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.

People dressed in national clothes sing songs during the regional harvest festival in the town of Dyatlovo, Belarus, November 13, 2015. (Photo by Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters)

A woman takes part in the Watermelon Games at the 55th annual California Watermelon festival in Los Angeles, California on July 29, 2017. The day has become a tradition because watermelons have long been the prized crop of the eastern San Fernando foothills. (Photo by Xinhua News Agency/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A protester wearing improvised protective headgear walks away from a cloud of tear gas on July 18, 2021 in Bangkok, Thailand. Student protesters called for a demonstration demanding the resignation of Thailand Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-Cha, despite a ban on gatherings because of the country's current Covid-19 outbreak, and folded a demand for better action in combating the virus into their demands. (Photo by Sirachai Arunrugstichai/Getty Images)

Switzerland's forward #19 Eseosa Aigbogun (L) fights for the ball with Philippines' defender #16 Sofia Harrison (R) and Philippines' forward #21 Katrina Guillou during the Australia and New Zealand 2023 Women's World Cup Group A football match between the Philippines and Switzerland at Dunedin Stadium in Dunedin on July 21, 2023. (Photo by Sanka Vidanagama/AFP Photo)

Aide Choque, wearing a mask amid the COVID-19 pandemic, jumps with her skateboard during a youth talent show in La Paz, Bolivia, Wednesday, September 30, 2020. Young women called “Skates Imillas”, using the Aymara word for girl Imilla, use traditional Indigenous clothing as a statement of pride of their Indigenous culture while playing riding their skateboards. (Photo by Juan Karita/AP Photo)

Members of the public enjoy the sunny weather along the Brighton beach in East Sussex, United Kingdom on July 17, 2022. (Photo by Marcin Nowak/London News Pictures)

A Ukrainian service member smokes near a frontline, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine on February 8, 2023. (Photo by Yevhenii Zavhorodnii/Reuters)