Makhanya breaks into top 10 most expensive South African transfers

Bafana Bafana defender Olwethu Makhanya has moved into the top 10 most expensive transfers involving a South African player after joining Rangers from Major League Soccer side Philadelphia Union.

The Scottish club paid €3.6m (R68m) for the former Stellenbosch defender, a fee that places Makhanya seventh on the list. His transfer is level with the amount Tottenham Hotspur paid Everton for Steven Pienaar in January 2011, although Pienaar is ranked eighth in the standings.

Makhanya’s move is also more expensive than Relebohile Mofokeng’s transfer from Orlando Pirates to Royale Union Saint-Gilloise. The Belgian club paid €3.5m (R66.5m) for the South African, putting that deal just below Makhanya’s.

Mofokeng’s fee is the same as the amount Porto paid for Benni McCarthy’s permanent transfer in July 2003. McCarthy had initially moved to the Portuguese club on loan from Celta Vigo before completing the permanent switch.

That deal sits at the bottom of the top-10 list, while McCarthy features again in sixth place for his move from Porto to Blackburn Rovers three years later. The former English Premier League club paid €3.7m (R70m) to sign him.

Tokelo Rantie occupies fifth place after Bournemouth paid €4m for him in a transfer from Swedish club Malmo in August 2013. The same fee was involved when former Bafana Bafana striker Lebogang Mothiba moved from Lille to Strasbourg in August 2018, with that transfer listed fourth.

Pienaar appears for a second time in the rankings at number three. Everton paid €5.7m (R108m) to bring him back from Tottenham Hotspur after he had initially returned to the English club on loan from the Merseyside side.

Pienaar had been unable to reproduce at White Hart Lane the form he had shown during his first spell at Tottenham Hotspur, prompting Everton to complete the move for his return.

McCarthy’s transfer from Ajax Amsterdam to Celta Vigo in July 1999 is the second most expensive involving a South African player. Celta Vigo paid €6m (R114m) for the forward, meaning McCarthy appears three times in the top 10.

The record remains held by Bafana Bafana forward Lyle Foster. Burnley paid €11m (R209m) to sign him from KVC Westerlo in January 2023, making his transfer the most expensive involving a South African footballer.

Transfer values are based on figures published by the Transfermarkt website. The rand equivalents are subject to exchange-rate variations across the different years in which the transfers took place.