List of most expensive American soccer transfers

The following is a list of most expensive American soccer transfers, which details the highest transfer fees ever paid for players, as well as transfers which set new American transfer records. The current transfer record was set by the transfer of Christian Pulisic from Borussia Dortmund to Chelsea for $65 million in August 2019.

Christian Pulisic, who completed the most expensive transfer ever by an American soccer player.

Highest transfer payments for American players

Fees $4.0m or higher.

Player	From	To	Fee	Year	Ref
Christian Pulisic	Borussia Dortmund	Chelsea	$65.0m	2019	[1]
Malik Tillman	PSV	Bayer Leverkusen	$46.0m	2025	[2]
Folarin Balogun	Arsenal	Monaco	$43.0m	2023	[3]
Brenden Aaronson	Red Bull Salzburg	Leeds United	$30.2m	2022	[4]
Tyler Adams	Leeds United	Bournemouth	$25.5m	2023	[5]
Christian Pulisic	Chelsea	AC Milan	$24.2m	2023	[6]
Tyler Adams	RB Leipzig	Leeds United	$24.1m	2022	[7]
Sergiño Dest	Ajax	Barcelona	$23.1m	2020	[8]
Weston McKennie	Schalke 04	Juventus	$22.5m	2021	[9]
Yunus Musah	Valencia	AC Milan	$20.0m	2023	[10]
Ricardo Pepi	FC Dallas	FC Augsburg	$20.0m	2022	[11]
John Brooks	Hertha BSC	VfL Wolfsburg	$19.4m	2017	[12]
Jozy Altidore	AZ	Sunderland	$13.0m	2013	[13]
Matt Turner	Arsenal	Nottingham Forest	$12.7m	2023	[14]
Timothy Weah	Lille	Juventus	$12.4m	2023	[15]
Timothy Weah	Paris Saint-Germain	Lille	$11.4m	2019	[16]
Michael Bradley	Roma	Toronto FC	$10.4m	2014	[16]
Jozy Altidore	New York Red Bulls	Villarreal	$10.0m	2008	[16]
Gabriel Slonina	Chicago Fire	Chelsea	$10.0m	2022	[17]
Ricardo Pepi	FC Augsburg	PSV	$9.8m	2023	[15]
Daryl Dike	Orlando City	West Bromwich Albion	$9.5m	2022	[18]
Josh Sargent	Werder Bremen	Norwich City	$9.5m	2021	[19]
Clint Dempsey	Fulham	Tottenham Hotspur	$9.0m	2012	[19]
Clint Dempsey	Tottenham Hotspur	Seattle Sounders	$9.0m	2013	[20]
Brandon Vázquez	FC Cincinnati	Monterrey	$7.5m	2024	[21]
Zack Steffen	Columbus Crew	Manchester City	$7.5m	2019	[22]
Bryan Reynolds	FC Dallas	Roma	$7.4m	2021	[22]
Kevin Paredes	D.C. United	VfL Wolfsburg	$7.0m	2022	[19]
DeAndre Yedlin	Tottenham Hotspur	Newcastle United	$6.7m	2016	[19]
Gianluca Busio	Sporting Kansas City	Venezia	$6.6m	2021	[23]
Brenden Aaronson	Philadelphia Union	Red Bull Salzburg	$6.5m	2021	[22]
Djordje Mihailovic	CF Montréal	AZ	$6.0m	2023	[24]
Maurice Edu	Toronto FC	Rangers	$5.9m	2008	[19]
Claudio Reyna	Rangers	Sunderland	$5.9m	2001	[25]
Tim Howard	Manchester United	Everton	$5.7m	2007	[19]
Matt Miazga	New York Red Bulls	Chelsea	$5.2m	2016	[19]
Aron Jóhannsson	AZ	Werder Bremen	$4.6m	2015	[19]
Bobby Wood	Hamburger SV	Hannover 96	$4.5m	2016	[19]
Owen Otasowie	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Club Brugge	$4.4m	2021	[26]
Kenny Saief	Gent	Anderlecht	$4.3m	2018	[19]
Tim Ream	New York Red Bulls	Bolton Wanderers	$4.1m	2012	[19]
Brek Shea	FC Dallas	Stoke City	$4.1m	2013	[27]
Djordje Mihailovic	AZ	Colorado Rapids	$4.0m	2024	[28]
Tanner Tessmann	FC Dallas	Venezia	$4.0m	2021	[29]

