Much Anticipated Transfers Over The Years

Over the years, the world of football has seen some crazy transfers being included, especially after the clubs have been in a tangled war to secure the signature of the player. Some signings made fans draw closer to paying much detail to a player and even the media ended up covering the story for quite some time. There are many of those from Kylian Mbappe’s recent move to Real Madrid and Neymar to Paris Saint Germany (PSG). Let’s take a look at those transfers that had people talking before happening. 

Kylian Mbappe To Real Madrid

Since 2021, Real Madrid has indicated their intentions to sign French star Kylian Mbappe from Paris Saint German (PSG). During each transfer window, the move seemed to be on plans to be concluded but it never happened. In the end, it got the football fanatics wondering if the media was telling the truth or if they are running the speculations. There is no doubt, not only Los Blancos were interested in signing the French national team captain. Even teams like Liverpool and Chelsea were putting the player on the radar. The 25-year-old dribbling wizard kept saying that Madrid is his dream club and this week it finally happened as he was officially announced as the club player. It was a win situation for Madrid as they signed him on a free transfer after his contract with French champions PSG was due to expire at the end of June 30. It also brings down the predictions of where he will be playing next season. 

Neymar to PSG 

When the news broke that Neymar might leave Barcelona to join PSG – no one believed that. At that time Neymar was the hot property and had a formidable striking partnership with Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez. It was one of the fearless attacking options in the world of football. But knowing PSG with their spending, they managed to table €222 million – which remains the record transfer in the football market. Of course, in the summer of 2017, not only Neymar was associated with the move to PSG alone. There was also interest in the English Premier League, especially from Chelsea and Manchester United. Even clubs from the USA were looking for his signature. Still, to date, it remains not the biggest in terms of money but shocking somehow. 

James Rodriguez To Real Madrid

At the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, no player impressed people much more than James Rodriguez. Not only did he score goals for his nation, Colombia, but the skills and mentality he showed got people talking about how world-class he is. Then his club at that time Monaco had no option but to hold the player as teams got knocking on the door looking for him. He was a star and probably among the top five best players in the world. Real Madrid managed to win the race and sign him for a big fee of €80 million. To see how big he was, his unveiling at Santiago Bernabeu was attended by over 50,000 fans to express joy at seeing him coming to the club. He never lived up to expectations though at the club failing to establish himself in the starting eleven. They ended up being released by the club at the end of his contract. To date, it remains one of the best transfers of the last decade. 

Paul Pogba To Manchester United 

In the summer of 2016, Manchester United tabled a sum of €105 million to sign Juventus ace Paul Pogba. It was the world record transfer fee at that time. Then when the story first broke, people were stunned by the figures whether are true or not. But at that stage, Pogba was ranked among the best midfielders in the world. Even Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona were looking to land him. It was one of the transfers that got fans waiting for the final confirmation that the player had signed a dotted line. Arriving at Old Trafford, Pogba failed dismally to match his fee. His form wasn’t consistent on the pitch. Plus he never took the club back to glory days like it was expected. He ended up leaving the club to rejoin Juventus for a free deal. 

Moses Caicedo To Chelsea

Last season it emerged that Moses Caicedo was chased by both Liverpool and Chelsea for a hefty fee of €117 million. Many were asking themselves who is he? Why is he so expensive? As the tussle kept going for both clubs, former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp ended up telling the media that the club had reached an agreement to sign the Colombian international. But days after the German manager publicly announced that Chelsea had managed to pip Liverpool into signing the player. It remains one of the most controversial transfers in the football world of late.