Man City centre-back Aymeric Laporte instructs his teammates. (Getty Images)
We all know that money flows very easily in football nowadays and the involvement of multi-million-pound investors has made it a walk in the park for European clubs to splash the cash.
That, however, doesn’t mean that they have got all the money in the world because the Chinese clubs too have a lot of easy cash at their disposal and often manage to snap up promising prospects with their financial prowess.
As a matter of fact, the clubs hardly take into account the international recognition of the players but it is their performances in the club circuit that matter the most.
As evident from some of the transfers these days, it is true that big-money moves don’t always depend on whether or not players have been capped internationally by their respective nations. The international status is no longer considered as a big asset in the CV of any footballer.
Keeping that in mind, let us take a look at some of the most expensive internationally uncapped footballers in the world.
Note: Those who have gained international status following their big-money moves, such as Ederson Moraes, Richarlison, Arthur and so on, are not taken into consideration. The list only includes those who are yet to be capped by their nations at the senior level.
Man City splashed out a then club-record fee of £57million to bring in French centre-back Aymeric Laporte from La Liga outfit Athletic Bilbao in January 2018.
The technically-gifted defender proved himself to be a tailor-made fit for Pep Guardiola’s system and quickly nailed down a regular starting role at the Etihad.
Laporte’s consistently impressive performances have led to him being regarded as one of the best young centre-backs in the Premier League. However, as surprising as it might sound, the left-footed defender is yet to earn a senior cap for the France national team.
The 25-year-old has already won two Premier League titles, the FA Cup and League Cup with Man City but that apparently hasn’t been enough to impress Didier Deschamps.
Currently an England U-21 international, Aaron Wan-Bissaka was a hot property this summer and Man United seemingly stole a march over their Premier League rivals by forking out £50million to sign the right-back from Crystal Palace.
His impressive performances for the Eagles last season, coupled with his obvious talent and massive potential, kind of justifies that price tag but England have the likes of Kieran Trippier and Trent Alexander-Arnold currently vying for that right-back role.
Gareth Southgate, though, is likely to have Wan-Bissaka on his radar for the near future, with a view to having him cap-tied for England. Just to remind the fans, he is still eligible to represent DR Congo owing to his African heritage.
The former Corinthians winger racked up 23 goals and 16 assists in 96 appearances for Bordeaux in all competitions over the course of three seasons before Barcelona successfully signed the burgeoning Brazilian talent in the summer of 2018.
The £36.5million price tag looked quite outrageous when the move materialized and the left-footed creative winger struggled to nail down a regular starting spot in Barcelona’s star-studded first team last season.
A part of the Brazil U-20 side that finished as runners-up at the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup, Malcom has been called up by senior international coach Tite on a couple of occasions, although he is still awaiting his first cap.
One of the most talented Brazilian exports to have gatecrashed the Spanish market in recent times, Vinicius Junior shot to prominence with Flamengo before earning a £38.7million move to Real Madrid last summer.
It is a no-brainer that he arrived at the Bernabeu as a future prospect and only played a bit-part role in the first-team last season, although he still managed to earn plenty of plaudits for his quick feet, razor-sharp anticipation, lightning pace, instant acceleration and mesmerizing dribbling skills to complement a deadly eye for key passes.
Vinicius was called up to the Brazil national team for the friendlies against Panama and the Czech Republic earlier this year but he had to withdraw due to an injury and currently remains uncapped at the senior international level.
Real Madrid made the headlines with the signing of highly-rated 18-year-old winger Rodrygo Goes from Brazilian club Santos last summer for €45m, although the teenage sensation continued his development with Santos this past season as a part of the agreement between the two clubs.
The electric left-winger has already represented Brazil at U-17 and U-20 levels but it doesn’t look likely that he would be getting a senior breakthrough any time soon given the intense competition for places in Brazil’s ranks.
Anthony Modeste’s feat of 25 goals in 37 appearances for Cologne in the Bundesliga in the 2016-17 season propelled the club to the European front for the first time in 25 years and Chinese outfit Tianjin Quanjian splashed €35.7million to bring the Frenchman to the Far East.
However, he went AWOL after netting 16 goals in 29 appearances for the Chinese side and returned to Cologne.
The Bundesliga veteran is now 31 and the prospect of international football with France looks bleak.
Newcastle only spent £1.5million to bring Ayoze Perez from Spanish second-tier side Tenerife back in 2014 but the Magpies made an eye-watering profit when Leicester City forked out £30million to sign the playmaking forward this summer.
Perez scored 48 goals in 195 appearances over the course of five seasons at St.James’ Park and represented Spain a couple of times at the U-21 level, although he is yet to receive a senior international cap.
The playmaker established himself as one of the breakout stars in the Premier League in the 2018-19 season following his move to the King Power Stadium from Norwich City last summer.
The 21-year-old racked up an impressive 7 goals and 7 assists in the league this past season for Leicester City and proved himself to be worth every penny of the £24million that the Foxes had spent to bring him to the club.
Maddison’s impressive performances earned him a senior England call-up for the UEFA Nations League fixture against Croatia last year but he is yet to make his debut for the Three Lions. Gareth Southgate will probably be having him on his radar for Euro 2020, nevertheless.
West Ham spent £22million to bring the towering French centre-back to East London from Ligue 1 outfit Toulouse last summer and he went on to have a massive impact at the London Stadium under Manuel Pellegrini in the Premier League this past season.
Diop has represented France at all youth levels from U-16 to U-21, although he still remains eligible to represent Senegal through his father, and Morocco through his mother’s heritage.
Still only 22, the 6ft 4in giant does look like a bright international prospect for all three aforementioned nations.