AS GARETH BALE finally signs for Real Madrid, reports suggest the former Spurs winger has become the 41st player to hold the title of the world’s most expensive footballer.
The cost of transfers has obviously increased as money has flowed into the game but it’s only 40 years since Johann Cruyff became the world’s first €1m player and now, if reports are to be believed, we have the world’s first €100m footballer.
To mark Bale’s transfer, we look at some of the other record-breaking deals that have been completed in the last four decades.
1982 – Diego Maradona, Boca Juniors to Barcelona, €3.5m
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Still the only player to break it twice (he moved from Barca to Napoli two years later for €5.87m), Maradona was the first player to be bought for a fee in excess of €3m.
1992 – Jean-Pierre Papin, Marseille to Milan, €11.7m
Frenchman Papin was the first player to break the €10m barrier when he moved to Italy in 1982. Despite scoring almost one in every two games, he was on his way to Bayern Munich two years later.
1992 – Gianluigi Lentini, Torino to Milan, €15.25m
Lentini held the record for four years when he switched from Torino to Milan but, despite winning a Serie A title in his first year with the club, a car crash dented any hopes the Italian had of reaching his full potential.
1997 – Ronaldo, Barcelona to Inter Milan, €22.9m
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The €20m mark was breached in 1997 when Inter met the buyout clause in Ronaldo’s Barcelona contract to bring the want-away Brazilian striker to Italy. Ronaldo’s time at Inter wasn’t exactly a success with just one UEFA Cup win in five years to show for it.
1999 - Christian Vieri, Lazio to Internazionale, €37.5m
Inter smashed the world record transfer fee for the second time in two years when they splashed out on Christian Vieri to break the €30m barrier for the first time. The striker scored over 100 goals for the Milan giants but had just a solitary Italian Cup to celebrate.
2000 – Hernán Crespo, Parma to Lazio, €41.6
Lazio used some of the money they made on Vieri to buy the prolific Crespo from fellow Italian side Parma. Despite 39 goals in 54 appearances, the striker won no major honours with the Rome club.
2001 – Zinedine Zidane, Juventus to Real Madrid, €53.5m
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The world transfer record was broken for the third time in two years when Madrid, building their Galácticos-era side, became the first team to pay more than €50m for a player. Perhaps the most successful transfer on our list, Zidane won almost every major trophy (except the King’s Cup and UEFA Cup) with Real.
2009 – Kaká, Milan to Real Madrid, €65.7m
It would take eight years for the world transfer record to be broken and, yet again, it was Madrid who would do the breaking. Kaká has endured a frustrating time at the Bernabéu and only last month expressed his desire to leave.
2009 – Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United to Real Madrid, €93.9m
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Madrid broke the world transfer record for a second time in 2009 when they finally prised long-term-targert Cristiano Ronaldo away from Manchester United for nearly €94m. While Ronaldo was the first man to breach the €70m, €80m and €90m mark, it looks as if Bale can claim the title of being the first nine figure footballer.
