Part 2 of my assessment of record-breaking transfers in international football.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Read Part 1 here.
Just one summer after signing Figo, Florentino Perez broke the bank yet again to sign another superstar in Zinedine Zidane. The midfielder had been instrumental in France’s World Cup and Euros triumphs in 1998 and 2000, respectively, and had won two league titles in five seasons at Juventus. The hefty sum of 46.6 million pounds paid off instantly, as Zidane struck the winning goal in the 2001-02 Champions League final against Bayer Leverkusen – a goal that is one of the greatest in the competition’s history.
Zinedine Zidane during his playing days (photo courtesy Retrofootball)
The Frenchman would become the lynchpin at Real, winning a further five trophies in 5 seasons and making 230 appearances. After inspiring the club to the 2002-03 La Liga title and recording the joint-highest goalscoring season of his career, he was named the FIFA World Player of the Year for a third time. Zidane would bid emotional farewells to both club and country in 2006, retiring as one of the greatest players in football history.
Florentino Perez resigned as Real Madrid president in 2006 following a few unsuccessful seasons, but was reelected in 2010. In the summer, Madrid pounced and made 2007 Ballon d’Or winner Kaka the first signing of the new ‘Galacticos’ era, agreeing a deal worth 56 million pounds with AC Milan. Kaka joined an elite attack that contained the likes of Gonzalo Higuain, Raul, and fellow new signings Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo. Though not the focal point of the attack like he was at Milan, Kaka scored 29 goals and assisted 32 in 120 appearances for the Spanish giants.
Ultimately, due to unfortunate injuries, Kaka was unable to make an impact worthy of his world-record transfer fee. However, he did make 40 appearances in the historic 2011-12 season, where Real Madrid became the first Spanish club to clinch the league title with a staggering 100 points. After his contract expired at the end of the 2012-13 season, the Brazilian rejoined AC Milan.
Ronaldo (photo courtesy Daily Express)
Just a few days after signing Kaka, Real Madrid stunned the world by shattering their own record to sign another megastar – the 2008 Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo. In a deal worth 80 million pounds, the world’s best player had been prized away from Manchester United. He scored an incredible 33 goals in 35 games in the 2009-10 season, but Real Madrid failed to win a single trophy that season, finishing 2nd in the league three points behind Barcelona. The following season, Ronaldo would hit an insane 53 goals in only 54 games as Real Madrid beat Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final to win their only trophy.
Following that, as they say, the rest was history. 9 seasons, a ridiculous 450 goals in 438 games, two league titles, 4 UEFA Champions Leagues in 5 seasons, and 4 Ballons d’Or. Departing in 2018 to Juventus for a deal worth 88.3 million pounds at the age of 33, Cristiano Ronaldo left behind an impeccable legacy at Real Madrid. To date, he is the club’s all-time top goal-scorer, a record that may not be touched for a long time.
In 2013, Carlo Ancelotti was appointed as the new Real Madrid manager. Gonzalo Higuain, Kaka, and Mesut Ozil would all depart the club, necessitating new attacking options. In 6 seasons at Tottenham Hotspur, Welshman Gareth Bale had grown from a left-back to a world-class right winger. In a deal worth 86 million pounds, Real Madrid secured the services of Bale; when adjusted to euros, the fee was worth 100 million, making him the first player to break the 100-million-euro barrier. The winger’s first season at Madrid was highly successful as he scored 22 goals in 44 games; the club won the Copa del Rey and ended a 12-year-long wait for the UEFA Champions League. Bale scored Real’s 2nd goal of the 4-1 win in the final against Atletico Madrid.
Gareth Bale would go on to spend eight more successful but injury-plagued seasons with Real Madrid, notching 106 goals in 258 appearances and forming a dangerous attacking trio with Ronaldo and Karim Benzema.
Though his relationships with the fans and manager Zinedine Zidane would turn very bitter towards the end, he would depart the club in 2022, having won three league titles and five Champions League titles, scoring an incredible bicycle kick in the 2018 final over Liverpool.
After departing from Chelsea in 2015, Jose Mourinho was hired by fellow English giants Manchester United in the summer of 2016 to replace Louis van Gaal. In one of his very first transfer moves, the world record was broken to sign French star Paul Pogba from Juventus in a deal worth 89 million pounds. Aged only 23, Pogba had won eight trophies in four seasons at Turin and was regarded among the world’s best. Pogba’s first season at Old Trafford was successful as the club won the EFL Cup, the Community Shield, and the UEFA Europa League with the Frenchman scoring in the final; they would, however, finish only 6th in the league.
Paul Pogba (photo, South China Morning Post)
The rest of Paul Pogba’s spell at Manchester United was somewhat of a disappointment – what started as a great relationship with Jose Mourinho would collapse due to their differing attitudes. The midfielder would also miss a lot of games through injury, and his level of play declined, worsening his relationship with the fans, his teammates, and Mourinho’s successor, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. At the end of the 2021-22 season, neither club nor player was interested in renewing his contract; Pogba would return to Juventus after 6 seasons, scoring 39 goals in 226 appearances.
Neymar Jr had it all at Barcelona – 105 goals in 186 games, eight trophies in 4 seasons, and part of the most lethal attacking trio in Europe along with Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi. He was constantly labelled the third-best player in the world, right behind Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Following the 2016-17 season, rumours began circulating that Neymar wanted to leave the club to step out of Messi’s shadow and be the leading man on a different team. Both player and club were silent, but the rumours got stronger with each passing week. Having recently signed a contract, he was going to command a hefty fee. But no one could imagine what happened next: French giants Paris Saint-Germain agreed to pay the eyewatering 200-million-pound release clause in Neymar’s contract.
After weeks of speculation, the deal was done – he was officially, by a long shot, the most expensive player in the history of football; it was a move that sent shockwaves throughout the world.
In six seasons at PSG, Neymar scored 118 goals in 173 appearances and won a host of domestic trophies, including five league titles. Despite these numbers, Neymar’s time at PSG was marred by frequent injuries and is regarded as somewhat unsuccessful, as he failed to win the UEFA Champions League during his time there.
The closest PSG got was a runners-up finish in 2019-20. Eight years on, there have been nine more players who were signed for over 100 million pounds with varying success rates, but Neymar’s transfer still stands out as the most impactful. It changed the sport forever.
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Cover photo courtesy Goal.com
