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.

A youth dives into a crater filled with water in Aleppo's al-Shaar district, in this July 10, 2014 file photo. (Photo by Hosam Katan/Reuters)

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 players of Denmark huddle prior to the FIFA Women's World Cup qualifier match between Denmark and Sweden at Viborg Stadion on September 4, 2018 in Viborg, Denmark. (Photo by Lars Ronbog/FrontZoneSport via Getty Images)

Figure skating couple Madison Chock and Evan Bates, of the USA, practice their dance routine during a training session at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Thursday, February 3, 2022, in Beijing. (Photo by Natacha Pisarenko/AP Photo)

Olga Fatkulina of the Russian Olympic Committee flops onto the infield after finishing her heat in the women's speedskating 1,000-meter finals at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Thursday, February 17, 2022, in Beijing. (Photo by Ashley Landis/AP Photo)

Participants compete in a wife-carrying championship in Tapiobicske, Hungary, August 7, 2021. Some 40 Hungarian husbands, with their wives on their backs, clambered over rough terrain on Saturday in the nation's second wife-carrying contest. (Photo by Marton Monus/Reuters)

Soldiers from the Nigerian Armed Forces take position and secure the streets in Lagos Island, Lagos, on February 27, 2023, after hoodlums had harassed market owners. Nigeria slowly counted more results on Monday after a tight election for the presidency of Africa's most populous nation as delays and accusations of manipulation fuelled tensions Nearly 90 million were eligible to vote on Saturday for a successor to President Muhammadu Buhari, with many hoping for a new leader to tackle insecurity, economic malaise and widening poverty. (Photo by John Wessels/AFP Photo)