| 1 |  Samú Costa | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Portugal | RCD Mallorca | 2000 | €15.0m |
| 2 |  Kristjan Asllani | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Albania Italy | Torino FC | 2002 | €13.0m |
| 3 |  Tomás Händel | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Portugal Austria | Red Star Belgrade | 2000 | €13.0m |
| 4 |  Equi Fernández | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Argentina Paraguay | Bayer 04 Leverkusen | 2002 | €12.0m |
| 5 |  Volodymyr Brazhko | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Ukraine | Dynamo Kyiv | 2002 | €12.0m |
| 6 |  Mandela Keita | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Belgium Guinea | Parma Calcio 1913 | 2002 | €12.0m |
| 7 |  Santiago Hezze | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Argentina Poland | Olympiacos Piraeus | 2001 | €12.0m |
| 8 |  Enzo Barrenechea | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Argentina | SL Benfica | 2001 | €10.0m |
| 9 |  James Garner | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | England | Everton FC | 2001 | €18.0m |
| 10 |  Salvatore Esposito | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Italy | Spezia Calcio | 2000 | €10.0m |
| 11 |  Manu Silva | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Portugal | SL Benfica | 2001 | €10.0m |
| 12 |  Pablo Maia | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Brazil | São Paulo Futebol Clube | 2002 | €8.0m |
| 13 |  Kaishu Sano | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Japan | 1.FSV Mainz 05 | 2000 | €20.0m |
| 14 |  Billy Gilmour | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Scotland | SSC Napoli | 2001 | €20.0m |
| 15 |  Raphael Onyedika | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Nigeria | Club Brugge KV | 2001 | €20.0m |
| 16 |  Lucien Agoumé | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | France Cameroon | Sevilla FC | 2002 | €8.0m |
| 17 |  Pierre Ekwah | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | France Ghana | AS Saint-Étienne | 2002 | €7.0m |
| 18 |  Yannik Engelhardt | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Germany | Borussia Mönchengladbach | 2001 | €6.0m |
| 19 |  Tanner Tessmann | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | United States | Olympique Lyon | 2001 | €6.0m |
| 20 |  Joris Chotard | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | France | Stade Brestois 29 | 2001 | €6.0m |
| 21 |  Dion Lopy | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Senegal | UD Almería | 2002 | €6.0m |
| 22 |  Eric Martel | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Germany | 1.FC Köln | 2002 | €6.0m |
| 23 |  Mirko Topić | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Serbia Bosnia-Herzegovina | Norwich City | 2001 | €5.0m |
| 24 |  Fabinho | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Brazil | Red Bull Bragantino | 2002 | €5.0m |
| 25 |  José Caicedo | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Colombia | UNAM Pumas | 2002 | €5.0m |
| 26 |  Artem Karpukas | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Russia | Lokomotiv Moscow | 2002 | €5.0m |
| 27 |  Boubacar Traoré | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Mali | FC Metz | 2001 | €5.0m |
| 28 |  Urko González de Zárate | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Spain | RCD Espanyol Barcelona | 2001 | €5.0m |
| 29 |  Matías Galarza | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Argentina | CA Talleres | 2002 | €4.7m |
| 30 |  Wouter Burger | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Netherlands | TSG 1899 Hoffenheim | 2001 | €4.5m |