Ranking the 10 most expensive goalkeepers of all time before Trafford joins…

As James Trafford prepares to become one of the most expensive goalkeepers of all time, we’ve ranked the current top 10…

Leeds United are set to sign Trafford for £40million plus bonuses, which would make the Manchester City stopper the fourth-costliest ever.

Looking at the top 10 priciest keepers, it is clear that spending big money offers no guarantee of success. It is not unfair to say that half of this list flopped. Some very hard…

There are other more encouraging examples, though. The top five have been brilliant.

Here is how we’ve ranked the 10 most-expensive goalkeepers in the world…

10) Kepa Arrizabalaga

At a staggering £71.6million, the Chelsea flop is the most expensive goalkeeper in history and given how weirdly reluctant clubs are to spend on stoppers, he’s surely likely to remain as such for some time to come.

It is hard to think how Kepa could have fared worse at Stamford Bridge. He arrived in August 2018 from Athletic Bilbao to replace Thibaut Courtois and the Blues can hardly claim that they rushed to a rash judgement because the Belgian’s desire to move to Spain was clear for ages for all to see. They had plenty of time to identify a replacement.

His first year wasn’t the error-riddled sh*t-show that his second season became, but he still made a fool of Maurizio Sarri when the coach wanted to substitute his keeper in the Carabao Cup final.

When Frank Lampard replaced Sarri, Kepa’s form plummeted. He was dropped twice in Lampard’s first season in charge, then again early the following campaign, prompting Chelsea to sign Edouard Mendy. He wasn’t much good in the long run, either.

9) Andre Onana

Another disaster, Onana was signed for £43.9million by United partly to improve their build-up play once Erik ten Hag had decided David De Gea couldn’t do it. But nor really could Onana.

More damningly, though, the Cameroon keeper was dreadful at the fundamentals of keeping the ball out of the net.

Few argued with his signing when it was made, so Onana was obviously competent at Inter Milan and Ajax before that.

But at Old Trafford, he was a shambles. Illustrated by the fact he’ll be parked at Trabzonspor for another season while INEOS count down the days he’s no longer their concern.

8) Lucas Chevalier

Luis Enrique decided in 2025 that PSG needed a keeper more comfortable in possession. Which was great for Pep Guardiola, who had just come around to the idea of having a goalkeeper whose primary function was to keep the ball out of the net.

So Chevalier’s move from Lille for £36.4million was perfect timing for Pep, who picked up Gianluigi Donnarumma for a bargain fee once it was decided the no. 4 on this list would be replaced.

The decisions turned out better for City than PSG. Chevalier struggled into Enrique’s net and half a season in, he was swiftly replaced by Matvey Safonov, who himself does not look likely to be PSG’s long-term no.1. A year after arriving in Paris, Chevalier already looks destined for the exit.

7) Jasper Cillessen

We were led to believe that Valencia coughed up in excess of £31.4million for a goalkeeper who spent the previous three years up to 2019 on the Barcelona bench.

Coincidentally, the move took place in the same week Neto went in the other direction for a similar amount. Apropos of nothing: both deals were struck a couple of days before the financial year-end.

Cillessen, 30 when he joined Valencia, had made only five La Liga appearances in three seasons as Marc-Andre ter Stegen’s stand-in at Barca.

As a Valencia player, Cillessen missed large chunks of his three seasons at the Mestalla due to injury, with Giorgi Mamardashvili taking the no.1 spot before the Dutchman returned home to play for NEC Nijmegen.

6) Aaron Ramsdale

Despite being relegated in his two previous seasons with Bournemouth and Sheffield United, Arsenal saw enough in Ramsdale to pay the Blades £30million in 2021.

The England squad member – by that point, he was yet to win his first senior cap – saw off Bernd Leno to be Arsenal’s No.1 for two seasons until Mikel Arteta decided he wanted a ‘different profile’.

David Raya was signed, with Arteta offering the illusion that Ramsdale again had to scrap for his place, but it was never a fair fight. The Arsenal boss had already made up his mind.

Though Ramsdale probably didn’t help himself when he admitted to struggling with concentration for 90 minutes.

5) Jordan Pickford

Pickford became the third most expensive goalkeeper in history when Everton paid £30million for the 23-year-old uncapped Sunderland stopper.

It was certainly the best money Everton spent in summer 2017, when they also paid out for Cenk Tosun, Davy Klaasen and Gylfi Sigurdsson. But over nine years, Pickford has proven to be a bargain while also establishing himself as England’s undisputed no.1.

We would love to see Pickford in the Champions League while fighting for the highest honours, but his loyalty to Everton is also to be admired and we can’t have it both ways.

4) Ederson

Manchester City made Ederson the world’s costliest keeper in 2017 when they bought him from Benfica. Sort of. Gianluigi Buffon’s move to Juventus in 2001 equated to more Euros at the time, but City paid more pounds sterling for Ederson. To be precise: £34.7million.

His initial task was made all the more simple by City playing the ghost of Claudio Bravo in their goal the previous year. But Ederson offered more than simply a safe pair of hands.

He made big saves at crucial times in Pep Guardiola’s first Premier League title triumph – and those that followed – but more than his saves, his distribution over all distances offered City the different dimension Guardiola craved.

For that reason, if not the perfect goalkeeper overall, Ederson was certainly the perfect goalkeeper for City.

3) Thibaut Courtois

The Belgium keeper secured his dream move from Chelsea to Real Madrid in 2018 after winning the Golden Glove at the World Cup in Russia. But it threatened to descend into a nightmare when he endured a rough debut season at the Bernabeu.

He was dropped by Zinedine Zidane after a series of mistakes before he eventually turned his form around. Zidane later described Courtois as the best in the world – “I have no doubt about it, he’s proven that” – when he kept Real in the 2019-20 title race with a number of huge saves.

Since then, he’s been undisputed no.1 at the Bernabeu and despite numerous injuries, the 34-year-old has no intention of relinquishing that status while he remains in the discussion around the world’s very best keeper.

2) Alisson

Has there been a bigger goalkeeping upgrade than going from Loris Karius to Alisson?

Liverpool had to pay Roma big money in 2018 – £67million – but Karius’s struggles left the Reds no choice. To mount a credible title challenge and go the distance in the Champions League, Jurgen Klopp needed a solid stopper.

They got that and more in Alisson. Aside from a serious wobble – no goalkeeper is immune from them – in 2021, the Brazilian has secured Liverpool’s goal for the last eight years, winning two Premier League titles, the Champions League, two Golden Gloves and a Yashin Trophy along the way.

Highlighting the previous point about Ederson being perfect for City particularly, Alisson has remained undisputed no.1 for Brazil for a decade now.

1) Gianluigi Buffon – £32.6m

The Italy legend, arguably the greatest goalkeeper ever, held the title of the world’s most expensive keeper for 17 years after joining Juventus from Parma in 2001 for 100 billion lira, which equated to around €52million.

That not more eyebrows were raised at the time said much about how certain everyone was that Buffon would go on to become a great.

Juve’s sale of Zinedine Zidane in the same summer perhaps overshadowed Buffon’s move somewhat, but both deals turned out splendidly.

Buffon earned 10 Serie A titles and four Italian cups as a Juve player, becoming a World Cup winner and Ballon d’Or runner-up along the way.

He holds the record for most Serie A appearances (657); the record for the longest streak without conceding a goal in Serie A (973 minutes in 2016); and the highest number of caps for Italy (176), making him the most-capped goalkeeper of all time.