The world’s most expensive footballer in terms of total fees paid is Nicolas Sebastien Anelka ( Photo below). Anelka currently plays a striker for Chelsea FC. However the most expensive player in terms of one time transfer fee paid is French maestro Zinedine Zidane, whom Real Madrid paid £47m to acquire from Juventus.
Anelka career progress :-
From Paris St.Germain to Arsenal- 1997 ( Fee : £500,000)
From Arsenal to Real Madrid- 1999 ( Fee : £23.5m)
From Real Madrid to Paris St.Germain- 2000 ( Fee: £20m)
From Paris St.Germain to Liverpool- 2002 (Loan)
From Paris St.Germain to Manchester City – 2002 ( Fee: £13m)
From Manchester City to Fenerbahce- 2005 ( Fee: £7m)
From Fenerbahce to Bolton Wanderers- 2007 ( Fee: £8m)
From Bolton Wanderers to Chelsea- 2008 ( Fee: £15m)
Altogether, Anelka has a combined transfer value of £87m or so. Obviously £23.5m in 2000 would not have the same value today ( time value of money), but for simplicity’s sake, we’ve simply added all the numbers.