Goals, harsh tackles, fouls, red cards, player spats, referees getting beaten up - all of this hogs the limelight when it comes to football. But everything takes a backseat when player transfer window opens.
Like, the scene right now is revolving around Brazilian poster boy Neymar. After weeks of speculation, he is finally leaving Barcelona, hence ending the famous Messi-Suarez-Neymar trio. He finally broke it to his Barca teammates that Paris St Germain is the club he is leaving for. He has also landed in Portugal for a medical test - a mere formality - before the transfer actually is complete.
Now as Barcelona try to bring in Ousmane Dembele to fill in Neymar's shoes, we could enter a rewind mode and revisit the player transfers that shook the world.
This happened last year in August. Pogba was no Messi, nor was he a Luis Suarez. Nor a Cristiano Ronaldo. But still, Manchester United spent $89 million to buy him from Juventus. This became the highest transfer in the history of the sport. Pogba had earlier spent enough time with the Italian club. In his stay, he scored 28 goals in 128 appearances and, as a midfielder, created enough opportunities for Paolo Dybala and company.
Long before Paul Pogba, there was Gareth Bale. Bale was wreaking havoc with the Spurs back in 2013. And soon Real Madrid lapped him up for a world-record transfer. Getting ?85 million, he became the most expensive transfer of the time. In his tenure, Bale hasn't been able to perform that well with the Los Blancos. Bale's contract with Real Madrid ends in 2019. Bale's transfer raised eyebrows because the then manager Andre Villas-Boas had no intention of selling the superstar.
Sir Alex Ferguson was not ready for this. But the Spanish club Real Madrid were licking their chops, anticipating Ronaldo's arrival. He fit the bill obviously because he was glamorous and had drawn attention for his outstanding striking ability. Well, the Galactico hangover has never left Real Madrid. Back in 2009, the Portuguese star finally bagged a ?80 million deal, which really turned heads. Since then, he has continued to be with the Los Blancos and renewed his deal with them in 2016.
This one was a soccer shocker. The reason was because Napoli and Juventus share a rivalry like no other. The clubs meet on the pitch to form the biggest rivalries of Serie A. And all that Higuain did was switching from Napoli to Juventus, that too for ?75.3 million. This didn't go well with Napoli. So much so that pizza joints in Napoli were ready to sell pizza for as low as one euro the moment Higuain suffered his first injury with Juventus.
When Barcelona and Real Madrid clash on the pitch, it becomes El Clasico. This is, by far, the oldest and most sought-after rivalry in world football. Now imagine what happens when a player leaves Barcelona for Real Madrid. Figo was snapped up for ?37 million by the Los Blancos, who were busy forming the Galactico. Barcelona fans certainly didn't take this lying down. The bitterness reached such levels that a fan threw a pig head on the pitch while Luis Figo was busy taking a corner.