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REAL MADRID

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

Update:
Madrid lose 16 year old record to United after Pogba transfer
PERFORM

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).

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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…

Most expensive signings in history

Year Player Millions Seller Buyer 1984 Maradona 13 Barcelona Nápoles 1992 Vialli 16,5 Sampdoria Juventus 1996 Shearer 21 Blackburn Rovers Newcastle 1997 Ronaldo 28 Barcelona Inter de Milán 1998 Denilson 31,5 Sao Paulo Betis 1999 Vieri 45 Lazio Inter de Milán 2000 Figo 60 Barcelona Real Madrid 2001 Zidane 73,5 Juventus Real Madrid 2009 Cristiano 94,5 Manchester United Real Madrid 2013 Bale 101 Tottenham Real Madrid 2016 Pogba 105 Juventus Manchester United