Harry Maguire has become football’s most expensive defender after completing his £80-million move from Leicester City to Manchester United. FourFourTwoSA looks at other top deals for defenders.

Virgil Van Dijk – £75m, Southampton to Liverpool (1 January 2018)

Eyebrows were raised when Liverpool paid Southampton a world-record £75m fee for the Holland centre half’s services. But Van Dijk has proved an enormous success, helping Liverpool reach two Champions League finals, the latter resulting in a 2-0 victory over Tottenham.

Lucas Hernandez – £68m, Atletico Madrid to Bayern Munich (1 July 2019)

The Marseille-born France international moved to Spain at the age of four and joined Atletico Madrid’s junior set-up seven years later. Hernandez became a World Cup winner in 2018 and he made over 100 appearances for Atletico before Bayern announced in March 2019 that he would be joining them this summer.

Matthijs De Ligt – £67.5m, Ajax to Juventus (18 July 2019)

The Dutchman joined the Ajax youth academy at the age of nine. He made his Ajax and Holland debut aged 17, quickly moving from a deep-lying midfielder to a centre back. De Ligt played over 100 games and captained a young Ajax side into the semi-finals of the Champions League before joining Juventus a month before his 20th birthday.

Aymeric Laporte – £57m, Athletic Bilbao to Manchester City (30 January 2018)

The French centre half has Basque heritage and joined Athletic Bilbao at the age of 16. Also able to play left back, Laporte made 220 appearances for Bilbao before Manchester City signed him for a then club-record fee in January 2018. He has since won two Premier League titles at City, as well as League Cup and FA Cup winner’s medals, but continues to be overlooked by France.