| 1 |  Manu Silva | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Portugal | SL Benfica | 2001 | €10.0m |
| 2 |  Peer Koopmeiners | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Netherlands | AZ Alkmaar | 2000 | €10.0m |
| 3 |  Enzo Barrenechea | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Argentina | SL Benfica | 2001 | €10.0m |
| 4 |  Batista Mendy | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | France Guinea-Bissau | Sevilla FC | 2000 | €10.0m |
| 5 |  Patrick Osterhage | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Germany | SC Freiburg | 2000 | €10.0m |
| 6 |  Antonio Blanco | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Spain | Deportivo Alavés | 2000 | €10.0m |
| 7 |  Salvatore Esposito | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Italy | Spezia Calcio | 2000 | €10.0m |
| 8 |  Yacine Adli | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | France Algeria | Al-Shabab FC | 2000 | €11.0m |
| 9 |  Aleksandr Chernikov | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Russia | FC Krasnodar | 2000 | €8.0m |
| 10 |  Danil Glebov | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Russia | Dynamo Moscow | 1999 | €8.0m |
| 11 |  Kevin Castaño | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Colombia | CA River Plate | 2000 | €8.0m |
| 12 |  Érik Lira | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Mexico | CD Cruz Azul | 2000 | €8.0m |
| 13 |  Tomás Händel | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Portugal Austria | Red Star Belgrade | 2000 | €13.0m |
| 14 |  Yannik Engelhardt | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Germany | Borussia Mönchengladbach | 2001 | €6.0m |
| 15 |  Mohamed Camara | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Mali | Al-Sadd SC | 2000 | €14.0m |
| 16 |  Salis Abdul Samed | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Ghana Cote d'Ivoire | OGC Nice | 2000 | €5.5m |
| 17 |  Ilia Gruev | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Bulgaria Germany | Leeds United | 2000 | €5.0m |
| 18 |  Doğucan Haspolat | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Türkiye Netherlands | KVC Westerlo | 2000 | €5.0m |
| 19 |  Samú Costa | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Portugal | RCD Mallorca | 2000 | €15.0m |
| 20 |  Boubacar Traoré | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Mali | FC Metz | 2001 | €5.0m |
| 21 |  Fausto Vera | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Argentina | Clube Atlético Mineiro | 2000 | €5.0m |
| 22 |  Mirko Topić | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Serbia Bosnia-Herzegovina | Norwich City | 2001 | €5.0m |
| 23 |  Urko González de Zárate | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Spain | RCD Espanyol Barcelona | 2001 | €5.0m |
| 24 |  Wouter Burger | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Netherlands | TSG 1899 Hoffenheim | 2001 | €4.5m |
| 25 |  Jamie Roche | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Sweden | FC Lausanne-Sport | 2001 | €4.5m |
| 26 |  Mohamed Belhadj Mahmoud | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Tunisia | FC Lugano | 2000 | €4.0m |
| 27 |  Rodrigo Villagra | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Argentina | CSKA Moscow | 2001 | €4.0m |
| 28 |  Enric Llansana | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Netherlands Spain | RSC Anderlecht | 2001 | €4.0m |
| 29 |  Nail Umyarov | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Russia | Spartak Moscow | 2000 | €4.0m |
| 30 |  Mory Gbane | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Cote d'Ivoire | Stade Reims | 2000 | €4.0m |