help them return to their golden age. However, his performance declined and Milan also experienced an extremely disappointing season.
After just one season, Bonucci returned to Juventus – the place he calls home.
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7 Jasper Cillessen | 35 million euros
Currently the number one goalkeeper for the Netherlands and Ajax, Cillessen moved to Barcelona as a backup for Ter Stegen.
The number of appearances he makes each season can be counted on the fingers of one hand. However, Cillessen still helped Barca earn 35 million Euros when selling him to Valencia in 2019, 3 times higher than the purchase price.
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6 Gabriel Batistuta | 36.1 million euros
The legendary Batistuta cost 36.1 million Euros in 2000, when he turned 31 years old.
This deal was carried out by two Italian clubs, during a time when Serie A was still flourishing.
That shows how great Batigol’s reputation and class were at that time.
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5 Radja Nainggolan | 38 million euros
Nainggolan moved to Inter for 38 million Euros in 2018.
That is a worthy landing spot and price for this player once he has proven his level.
After 3 years playing for Inter, Nainggolan sacrificed his career for his family when choosing to join the club in his hometown.
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4 Leonardo Bonucci | 42 million euros
Still Bonucci, but higher price.
Bonucci wanted to leave Juventus in 2017 due to conflicts with coach Allegri. However, this is a bad deal for both AC Milan and Bonucci, both professionally and economically.
He is the only player to appear twice on this list.
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3 Paulinho | 42 million euros
Barcelona was sarcastic when they recruited Paulinho – a player from China – for 40 million Euros.
The Brazilian player crushed the pressure with impressive performance in the 2017/18 season.
However, Barcelona continued to surprise when they sold Paulinho to Guangzhou for 42.5 million Euros.
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2 Miralem Pjanic | 60 million euros
This is Barcelona’s strange transfer deal. They brought in an older player who was not suitable for his playing style and received a high salary.
Barcelona must have a hard time pushing Pjanic away. This midfielder is playing for Besiktas on loan.
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1 Cristiano Ronaldo | 117 million euros
Ronaldo was once the most expensive player in the world when he joined Real Madrid in 2009.
He left the Bernabeu team as the only player over 30 years old in history worth more than 100 million Euros.
Ronaldo returned to Man Utd for 15 million Euros, the highest price for a player over 35 years old.