In the last decade or so, the football transfer market has become inflated as top European clubs have spent lavishly on star players.
South American players, in particular, bring plenty of flair to the game, and they have been involved in some major transfers in the last few years.
Here, we take a look at the five most expensive transfers featuring South American players.
#5 Luis Suarez – €81.72 million (Liverpool to Barcelona)
Luis Suarez took the Premier League by storm while playing for Liverpool, and is perhaps one of the best players to have ever donned the No. 7 jersey at Anfield.
He combined finesse with deadly goal-scoring ability and almost single-handedly won Liverpool the Premier League in the 2013-14 season. The Reds narrowly missed out after finishing second behind Manchester City.
Suarez scored an incredible 31 goals and provided 17 assists in the 2013-14 season and formed a deadly partnership with Daniel Sturridge.
In the summer of 2014, he earned a big-money move to Barcelona, where he pretty much hit the ground running.
Together with Lionel Messi and Neymar, Suarez was part of one of the most feared attacking trios in Europe as Barcelona lifted the treble in 2015.
#4 Neymar – €88.20 (Santos to Barcelona)
Neymar was seen as the next big thing in 2013, and a big-money move to Barcelona transpired after the Brazilian impressed for his local club Santos.
Neymar was pretty young when he moved to Barcelona, and the pressure was on his young shoulders because of his massive transfer fee. However, he didn’t let that faze him in any way.
The Brazilian didn’t change his style and his exhilarating pace and skills wowed the fans at Camp Nou. A part of the famous ‘MSN’ front line, Neymar scored 105 goals in 186 appearances for the Blaugrana and won every domestic trophy on offer with the Catalans.
Neymar spent only five seasons at Camp Nou, though, as he left the club to win in a bid to come out of Lionel Messi’s shadow. He joined PSG in a move that changed the dynamics of the transfer window for a while.