6 European clubs who have broken their transfer record already
In the history of football transfers, the longest standing transfer record lasted for eight years. But, you don't know him as the man who holds this record because you know him as one of the greatest players of all time, or more recently, as the only manager to win back to back UEFA Champions League titles.
If all else fails, you definitely know him as the bald angry man who had the cojones to headbutt a 6ft 4in Italian in a FIFA World Cup final.
I'm talking about when Zinedine Zidane became the record transfer back in 2001 when he moved from Juventus to Real Madrid and this was just one year after Los Blancos infamously signed Luis Figo from Barcelona for another record-breaking fee.
For 8 years, Real Madrid let the record be but in 2009, things had to change. Less than four hundred miles from the Spanish capital, Madrid, the Catalans had just won the treble under the genius of Pep Guardiola, plus there was also the small matter of an Argentine named Lionel Messi.
You see why I said things had to change?
What followed was something we've never seen before. On June 3rd, Real Madrid broke the transfer record by signing Kaka from AC Milan - a Ballon d'Or winner in 2007.
Things didn't end there.
Although at this point the Ballon d'Or winner for 2009 was not announced, it was clear as daylight that Messi already had one hand on the trophy and signing him from Barcelona was not an option.
If you are Florentino Perez, what do you do then? You go and buy the guy who won the award in 2008 - a guy who can give the Argentine a run for his money. So just a week after Kaka's arrival, Real Madrid broke the transfer record once again by signing Cristiano Ronaldo.
Joining the record transfers were Xabi Alonso and Karim Benzema and in the process, Real Madrid set the record for the most money spent in a transfer window – a whopping £195m!
Four years later, the Catalan juggernaut continued in full force and it forced Perez to bring out the cheques books again. Gareth Bale arrived from Spurs and thus, Real Madrid broke the transfer record for the 5th straight time.
Oh, by the way, guess which is the only other team to have broken their own world record transfer fee.
A recently relegated team by the name of Sunderland back in 1925 when they paid £6,500 and broke the world record transfer fee of £5,500 they set in 1922.
By now, you must have got the point I was trying to put across. In the modern day transfer market, records are meant to be broken and newer ones are set almost every day. This is only the first week after the transfer market officially opened and these six clubs have already broken their transfer records.
#1 Arsenal – £46.5m for Alexandre Lacazette
For the first time under Arsene Wenger, Arsenal finished outside the Top 4 and failed to qualify for the UEFA Champions League. In addition, they also finished below Spurs for the first time under Wenger.
With many fans calling for ‘Wenger Out’, Arsenal and Arsene needed to show that they mean business this season and hence they needed to make a big statement. After wrapping up a deal for Sead Kolasinac earlier this summer on a free transfer, Arsenal’s second signing was a club record one.
The Gunners signed French International, Alexandre Lacazette, for £46.5m and thus broke the transfer record held by Mesut Ozil following his move from Real Madrid in 2013 for £42.5m.
Lacazette, who scored 27, 21 & 28 goals in the last three league seasons could prove to be a title winning signing for Arsenal if he can replicate his Ligue 1 form in Premier League. Aged 26, he joins Arsenal at the peak of his career.