As we enter the final couple of weeks of the summer transfer window, sides around Europe are working feverishly to bring in new recruits to strengthen their ranks for the 2022/23 season. Already this summer, per Transfermarkt, a total of nine players have moved clubs for fees in excess of £50 million, including Darwin Nunez’s switch from Benfica to Liverpool and Marc Cucurella trading Brighton for Chelsea.
The ever-spiralling nature of transfer fees means that few fans bat an eyelid when the £50m barrier is broken these days. However, it was only back in 2009 that Kaka became the first £50m player when he joined Real Madrid from AC Milan for £56m.
Some 13 years later, the evolution of football finances means the world record transfer fee now stands at £199.8m that Paris Saint-Germain paid Barcelona for Neymar in 2017.
Recently, Transfermarkt uploaded a live graphic charting the crazy inflation levels in the transfer market since 1990. Quiz: Can you guess the player from their Wikipedia career path? Back 32 years ago, it was Roberto Baggio who held the world record transfer for his £8m move from Fiorentina to Juventus.