Good bit of business

A good bit of business is how football transfers are often described. That can go both ways. Both the buying and the selling clubs can do good business - and on occasion they can do it at the same time.

Take Arsenal selling Nicolas Anelka to Real Madrid back in 1999. The Gunners had bought the French teenager from Paris Saint-Germain for somewhere in the region of half a million pounds so when Real Madrid offered 23 million it was an offer too good to refuse - and something of a bargain for the Bernabeu side.

Madrid got one of the best strikers in the world and when they sold him back to PSG they made their money back.

With the smallest reported fee paid by Arsenal for Anelka just 200,000 pounds that's 100 times what they paid, but in terms of pure profit it does not even come close to the top-10 transfers - although the list does not include free transfers later sold on for profit (such as Paul Pogba leaving Juventus for Manchester United) or academy products who were moved on.

Neymar Jr - Barcelona to PSG

The Brazilian boy wonder joined Barcelona for 80 million pounds from Santos but they more than made their money back when he left for PSG. It was a deal that no one expected - but the French side exploited Spanish contract law, which dictates that all players must have a buy-out clause. His was set at what was thought to be a prohibitive 200 million pound, a figure that no one at Barcelona thought another club would be willing to part with. PSG were and they just did that making Neymar the first-ever 200 million pound footballer. He might also be the last if the economic impact of the coronavirus turns out to be as bad as predicted.

Philippe Coutinho - Liverpool to Barcelona

Another Brazilian and another transfer involving Barcelona, this time they were the buying club, giving up 130 million pounds to Liverpool for midfielder Philippe Coutinho. The Anfield side had paid just 8 million pounds to Inter Milan to secure his services in 2013 and he spent five years at the club before leaving for Catalonia. Now Barcelona are looking to offload a player that has spent the season on loan at Bayern Munich.

Ousmane Dembele - Borussia Dortmund to Barcelona

Borussia Dortmund paid Rennes just 13 million for the French winger in 2016 and the 18-year-old shone in his first season in the Bundesliga, being named Rookie of the Season. That was his only season in Germany before Barcelona called. He signed a five-year contract after the clubs agreed a 112 million pound deal. Dembele tore his hamstring in February and was expected to be out for six months but he may now miss very little football.

Gareth Bale - Tottenham Hotspur to Real Madrid

The Welsh wing wizard had come a long way since signing for Spurs from Southampton for a fee of up to 10 million pounds as a promising teenage full back. He moved further forward and his career kicked on at White Hart Lane where he came under the gaze of Real Madrid looking for a new galactico. He delivered on the 90 million pound fee, helping the club to four UEFA Champions League titles. Bale nearly left for Chinese Super League side Jiangsu Suning in the summer of 2018.

Cristiano Ronaldo - Manchester United to Real Madrid

The Portuguese forward had won the Ballon d'Or and the UEFA Champions League with Manchester United before he became the world's most expensive player in moving to Real Madrid. He has won everything there too and the Spanish side also made a profit on him when they sold him to Juventus in 2017 - no mean feat for a 32-year-old.

Zinedine Zidane - Juventus to Real Madrid

Two things about Zinedine Zidane's transfer stand out. First, Juventus had to pay just 3 million pounds for him when they captured him from Bordeaux. Second, the transfer to take him to Real Madrid for 69 million pounds in 2001 was a world record that stood for the next eight years. Zidane has won the UEFA Champions League as player and coach with Real Madrid.

Harry Maguire - Leicester City to Manchester United

"Slabhead" as the Sheffield-born defender is affectionately known became the world's most expensive defender last summer when he swapped Leicester City for Manchester United and a 78 million pound fee - a huge increase on his 13 million pound arrival from Hull City. He has settled in Manchester despite the price tag and has even worn the captain's armband on occasion, paying no mind to the comparisons with Virgil van Dijk's price tag.

Nicholas Pepe - Lille to Arsenal

The jury is still out on the French-born Cote d'Ivoire international winger after he moved from Ligue 1 side Lille to the Emirates for a 72 million pound fee last summer. Pepe had joined Lille from Angers for a maximum 9 million pound fee in 2017 and spent two seasons first as a striker under Marcelo Bielsa then moved to the wing under his replacement Christophe Galtier and was linked with moves to Barcelona and Napoli before moving to England.

Virgil van Dijk - Southampton to Liverpool

The route from Southampton to Liverpool has been well trodden over the years, but none of those who went before him earned Saints a profit like the Dutch defender. Liverpool are not complaining and the former Celtic player has been a colossus in their UEFA Champions League win and quest for a first English league title in 30 years. The question is what Van Dijk would cost were he to leave Liverpool?

Riyad Mahrez - Leicester City to Manchester City

The France-born Algeria international eventually cost Manchester City 61 million pounds after a prolonged transfer from Leicester City in 2018, where he was  integral to the Foxes winning the English Premier League title in 2015-16 and named as the PFA Players Player of the Year. Mahrez had arrived in Leicester for just 1 million, signed from French second-tier side Le Havre. The winger won the Premier League, FA Cup and EFL Cup in his first season in Manchester.