| 1 |  Urko González de Zárate | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Spain | RCD Espanyol Barcelona | 2001 | €5.0m |
| 2 |  Fausto Vera | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Argentina | Clube Atlético Mineiro | 2000 | €5.0m |
| 3 |  Boubacar Traoré | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Mali | FC Metz | 2001 | €5.0m |
| 4 |  Doğucan Haspolat | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Türkiye Netherlands | KVC Westerlo | 2000 | €5.0m |
| 5 |  Ilia Gruev | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Bulgaria Germany | Leeds United | 2000 | €5.0m |
| 6 |  Salis Abdul Samed | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Ghana Cote d'Ivoire | OGC Nice | 2000 | €5.5m |
| 7 |  Jamie Roche | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Sweden | FC Lausanne-Sport | 2001 | €4.5m |
| 8 |  Wouter Burger | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Netherlands | TSG 1899 Hoffenheim | 2001 | €4.5m |
| 9 |  Mohamed Belhadj Mahmoud | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Tunisia | FC Lugano | 2000 | €4.0m |
| 10 |  Tanner Tessmann | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | United States | Olympique Lyon | 2001 | €6.0m |
| 11 |  Rômulo | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Brazil | Tigres UANL | 2000 | €4.0m |
| 12 |  Rodrigo Villagra | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Argentina | CSKA Moscow | 2001 | €4.0m |
| 13 |  Mory Gbane | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Cote d'Ivoire | Stade Reims | 2000 | €4.0m |
| 14 |  Yannik Engelhardt | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Germany | Borussia Mönchengladbach | 2001 | €6.0m |
| 15 |  Joris Chotard | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | France | Stade Brestois 29 | 2001 | €6.0m |
| 16 |  Enric Llansana | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Netherlands Spain | RSC Anderlecht | 2001 | €4.0m |
| 17 |  Dion Lopy | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Senegal | UD Almería | 2002 | €6.0m |
| 18 |  Nail Umyarov | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Russia | Spartak Moscow | 2000 | €4.0m |
| 19 |  Edwin Cerrillo | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | United States Mexico | Los Angeles Galaxy | 2000 | €3.5m |
| 20 |  Kristijan Belic | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Serbia Belgium | Maccabi Tel Aviv | 2001 | €3.5m |
| 21 |  Yannik Keitel | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Germany | VfB Stuttgart | 2000 | €3.5m |
| 22 |  César Araújo | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Uruguay | Orlando City SC | 2001 | €3.5m |
| 23 |  Franco Ibarra | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Argentina | CA Rosario Central | 2001 | €3.5m |
| 24 |  Jadsom | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Brazil | Al-Wahda FC | 2001 | €3.5m |
| 25 |  Billy Mitchell | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | England | Millwall FC | 2001 | €3.0m |
| 26 |  Leon Flach | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | United States Germany | Jagiellonia Bialystok | 2001 | €3.0m |
| 27 |  Pierre Ekwah | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | France Ghana | AS Saint-Étienne | 2002 | €7.0m |
| 28 |  Jon Gorrotxategi | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Spain | Real Sociedad | 2002 | €3.0m |
| 29 |  James Sands | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | United States | FC St. Pauli | 2000 | €3.0m |
| 30 |  Claudio Gomes | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | France Guinea-Bissau | Palermo FC | 2000 | €2.8m |