Florian Wirtz became one of the most expensive players in soccer history when the Germany playmaker joined Liverpool from Bayer Leverkusen on Friday for a fee of up to 116 million pounds ($156 million).
Neymar: $262 million (222 million euros)
Paris Saint-Germain shattered the world-record transfer fee by signing the Brazil superstar from Barcelona in August 2017. It was more than double the outlay of Manchester United to sign Paul Pogba from Juventus for $116 million a year earlier. It remains the record transfer fee.
Kylian Mbappé: $216 million (180 million euros)
A few weeks after buying Neymar, PSG also secured a loan deal for Mbappé — then the rising star of French soccer playing for Monaco — that included the option to make the move permanent in 2018. PSG did so, making it an outlay of nearly $500 million on two players.
Philippe Coutinho: $192 million (160 million euros)
Flush with cash after selling Neymar a year earlier, Barcelona spent most of it in a deal to buy Brazil playmaker Coutinho from Liverpool for a Spanish record fee.
Moises Caicedo: $146 million (115 million pounds)
The Ecuador midfielder's move was previously the most expensive deal by a British club, with Chelsea buying him from Brighton in August 2023.
João Félix: $140 million (126 million euros)
Atletico Madrid triggered a buyout clause in Félix’s contract to sign the Portugal forward from Benfica in August 2019.
Jude Bellingham: $139 million (128.5 million euros)
The England star got his big move to Real Madrid from Borussia Dortmund in June 2023, for an initial up-front fee of 103 million euros plus add-ons linked to performance.
Antoine Griezmann: $134 million (120 million euros)
Atletico could afford to sign Félix after selling France forward Griezmann to Barcelona for a similar fee a few weeks earlier.
Neymar: $98 million (90 million euros)
Outside from Europe, the biggest transfer deal also involved Neymar when he joined Al Hilal, a team in the Saudi Pro League, from Paris Saint-Germain in August 2023. That came at the height of Saudi Arabia’s push to sign high-end soccer talent to ignite the oil-rich state’s domestic league.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
FILE - Barcelona forward Neymar walks on the field before an International Champions Cup soccer match against Manchester United on July 26, 2017, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out at Australia’s leader on Sunday while nations expressed shock and sympathy over a mass shooting at a Jewish holiday event, saying he had warned Prime Minister Anthony Albanese that “your call for a Palestinian state pours fuel on the antisemitic fire.”
Netanyahu during the war in Gaza has repeatedly sought to link widespread calls for a Palestinian state, and criticism of Israel’s military offensive in the territory following Hamas' 2023 attack, to growing incidents of antisemitism worldwide.
While others in Israel’s government on Sunday also urged Australia to do more against a sharp rise in antisemitic attacks, Netanyahu went further in attempting to link the attack in Sydney that killed at least 11 people, including an Israeli, to support for a Palestinian state.
Australia was among several countries formally recognizing a Palestinian state in September during the United Nations gathering of world leaders. According to the Palestinian Foreign Ministry, 159 countries have recognized Palestine. The vast majority of the international community believes that a two-state solution is the only way to end decades of conflict.
Netanyahu's government has said the international push for a Palestinian state rewards Hamas.
Here are some global reactions to the Australia shooting:
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said that “terrorism and the killing of people, wherever they occur, are unacceptable and must be condemned.” Australia in August cut off diplomatic relations with Iran and accused it of masterminding antisemitic arson attacks in Sydney and Melbourne.
President Donald Trump called the shooting “a purely antisemitic attack,” and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that “antisemitism has no place in this world.”
King Charles III said he was “appalled and saddened.” He also leads the Commonwealth, and the office of Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Sunday said Herzog had reached out to the king in September warning of an “epidemic of antisemitism” in three Commonwealth countries: Britain, Canada and Australia.
Meanwhile, police in London said they would step up security at Jewish sites.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the attack “has left me speechless” and added that “this is an attack on our shared values. We must stop this antisemitism, here in Germany and worldwide.”
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was horrified and that “My heart is with the Jewish community worldwide on this first day of Hannukah, a festival celebrating the miracle of peace and light vanquishing darkness.”
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the “ghastly terrorist attack” and said that “we stand in solidarity with the people of Australia in this hour of grief.”
The organization's president, Ronald Lauder, said that “No community should ever fear coming together to celebrate its faith, traditions, or identity,” adding: “Make no mistake, this will not break us."
"I’m surrounded by antisemitic graffiti constantly. I think for our community in the east (of Sydney), and as a Christian, I just want to declare I stand with the people of Israel,” Anglican pastor Matt Graham told Australian Broadcasting Corp. He said he had been conducting a service at the nearby Bondi Anglican Church when panicked people began entering to take shelter.
Police cordon off an area at Bondi Beach after a reported shooting in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
