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.

A firefighter battling the King Fire watches as a backfire burns along Highway 50 in Fresh Pond, California September 16, 2014. The fire led officials to call on about 400 people to evacuate from areas threatened by the blaze, Cal Fire spokeswoman Alyssa Smith said. It has charred more than 11,500 acres (4,654 hectares) and was 5 percent contained on Tuesday. (Photo by Noah Berger/Reuters)

Chinese honor guards prepare for the arrival of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and China's President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Wednesday, June 14, 2023. (Photo by Jade Gao/Pool Photo via AP Photo)

Dutch actress, dancer and model Lotte Verbeek and the cast of “The Book Of Vision” recreate the pinnacle scene from the movie during the 77th Venice Film Festival at on September 03, 2020 in Venice, Italy. (Photo by Yara Nardi/Reuters)

A person wearing a face mask holds a cat on Swanston Street after cases of the coronavirus were confirmed in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, January 29, 2020. (Photo by Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

The sun rises through the thick fog that covers the city of Frankfurt, Germany, Friday, November 12, 2021. (Photo by Michael Probst/AP Photo)

Planned improvements to Rio’s favelas have meant increases in rent, forcing the poorest families into squatting in unoccupied buildings. Photographer Tariq Zaidi visits the Mangueira community favela, less than 1km from the showpiece Maracanã stadium, to see what life is like for the women living there. Here: Victoria, 12, at her home in Mangueira. (Photo by Tariq Zaidi/The Guardian)

These Eurasian Otters seem ready for any danger as they all stand up on thier hind legs alert to any threats near to the English river bank. Amateur photographer and retired MOD worker Tony Moir, 57, spotted the otters whilst looking for kingfishers to photograph near the river Trent in East Yorkshire, UK. He was able to take just a couple of pictures before the excited animals spotted the photographer and ran away. (Photo by Tony Moir/Solent News)