Historical progression

Year	Player	From	To	Fee ($)	Ref
1990	Tab Ramos	USSF	Figueres	$250,000
1998	Brad Friedel	Columbus Crew	Liverpool	$2.1m
2001	Claudio Reyna	Rangers	Sunderland	$5.9m
2008	Jozy Altidore	New York Red Bulls	Villarreal	$10.0m
2013	Jozy Altidore	AZ	Sunderland	$13.0m
2017	John Brooks	Hertha BSC	VfL Wolfsburg	$19.4m
2019	Christian Pulisic	Borussia Dortmund	Chelsea	$65.0m

Highest transfer payments received by American soccer clubs

Player	Nat	From	To	Fee	Year	Ref
Miguel Almirón	PAR	Atlanta United	Newcastle United	$26.0m	2019	[22]
Thiago Almada	ARG	Atlanta United	Botafogo	$22.0m	2024	[30]
Ricardo Pepi	USA	FC Dallas	FC Augsburg	$20.0m	2022	[22]
Jhon Durán	COL	Chicago Fire	Aston Villa	$18.7m	2023	[31]
Pity Martínez	ARG	Atlanta United	Al Nassr	$18.0m	2020	[22]
Cucho Hernández	COL	Columbus Crew	Real Betis	$16	2025	[32]
Đorđe Petrović	SRB	New England Revolution	Chelsea	$12.5m	2023
Jozy Altidore	USA	New York Red Bulls	Villarreal	$10.0m	2008	[22]
Gabriel Slonina	USA	Chicago Fire	Chelsea	$10.0m	2022	[17]
Daryl Dike	USA	Orlando City	West Bromwich Albion	$9.5m	2022	[22]
Brandon Vázquez	USA	FC Cincinnati	Monterrey	$7.5m	2024	[21]
Zack Steffen	USA	Columbus Crew	Manchester City	$7.5m	2019	[22]
Bryan Reynolds	USA	FC Dallas	Roma	$7.4m	2021	[22]
Tajon Buchanan	CAN	New England Revolution	Club Brugge	$7.0m	2022	[22]
Brenden Aaronson	USA	Philadelphia Union	Red Bull Salzburg	$6.5m	2021	[22]

Historical progression

Year	Player	Selling club	Buying club	Fee ($)	Ref
1990	Tab Ramos	USSF	Figueres	250,000
1998	Brad Friedel	Columbus Crew	Liverpool	2,100,000	[33]
2000	Eddie Lewis	San Jose Earthquakes	Fulham	2,300,000
2006	Clint Dempsey	New England Revolution	Fulham	4,000,000	[34]
2008	Jozy Altidore	New York Red Bulls	Villarreal	10,000,000	[35]
2019	Miguel Almirón	Atlanta United	Newcastle United	26,000,000	[35]

Highest transfer payments paid by American soccer clubs

Player	Nat	From	To	Fee	Year	Ref
Son Heung-min	KOR	Tottenham Hotspur	Los Angeles FC	$26.5 m	2025	[36]
Kévin Denkey	TOG	Cercle Brugge	FC Cincinnati	$16.2m	2024	[37]
Thiago Almada	ARG	Vélez Sarsfield	Atlanta United FC	$16.0m	2022	[20]
Pity Martínez	ARG	River Plate	Atlanta United FC	$15.5m	2019	[20]
Ezequiel Barco	ARG	Independiente	Atlanta United FC	$15.0m	2018	[20]
Brenner	BRA	São Paulo	FC Cincinnati	$13.0m	2021	[20]
Rodolfo Pizarro	MEX	Monterrey	Inter Miami CF	$12.0m	2020	[20]
Luiz Araújo	BRA	Lille	Atlanta United FC	$11.0m	2021	[20]
Alan Pulido	MEX	Guadalajara	Sporting Kansas City	$9.5m	2020	[20]
Javier Hernández	MEX	Sevilla	LA Galaxy	$9.4m	2020	[20]
Clint Dempsey	USA	Tottenham Hotspur	Seattle Sounders FC	$9.0m	2013	[20]
Brian Rodríguez	URU	Peñarol	Los Angeles FC	$8.8m	2019	[20]
Talles Magno	BRA	Vasco da Gama	New York City FC	$8.2m	2021	[20]
Miguel Almirón	PAR	Lanús	Atlanta United FC	$8.0m	2016	[20]
Xherdan Shaqiri	SUI	Lyon	Chicago Fire	$7.5m	2022	[20]