Elche CF are on the verge of finalising the most expensive player sale in the history of the club. After arriving in the summer of 2025 and spending just one season with the team, Uruguayan forward Álvaro Rodríguez has attracted the attention of Bournemouth. As reported by both Fabrizio Romano and Matteo Moretto, the player is scheduled to undergo a medical examination with the English side today, Monday 6th July, which would make him the highest-priced transfer ever made by the Elche outfit.
However, this record-breaking sale carries a notable asterisk. Out of the total 25 million euro fee, Elche will only receive 12.5 million euro. This is because the other half of his rights still belongs to Real Madrid, who retained a 50 per cent sell-on clause when the player moved.
With this major deal pending, it is a perfect opportunity to look back at the other most expensive departures in the history of Elche CF, excluding the incoming funds from the Uruguayan attacker.
Currently, the record for the most expensive sale belongs to Rodrigo Mendoza. During the recent winter transfer window, Atlético de Madrid paid the club an initial fee of 16 million euro, supplemented by a further 4 million euro in variables, taking the total potential value of the transfer to 20 million euro.
The top three largest sales have all taken place during Christian Bragarnik’s tenure at the helm of Elche CF. Alongside Rodrigo Mendoza in this elite tier are Lucas Boyé and Nicolás Fernández Mercau, both of whom brought in approximately 8 million euro each for the club.
Completing the top five rankings are two players who will undoubtedly be familiar to every single Franjiverde supporter. The first is Jonathas de Jesús, the Brazilian forward for whom Real Sociedad paid Elche CF a sum of 7.2 million euro back in July 2015.
Rounding out the top five is Colombian international Johan Mojica, a regular fixture in the top tier of Spanish football. Villarreal secured his services from Elche by paying a 6 million euro fee on the very final day of the summer transfer window in 2022.
