| 1 | Radamel Falcao | Futebol Clube do Porto | Club Atlético de Madrid S.A.D. | €40M | 18 August 2011 |
| 2 | Manuel Neuer | FC Schalke 04 | FC Bayern München | €30M | 1 July 2011 |
| 3 | Juan Mata | Valencia Club de Fútbol S. A. D. | Chelsea Football Club | €26.7M | 24 August 2011 |
| 4 | Alexis Sánchez | Udinese Calcio | Futbol Club Barcelona | €26M | 21 July 2011 |
| 5 | David de Gea | Club Atlético de Madrid S.A.D. | Manchester United Football Club | €25M | 1 July 2011 |
| 6 | Santi Cazorla | Villarreal Club de Fútbol S.A.D. | Malaga | €23M | 26 July 2011 |
| 7 | Stephan El Shaarawy | Genoa Cricket and Football Club | Associazione Calcio Milan | €20.3M | 1 July 2011 |
| 8 | Gökhan Inler | Udinese Calcio | Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli | €18M | 11 July 2011 |
| 9 | Jordan Henderson | Sunderland Association Football Club | Liverpool Football Club | €18M | 1 July 2011 |
| 10 | Ashley Young | Aston Villa Football Club | Manchester United Football Club | €18M | 1 July 2011 |
| 11 | Erik Lamela | Club Atlético River Plate | Associazione Sportiva Roma | €17M | 6 August 2011 |
| 12 | Romelu Lukaku | Anderlecht | Chelsea Football Club | €15M | 8 August 2011 |
| 13 | Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain | Southampton FC | Arsenal Football Club | €13.8M | 8 August 2011 |
| 14 | Eduardo Vargas | — | Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli | €13.5M | 9 January 2012 |
| 15 | Pizzi | SC Braga | Club Atlético de Madrid S.A.D. | €13.5M | 1 January 2012 |
| 16 | Jérôme Boateng | Manchester City Football Club | FC Bayern München | €13.5M | 14 July 2011 |
| 17 | Arturo Vidal | Bayer Leverkusen | Juventus Football Club | €12.5M | 21 July 2011 |
| 18 | Sebastián Coates | — | Liverpool Football Club | €12M | 31 August 2011 |
| 19 | Edinson Cavani | Palermo FC | Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli | €12M | 1 July 2011 |
| 20 | Miralem Pjanić | Olympique Lyonnais | Associazione Sportiva Roma | €11M | 31 August 2011 |
| 21 | Raphaël Varane | Racing Club de Lens | Real Madrid Club de Fútbol | €11M | 1 July 2011 |
| 22 | Kévin Gameiro | Football Club Lorient-Bretagne Sud | Paris Saint-Germain Football Club | €11M | 1 July 2011 |
| 23 | Alex Sandro | — | Futebol Clube do Porto | €9.6M | 1 July 2011 |
| 24 | Axel Witsel | Royal Standard Club de Liège | Benfica | €9M | 13 July 2011 |
| 25 | Thibaut Courtois | Koninklijke Racing Club Genk | Chelsea Football Club | €9M | 26 July 2011 |
| 26 | Kevin De Bruyne | Koninklijke Racing Club Genk | Chelsea Football Club | €8M | 31 January 2012 |
| 27 | Christian Noboa | Rubin | Dynamo | €8M | 19 January 2012 |
| 28 | Jonathan de Guzmán | Real Club Deportivo Mallorca S.A.D. | Villarreal Club de Fútbol S.A.D. | €8M | 31 August 2011 |
| 29 | Georginio Wijnaldum | Feyenoord Rotterdam | Eindhovense Voetbalvereniging Philips Sport Vereniging | €8M | 1 July 2011 |
| 30 | Bernd Leno | VfB Stuttgart | Bayer Leverkusen | €7.8M | 1 January 2012 |
| 31 | Lucas Piazón | São Paulo | Chelsea Football Club | €7.5M | 20 January 2012 |
| 32 | Youssef El Arabi | Caen | Al-Hilal Saudi FC | €7.5M | 13 July 2011 |
| 33 | Ander Herrera | Real Zaragoza | Athletic Club Bilbao | €7.5M | 1 July 2011 |
| 34 | Denys Oliynyk | Metalist Kharkiv (- 2016) | Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (-2020) | €7M | 10 July 2011 |
| 35 | Dries Mertens | Football Club Utrecht | Eindhovense Voetbalvereniging Philips Sport Vereniging | €7M | 1 July 2011 |
| 36 | Eliaquim Mangala | Royal Standard Club de Liège | Futebol Clube do Porto | €6.8M | 16 August 2011 |
| 37 | Fernando Muslera | Società Sportiva Lazio S.p.A. | Galatasaray | €6.8M | 11 August 2011 |
| 38 | Dani Parejo | Getafe Club de Fútbol S. A. D. Team Dubai | Valencia Club de Fútbol S. A. D. | €6M | 1 July 2011 |
| 39 | Isco | — | Malaga | €6M | 1 July 2011 |
| 40 | Leroy Fer | Feyenoord Rotterdam | Football Club Twente | €5.5M | 31 August 2011 |
| 41 | İlkay Gündoğan | 1. FC Nürnberg | Borussia Dortmund | €5.5M | 1 July 2011 |
| 42 | Maxi Moralez | Club Atlético Vélez Sársfield | Atalanta Bergamasca Calcio S.p.a. | €5.3M | 31 July 2011 |
| 43 | Ricky van Wolfswinkel | Football Club Utrecht | Sporting CP | €5.1M | 1 July 2011 |
| 44 | Ahmed Musa | VVV-Venlo | CSKA Moscow | €5M | 7 January 2012 |
| 45 | Nemanja Matić | Chelsea Football Club | Benfica | €5M | 1 July 2011 |
| 46 | José Callejón | Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona S.A.D. | Real Madrid Club de Fútbol | €5M | 1 July 2011 |
| 47 | Oriol Romeu | — | Chelsea Football Club | €4.6M | 4 August 2011 |
| 48 | Franco Vázquez | Club Atlético Belgrano | Palermo FC | €4.5M | 3 January 2012 |
| 49 | Yuto Nagatomo | Cesena FC | Inter | €4.5M | 1 July 2011 |
| 50 | Kevin Strootman | Football Club Utrecht | Eindhovense Voetbalvereniging Philips Sport Vereniging | €4.5M | 1 July 2011 |