Diomande, after his transfer to Real Madrid from RB Leipzig, now holds the record of the most expensive African transfer, beating the previous record held by Nicolas Pépé, whose move from Lille to Arsenal cost €80 million.
Softfootball presents the updated list of the top nine most expensive African players transfers as at 2026:
| S/N | Player | Nationality | From Club | To Club | Reported Transfer Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yan Diomande | Côte d’Ivoire | RB Leipzig | Real Madrid | €120 million |
| 2 | Nicolas Pépé | Côte d’Ivoire | Lille | Arsenal | €80 million |
| 3 | Victor Osimhen | Nigeria | Lille | Napoli | €75 million |
| 4 | Omar Marmoush | Egypt | Eintracht Frankfurt | Manchester City | €75 million |
| 5 | Bryan Mbeumo | Cameroon | Brentford | Manchester United | €75 million |
| 6 | Victor Osimhen | Nigeria | Napoli | Galatasaray | €75 million |
| 7 | Antoine Semenyo | Ghana | Bournemouth | Manchester City | €72 million |
| 8 | Achraf Hakimi | Morocco | Inter Milan | Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) | €68 million |
| 9 | Riyad Mahrez | Algeria | Leicester City | Manchester City | €67.8 million |
