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.

Dancers attend a dress rehearsal for the new grand show “THE WYLD” at Friedrichstadt-Palast in Berlin October 2, 2014. Ten choreographers are working with 60 dancers from the world's largest show ballet company to create the flamboyant stage spectacle. The show's name, “THE WYLD”, represents human nature in its diversity and the wilderness of the big city – in this case, Berlin. The premiere of the 10.6 million euro ($13.5 million) show, the largest production budget in the 95-year history of Friedrichstadt-Palast, is on October 23, 2014. (Photo by Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters)

A passenger (L) gets inside a decorated matatu as other passengers wait for it to fill at night in the streets of Nairobi, Kenya, 24 March 2018. The Matatu culture is very big in Kenya, the minibuses are decorated with colorful graffiti inside and outside and most of them are equipped with TV screens, high-speed internet, and power sockets. (Photo by Daniel Irungu/EPA/EFE)

A Dartmoor Hill pony foal runs on the moor on Dartmoor on May 17, 2011 in Princetown England. Although a tourist attraction, especially during the foaling season and often seen as part of the landscape of Dartmoor, many ponies face an uncertain future due to unsustainable breeding and their falling market values. The charity South West Equine Protection estimates that last year 1500 ponies were slaughtered – with many being sold for lion meat to nearby zoos. Along with other equine charities, they are calling for the removal of stallions from the moor to bring numbers down to sustainable levels. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

An Iranian soldier guards two German tourists near the Iranian-Turkish border during World War II. Since the British occupation of Iran, all Axis nationals are being expelled from the country. (Photo by Three Lions/Getty Images). Circa 1941

Chinese folk artists perform the lion dance at a temple fair to celebrate the Lunar New Year of Dragon on January 22, 2012 in Beijing, China. Falling on January 23 this year, the Chinese Lunar New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, which is based on the Lunisolar Chinese calendar, is celebrated from the first day of the first month of the lunar year and ends with Lantern Festival on the Fifteenth day. (Photo by Feng Li/Getty Images)

A hyena eyes a herd of zebra at Lake Nakuru National Park, Kenya, August 19, 2015. The Park is home to some of the world's most majestic wildlife including lions, rhinos, zebras and flamingos. The scenery is stunning, from forests of acacia trees to animals congregating at the shores to drink. UNESCO says that with rapid population growth nearby, the area is under "considerable threat from surrounding pressures," particularly deforestation, a contributing factor in floods. (Photo by Joe Penney/Reuters)