Soccer transfers and rumors: curious what the biggest moves in history are? Pretty much everywhere in the world, with the exception of North America, soccer (or European football) is the most popular and beloved sport. Given its massive popularity, money has come to play a big role in soccer. With the impressive amounts of money gained from TV rights, publicity, ticket sales, and so on, buying a soccer team has become quite an investment. It’s no wonder why so many big shot entrepreneurs have decided to purchase various teams across the globe, over the past decade.
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We would like to present you with a list of the 10 biggest transfers in soccer history, in a fashion similar to our coverage of the best European NBA players of all-time. The amounts for which the following players were sold from one team to another are simply mind-blowing. Spanish team Real Madrid must be sitting on a gold mine or something, as it is responsible for paying the fee for 4 out of the top 5 most expensive soccer transfers ever.
While not all transfers are always successful ventures, the biggest transfer in soccer history so far, that of Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United to Real Madrid, really paid off for the Spanish team. During his time at Real, Ronaldo ended up scoring more goals than games he has played. Although this is nothing short of impressive, there is still some doubt whether this can justify such a flabbergasting and ridiculously high transfer free. We guess if you want quality, you have to be willing to pay for it. Through the nose, that is. However, it might take some time until another player will be able to beat Ronaldo’s record transfer fee of $ 117.5 million.
The only goalkeeper to make the countdown, Italian-native Gianluigi Buffon, barely managed to cling on to the 8th spot, with a “measly” transfer fee of only $67.7 million.
Apart from Cristiano Ronaldo and Gianluigi Buffon, our top ten also showcases big names in soccer such as Zinedine Zidane, Fernado Torres, or Luis Figo.
Soccer transfers and rumors — let’s take a look at the 10 biggest ever, on the following pages:
No. 10: Radamel Falcao
Transfer fee: $56.2 million / £41.5 million
Sold by: FC Porto
Bought by: Atletico Madrid
No. 9: Gaizka Mendieta
Transfer fee: $60 million / £42 million
Sold by: Valencia CF
Bought by: Lazio Roma
No. 8: Gianluigi Buffon
Transfer fee: $67.7 millon / £47.5 million
Sold by: Parma FC
Bought by: Juventus
No. 7: Hernan Crespo
Transfer fee: $68.7 million / £48.5 million
Sold by: Parma FC
Bought by: Lazio Roma
No. 6: Fernando Torres
Transfer fee: $73. 1 million / £51.5 million
Sold by: FC Liverpool
Bought by: Chelsea FC
No. 5: Luis Figo
Transfer fee: $56.8 million/£37 million
Sold by: FC Barcelona
Bought by: Real Madrid
No. 4: Ricardo Izecson (Kaka)
Transfer fee: $81.2 million / £57 million
Sold by: AC Milan
Bought by: Real Madrid
No. 3: Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Transfer fee: $86.6 million / £61 million
Sold by: Internazionale Milano
Bought by: FC Barcelona
No. 2: Zinedine Zidane
Transfer fee: $91.8 million / £64.5 million
Sold by: Juventus
Bought by: Real Madrid
No. 1: Cristiano Ronaldo
Transfer fee: $ 117.5 million / £82.5 million
Sold by: Manchester United
Bought by: Real Madrid
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