| 1 |  Boubakary Soumaré | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | France Senegal | Leicester City | 1999 | €12.0m |
| 2 |  Batista Mendy | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | France Guinea-Bissau | Sevilla FC | 2000 | €10.0m |
| 3 |  Jens Cajuste | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Sweden United States | Ipswich Town | 1999 | €12.0m |
| 4 |  Senne Lynen | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Belgium | SV Werder Bremen | 1999 | €9.0m |
| 5 |  Pepelu | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Spain | Valencia CF | 1998 | €9.0m |
| 6 |  Flynn Downes | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | England | Southampton FC | 1999 | €13.0m |
| 7 |  Emiliano Martínez | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Uruguay Italy | Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras | 1999 | €9.0m |
| 8 |  Azor Matusiwa | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Netherlands Angola | Ipswich Town | 1998 | €8.0m |
| 9 |  Danil Glebov | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Russia | Dynamo Moscow | 1999 | €8.0m |
| 10 |  Mohamed Camara | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Mali | Al-Sadd SC | 2000 | €14.0m |
| 11 |  Anton Stach | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Germany | Leeds United | 1998 | €14.0m |
| 12 |  Daniel Boloca | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Italy Romania | US Sassuolo | 1998 | €7.5m |
| 13 |  Caio Alexandre | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Brazil | Esporte Clube Bahia | 1999 | €7.0m |
| 14 |  Pape Gueye | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Senegal France | Villarreal CF | 1999 | €15.0m |
| 15 |  Vini Souza | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Brazil | VfL Wolfsburg | 1999 | €15.0m |
| 16 |  Ben Sheaf | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | England | Wrexham AFC | 1998 | €7.0m |
| 17 |  Charles Vanhoutte | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Belgium | OGC Nice | 1998 | €6.0m |
| 18 |  Giorgi Kochorashvili | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Georgia | Sporting CP | 1999 | €5.0m |
| 19 |  Tomás Belmonte | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Argentina Italy | CA Boca Juniors | 1998 | €4.7m |
| 20 |  Nikola Moro | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Croatia | Bologna FC 1909 | 1998 | €4.5m |
| 21 |  Berat Özdemir | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Türkiye | Basaksehir FK | 1998 | €4.2m |
| 22 |  Ibrahima Diallo | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | France Senegal | Al-Ahli SC | 1999 | €4.0m |
| 23 |  Tyler Adams | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | United States | AFC Bournemouth | 1999 | €18.0m |
| 24 |  Bartosz Slisz | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Poland | Atlanta United FC | 1999 | €4.0m |
| 25 |  Orel Mangala | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Belgium DR Congo | Olympique Lyon | 1998 | €18.0m |
| 26 |  Nicolás Acevedo | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Uruguay | Esporte Clube Bahia | 1999 | €4.0m |
| 27 |  Patrick de Paula | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Brazil | GD Estoril Praia | 1999 | €4.0m |
| 28 |  Uros Racic | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Serbia | Aris Thessaloniki | 1998 | €3.5m |
| 29 |  Jordan Holsgrove | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Scotland England | GD Estoril Praia | 1999 | €3.5m |
| 30 |  Antoine Makoumbou | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Congo France | Samsunspor | 1998 | €3.5m |