People cool off at the water park during the “Circuit” the international gay festival in Vilassar de Dalt, Spain, Tuesday, August 9, 2016. The special international event has attracted many thousands and the gay festival “Circuit” runs until August 14. (Photo by Manu Fernandez/AP Photo)

People gather in the street the night before a local lockdown amidst the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Manchester, Britain on October 22, 2020. (Photo by Molly Darlington/Reuters)

A man, wearing a protective mask following an outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), walks in Tokyo, Japan on March 17, 2020. (Photo by Edgard Garrido/Reuters)

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.

An aerial image shows hot air balloons, mostly made from recycled paper and tied with ropes, floating in the air during the annual hot air balloon festival, held since 1950 to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the Islamic holiday marking the end of Ramadan, in Wonosobo, Central Java, on April 2, 2025. (Photo by Devi Rahman/AFP Photo)

Members of the Albert Battery perform a gun salute during the Anzac Day dawn service held by the Currumbin RSL on the Gold Coast in Currumbin, Australia, 25 April 2016. The Anzac day marks the landing of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (Anzac) troops at Gallipoli in what is today Turkey during WWI. World War One, also called the Great War, according to official statistics cost more than 37 million military and civilian casualties between 1914 and 1918. (Photo by Glenn Hunt/EPA)

A young festivalgoer jumps to burst a bubble at Latitude Festival at Henham Park, Britain, July 22, 2021. (Photo by Peter Cziborra/Reuters)

Surrender by Jenkin Van Zyl, a surreal installation at Fact Liverpool on November 16, 2023 featuring film and sculptural works inside a large inflatable silver rat. (Photo by James Glossop/The Times)