4. Zinedine Zidane – Juventus to Real Madrid (£53 million)
Real Madrid broke another record in 2001, making Zidane the most expensive footballer in the world, adding him to their growing list of Galacticos at the club. He was voted the FIFA world player of the year for the third time when he helped his club win the League title in 2002-2003. The mercurial Frenchman will live long in the history of the club, for his contribution to the club during his five years at the club.
3. Kaka – AC Milan to Real Madrid (£56 million)
The Brazilian ace, adored by the AC Milan faithful following a famous rejection of the cash strapped Manchester City in the January transfer window, left the club in the summer of that same season in 2009, become the latest arrivals to add to the Galactico’s of Real Madrid, who went on to purchase Cristiano Ronaldo in the same transfer window. The injury-prone midfielder has not had regular playing time at the club following his arrival, due to fitness, high competition for positions at the club as well as injuries keeping him out of action.
2. Zlatan Ibrahimovic – Inter Milan to Barcelona (£60 million)
Although the actual transfer fee is considered to be closer to £40 million, many football journalists have added the value of Samuel Eto, who was also included as part of the deal for the Swedish striker in 2009. Many Barcelona fans were shocked to hear that the transfer fee was so high for the striker, with many considering a straight swap between Eto and Ibrahimovic being a valid transfer. The disagreements between Ibrahimovic and Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola have been well documented, but the striker regularly scored goals for the club, but chose to move onto AC Milan the next season where he became a regular starter.
1. Cristiano Ronaldo – Manchester United to Real Madrid (£80 million)
This is the classic case of a player wanting to join their dream club at any chance possible, and Ronaldo was no different, publicly stating he wanted to join the club on several occasions. His own mother did not help in easing these rumours for Man United fans, telling Spanish papers that her son dreamed of playing for Real Madrid, and his dream was granted in 2009, with Manchester accepting a world record fee for the Portugese attacker. He has ended two of the seasons since then surpassing 40 goals in all competitions, more recently scoring 46 league goals for his club in their La Liga winning campaign, pipping a Messi inspired Barcelona to the title.
Only Ibrahimovic making his way into the top transfer list, for a transfer not related to his latest transfer from AC Milan to PSG. The transfers of Silva and Ibrahimovic is likely to get more of the European clubs taking an interest in the French clubs activity, as they could become an outside winner for the Champions League next season. On an overall note, many can consider the French outfit to have done good business for these two players, especially in an inflated market, where clubs are being held ransom at prices for top signings, with the transfers of Andy Carroll to Liverpool and Berbatov to Manchester United being examples to support this arguement.
How well do you think PSG have acted in the transfer window? Have they paid too much for these players? Share your views on my personal blog as well as my twitter page.
@Dharmesh_Tank http://dharmeshtank.wordpress.
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