Soccer Transfers and Rumors: The 10 Biggest Moves Ever

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