10 Biggest Football Transfers In History

4. Zinedine Zidane - Juventus To Real Madrid (£46 million) Signed for a record £46 million from Juventus, Zidane was already one of the most decorated players in the modern game with the World Cup and European Championship already secured while representing France. Bought as a 'Galactico', the Real Madrid Presdient Florentino Perez allegedly wrote a note that was passed around a table to Zidane asking if he wanted to play for Madrid, to which he replied 'Yes'. In his first season Zidane led Madrid to the trophy that had twice eluded him at Juventus, the Champions League, scoring arguably the greatest goal ever scored in the competition in the final against Bayern Leverkuson. Zidane came to symbolise the club's hiring policy dubbed 'Zidanes y Pavones'. This strategy championed by Madrid meant that they were able to pursue the 'Galactico' model of signing a high profile player every year, paying ridiculously high transfer fees and salaries, by bulking up the rest of the squad with home-grown players that could be paid proportionately minute figures in return, AKA Pavones. This strategy, and focus on the commercial aspect of the club was clearly not successful however, as during Zidane's 5 year tenure at Madrid, besides the aforementioned Champions League title, the Frenchman only secured one La Liga title. However, despite Madrid's failings on the pitch, Zidane still produced mouth-watering performances and is remembered fondly by the Madridistas. Recently he was named in Madrid's 'Best ever Foreign Eleven' by Madrid based newspaper Marca.