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 health official checks the body temperature of a burqa-clad woman passenger amid concerns over the spread of the COVID-19 novel coronavirus at the Lahore Railway station in Lahore on March 19, 2020. (Photo by Arif Ali/AFP Photo)

Performers pose during the 2022 ICC Women's Cricket World Cup match between Australia and West Indies at Basin Reserve on March 15, 2022 in Wellington, New Zealand. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins-ICC/ICC via Getty Images)

Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus reacts after losing the first game of the third set to Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan in the women's singles final during the women's singles final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, January 28, 2023. (Photo by Asanka Brendon Ratnayake/AP Photo)

Australia’s Hannah Fredericks competes in the women’s 200m backstroke heats during the Australian Swimming Trials at the Brisbane Aquatic Centre on June 13, 2024. (Photo by David Gray/AFP Photo)

Lulu Shaffer of Team United States takes a run during the preliminary rounds of the Women's Dual Moguls Competition at the Intermountain Healthcare Freestyle International Ski World Cup at Deer Valley on February 03, 2024 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)