We have been waiting for what seems an eternity for Real Madrid to confirm the completion of the signing of Gareth Bale, which has finally been released as a done deal. It is a transfer that has attracted global interest, not because of how the star will fit into the team or adapt to the local paella and sangria rather than pie and mash that he is used to, but because of the fee that the player has attracted. Reporters from around the world have given different values that they believe the player will move for over the past few weeks, and everyone is wanting to know just how much the current record transfer fee will be beaten by.
There is no questioning Gareth Bales quality, but many are asking whether he has proven his abilities consistently enough and for long enough to hold the title of record highest transfer. Common sense would assume that the highest fee has been for the best player out there, but how often has this been the case? Let’s cast our minds back to some of the previous record holders.
Diego Maradonna
1982 Boca Juniors – Barcelona £3m
Voted joint Fifa player of the 20th century alongside Pele, the Argentinean striker is the only player to set the record transfer fee twice. Firstly with this fee to Barcelona, and then leaving two years later for a further record of £5m to go to Napoli. Maradonna played in four world cups for his country, helping them lift the trophy in 1986 where he captained his side’s final victory over West Germany. He scored over 250 club goals throughout his career and 34 international goals, with god giving him a hand to just one.
Jean-Pierre Papin
1992 Marseille – Milan £10m
Creater of the ‘Papinade’, a volley shot which was his biggest trait; the striker had scored 134 times for Marseille in 215 games. He helped them to win four league championships in a row. After signing a sure firing forward like this, Milan may have regretted the £10million that they forked out for his following 18goal return. Struggling to settle into Italian life and being plagued with injuries, Papin stepped on the grand stage for Milan in the Champions league final in 1993 as a substitute, only to go on and claim a runners up medal against his old side.
Alan Shearer
1996 Blackburn Rovers – Newcastle £15m
The day that the Geordie returned to his homeland and boyhood club raised the bar again as far as transfer fees were concerned. Shearer had helped Blackburn win the premier league title and remains the leagues top ever goal scorer. Helping England as far as the semi finals at Euro ’96, shearer never failed to turnout for his national side. He netted 30 times in 63appearences for his nation, and almost managed to score 1 in 2 for Newcastle also with 148 goals in 303 matches. Shearer was loved by the Geordie faithful, and went on to retire at the club. He also returned to take a much less successful managerial position a few years later. However, his reputation is untarnishable at St James’, and his name can still be heard being chanted around the toon.
Ronaldo
1997 Barcelona – Inter Milan £19.5m
‘The Ronaldo’, as controversially referred to by Jose Mourinho is one of only 3 men to have won the Fifa player of the year award three times. He has helped Brazil win the world cup twice, and in 2006 became the highest goalscorer in World cup history. Scoring 47 times in 49 games in his one year at Barcelona was enough to persuade Inter to meet Roanldo’s release clause. In his first season for Inter he finished second highest scorer. He went on to injure his knee at the club which caused him aggravation on and off for the rest of his career. Inter did however still manage to make a profit on Ronaldo, selling him onto Real Madrid, a club that we will see spend plenty of money in the coming years.
Luis Figo
2000 Barcelona – Real Madrid £37m
Real Madrid’s first record breaking transfer fee. Madrid signed the player from their fierce rivals Barcelona which left a bitter taste in the mouths of the Barcelona faithful. The former fan favourite was quickly turned against, and had a pigs head thrown at him whilst taking a corner following the transfer to Madrid. This signalled the beginning of the ‘galactico era’ at the club. Figo helped Madrid to two La Liga titles and the Champions league trophy, but could only ever achieve a runners-up honour with his national side at Euro 2004.
Zinedine Zidane
2001 Juventus – Real Madrid £46.6m
Soon to break Figos fee was Zinedine Zidane, as Real Madrid built a team of world superstars. He was named the best European footballer of the last 50years by Uefa. Perhaps his biggest contribution to Madrid was his match winning volley in 2002 Champions league final against Bayern Leverkusen. Zidane started international life on a bad foot when he got sent off in his first world cup for France during their second group game for a stamp on the back of Fuad Amin. This would not be the last time his national side cursed the temper of the star. However, the dismissal was quickly redeemed during the competition as he came back to score two goals in a victory over Brazil in the final. He then went on to help France also become victorious in Euro 2002.
Christiano Ronaldo
2009 Manchester United – Real Madrid £80m
Eclipsing his colleague Kaka’s record deal of £56m, Ronaldo significantly raised the bar as far as transfer fees are concerned. The Portuguese ‘winker’ raised eyebrows when he first joined Manchester United for over £12m as a young teenager, but proved to be one of Fergusons better signings in the coming years. He won three league titles with Manchester United as well as several domestic cups and the Champions league, becoming world famous for his trickery and scoring ability. This prompted Real Madrid to smash their own transfer fee and pay £80m for the star that rewarded them by becoming the fastest player to get to 100 club goals at Madrid. He is yet to add international honours to list, but has certainly set the benchmark at his club for Bale to follow.
It is evident that there is one club inflating prices of the top players in recent years. But as the only club that continues to be willing to pay more than anyone else, Real Madrid are surely only shooting themselves in the foot? Bales transfer fee will give us some idea of the new value of players out there in Madrid’s eyes, but it will only be a matter of time before this again is broken and as a result the value of every other player is dragged up. As Bale is set to move for over £80m, we can only imagine the value of a player like Lionel Messi if he ever found himself on the transfer market!
No comments:
Post a Comment