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)

A woman tries a swing in front of a screen featuring New York scenes during the new Air France Exhibition called “Air France, France is in the Air” in New York June 25, 2014. (Photo by Timothy A. Clary/AFP Photo)

A white tiger cub growls at the Buenos Aires Zoo in Argentina, Thursday, March 21, 2013. The cub's mother, Cleo, a captive Bengal white tiger, gave birth to two females and two males on January 14. (Photo by Natacha Pisarenko/AP Photo)

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A man crosses Canal Street in the wind and rain from Hurricane Isaac August 29, 2012. (Photo by David J. Phillip/Associated Press)