Football transfers are not cheap. To have a player strengthen their ranks, teams are willing to pay big money. The football transfer considered to be the most expensive in the sport's history was that of Gareth Bale leaving Tottenham to play at Real Madrid. The Spanish club paid not less than £86 million (about $133 million at today's exchange rates) to have the player among its own. But recent news suggest that this record might be broken this year. According to reports in the media, UK Premier League team Manchester United is willing to almost double that amount.

Participants of the “Torture Ships” walk to the pier where the Ship of lacquer and leather will undock with hundreds watching in Friedrichshafen, Germany on June 23, 2018. (Photo by Felix Kästle/DPA)

The Invasion. A quiet street in Macau. Modernization around is quickly changing the city, as documented by Paul Tsui. (Photo by Paul Tsui/National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest)

A man walks inside the flooded Cochin international airport after the opening of Idamalayar, Cheruthoni and Mullaperiyar dam shutters following heavy rain, on the outskirts of Kochi, India, August 15, 2018. (Photo by Sivaram V/Reuters)

Santa Claus reacts as (L) Tami McEleney and (R) Patrice Conner whisper in his ear at the King of Prussia Mall, United States' largest retail shopping space, in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, U.S., December 8, 2018. (Photo by Mark Makela/Reuters)

Cao Ri and Xu Jiaqian have a wedding photograph taken in a pool at the Qianyishi Underwater Photography Studio in Beijing, China on September 7, 2017. (Photo by Thomas Peter/Reuters)

A view of a Gucci's advertisement campaign selected for an exhibition to celebrate creative vision of a creative director Alessandro Michele at Gucci Garden Archetypes, in Florence, Italy, Thursday, May 13, 2021. (Photo by Antonio Calanni/AP Photo)

A woman wearing in face mask to curb the spread of COVID-19 passes street's cafe in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, October 22, 2021. Coronavirus infections and deaths in Ukraine have surged to all-time highs amid a laggard pace of vaccination, which is one of the lowest in Europe. (Photo by Efrem Lukatsky/AP Photo)