Madrid lose 16 year old record to United after Pogba transfer
Since 2000, Real Madrid have held the record for the world's most expensive player thanks to a host of Galáctico signings, but Pogba's €105m fee sees United take away the crown
Real Madrid is a club that’s become characterised over recent years by their big money signings, or so-called Galácticos. So much so that Manchester United’s signing of Paul Pogba for €105 million on Monday night broke a record that Madrid had held for the last 16 years. That is, the world record for the most expensive player in football history.
It all started with Luis Figo back in 2000. The Portuguese star cost Florentino Perez €60m when he swapped Real’s rivals Barcelona for the Bernabéu, smashing the previous record transfer fee paid by Inter Milan for Christian Vieri from Lazio (€45m).
Florentino's Galácticos
The new record didn’t last long, however. The next season Zinedine Zidane arrived in the Spanish capital from Juventus for €73.5m to continue Perez’ ‘Galácticos’ project. Eight years later (2009), Real Madrid broke their own record once again with the purchase of Cristinao Ronaldo from Manchester United (€94.5m).
The club’s last big signing was Gareth Bale in 2013. The Welshman became the most expensive player in history when he signed for Los Blancos from Spurs for a whopping €101m
Then along came Pogba! How long will the new record last? Time will tell…