“I seem incapable of forgetting that Dean Richards’s 2001 transfer from Southampton to Spurs was the highest fee paid for a player as yet uncapped by England (£8.1m. Don’t bother checking. Trust me). Who’s the most expensive player (now retired) to have never been capped and which active player holds that title?” writes Thom Harris. “P.S. RIP Dean Richards.”
Dean Richards did indeed move to Spurs for £8.1m, and was the leader when we had this question in 2004. Since then football/the world has gone mad and so, 20 years later, he’s well down the list. Let’s split the answer into three: players who were uncapped at the time of their transfer, active players who are still uncapped and retired players who were never capped.
