| 1 |  Santiago Castañeda | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | United States Colombia | SC Paderborn 07 | 2004 | €4.0m |
| 2 |  Maxi Oyedele | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Poland England | RC Strasbourg Alsace | 2004 | €4.0m |
| 3 |  Toby Collyer | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | England | West Bromwich Albion | 2004 | €5.0m |
| 4 |  Alexsander | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Brazil | Clube Atlético Mineiro | 2003 | €5.0m |
| 5 |  Niko Sigur | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Canada Croatia | HNK Hajduk Split | 2003 | €4.0m |
| 6 |  Facundo Bernal | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Uruguay Italy | Fluminense Football Club | 2003 | €5.0m |
| 7 |  Amadou Koné | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Cote d'Ivoire Mali | NEOM SC | 2005 | €4.0m |
| 8 |  Antoni Kozubal | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Poland | Lech Poznan | 2004 | €5.0m |
| 9 |  Anthony Dennis | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Nigeria | Göztepe | 2004 | €4.0m |
| 10 |  Luca Lipani | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Italy | US Sassuolo | 2005 | €3.5m |
| 11 |  Lorenzo Amatucci | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Italy | UD Las Palmas | 2004 | €3.5m |
| 12 |  Mohamed Bamba | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Cote d'Ivoire | Gil Vicente FC | 2004 | €3.0m |
| 13 |  William Clem | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Denmark Norway | FC Copenhagen | 2004 | €3.0m |
| 14 |  Dermane Karim | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Togo | FC Lorient | 2003 | €3.0m |
| 15 |  Mads Enggård | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Denmark | Vejle Boldklub | 2004 | €2.8m |
| 16 |  David Ruíz | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Honduras United States | Inter Miami CF | 2004 | €2.5m |
| 17 |  Pascal Klemens | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Germany | Hertha BSC | 2005 | €2.5m |
| 18 |  Joaquín Mosqueira | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Argentina Italy | CA Talleres | 2004 | €2.2m |
| 19 |  Max Grüger | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Germany | FC Schalke 04 | 2005 | €2.0m |
| 20 |  Abdoulaye Kanté | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Cote d'Ivoire | Middlesbrough FC | 2005 | €2.0m |
| 21 |  Soumaïla Diabaté | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Mali | Red Bull Salzburg | 2004 | €2.0m |
| 22 |  Aljoscha Kemlein | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Germany | 1.FC Union Berlin | 2004 | €7.0m |
| 23 |  Timothy Ouma | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Kenya | Lech Poznan | 2004 | €2.0m |
| 24 |  Luka Hyryläinen | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Finland | 1.FC Magdeburg | 2004 | €2.0m |
| 25 |  Arthur Piedfort | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Belgium | KVC Westerlo | 2005 | €2.0m |
| 26 |  Patrickson Delgado | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Ecuador | FC Dallas | 2003 | €2.0m |
| 27 |  Hamzat Ojediran | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Nigeria | RC Lens | 2003 | €1.8m |
| 28 |  Nuno Félix | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Portugal | SL Benfica B | 2004 | €1.7m |
| 29 |  Cedric Hatenboer | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Netherlands | RSC Anderlecht | 2005 | €1.5m |
| 30 |  Mario Martín | Midfield - Defensive Midfield | Spain | Getafe CF | 2004 | €1.5m |