Expensive Transfers: The concept of a football transfer first came into existence in England after the Football Association (FA) introduced player registration sometime after 1885. Before that, a player could agree to play one or more games for any football club. After the FA recognized professionalism in 1885, it sought to control professional players by introducing a player registration system. Players had to register with a club each season, even if he remained with the same club from the season before. A player was not allowed to play until he was registered for that season. Once a player was registered with a club, he was not allowed to be registered with or play for another club during the same season without the permission of the FA and the club that held his registration. The players however, were free to join another club before the start of each season, even if their former club wished to retain them.
Sometime after the Football League was formed in 1888, the Football League decided that restrictions had to be placed on the ability of richer clubs to lure players from other clubs to prevent the league being dominated by a handful of clubs. From the start of the 1893–94 season onwards, once a player was registered with a Football League club, he could not be registered with any other club, even in subsequent seasons, without the permission of the club he was registered with. It applied even if the player’s annual contract with the club holding his registration was not renewed after it expired. The club was not obliged to play him and, without a contract, the player was not entitled to receive a salary. Nevertheless, if the club refused to release his registration, the player could not play for any other Football League club.
Football League clubs soon came to realize that they could demand and earn a transfer fee from any other Football League club as consideration for agreeing to release or transfer the player’s registration.
In 1912, Charles Sutcliffe helped establish the legality of this “retain-and-transfer system” when he successfully represented the club Aston Villa during the Kingaby case. Former player, Herbert Kingaby had brought legal proceedings against Villa for preventing him from playing. Erroneous strategy by Kingaby’s counsel resulted in the suit being dismissed.
In England, the “retain” aspect of the system was removed after a decision by the High Court in 1963 in Eastham vs. Newcastle United that it was unreasonable. The transfer system remained unchanged until the Bosman ruling. (wikipedia)
Most Expensive Transfers in Football History
13. Neymar JR
One of most impressive young footballer, Neymar Jr impressed everyone through his traditional Brazilian flair during his play in Santos.
in next season FC- Barcelona and Real Madrid Bids for this Youngster. Though Real Madrid were said to have offered more, Neymar chose Barcelona, where he felt his style of play would fit in well.
he was transferred to FC-Barcelona for €57, which mean it was the 10th Most Expensive Transfer in Soccer History.
You May Like: 10 Amazing Facts About Neymar JR
12. Fernando Torres
Spanish footballer who plays as a striker for Chelsea and the Spain national team. after playing for Liverpool from 2007 to 2010, Torres left the club in January 2011 to join Chelsea for a record British transfer fee of £50 million, which made him the most expensive Spanish player in history. also the 9th most expensive player of all time.
|12||Fernando Torres||Spain||Liverpool||Chelsea||€58 M
11. Radamel Falcao
Commonly known simply as Radamel Falcao, Falcao García or Falcao in South America, is a Colombian football striker, who plays for AS Monaco in the French Ligue 1.
Radamel Falcao was moved from Atletico Madrid to AS Monaco in €60 million deal, this is the 8th most expensive deal regarding player transfer.
|11||Radamel Falcao||Colombia||Atlético Madrid||Monaco||€60 M
10. Luís Figo
Figo became one of Spanish football’s most prominent villains when he made the transferred from Barcelona to Real Madrid in the summer of 2000. he was switched to Real Madrid in €62.
The player received a less than appreciative welcome from the Barcelona fans upon his return to Camp Nou for an El Clasico.
The Figo was tormented while taking corners, with fans throwing coins, plastic bottles, and even a pig’s head at the player.
|10||Luís Figo||Portugal||Barcelona||Real Madrid||€62 M
9. David Luiz
Brazilian Superstar played a handsome role for Brazil in World Cup 2014. David Luiz has revealed During World Cup that he has signed a five-year brand new deal with Paris Saint-Germain. Deal were made in €62.6, which remains as the 8th most expensive deal in football transfer history.
|9||David Luiz||Brazil||Chelsea||Paris Saint-Germain||€62.6||2013|
8. Edinson Cavani
Cavani chose a big-money move to French club Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) over Chelsea. He was drawn to the project that Paris Saint-Germain have put in place – to try and make them the biggest club in Europe. Cavani was transferred to PSG in 64 million euros, that was the 6th most expensive transfer in football history.
The Uruguay striker now wearing the number nine shirt there and hopes to flourish as he did at Napoli in the past.
|8||Edinson Cavani||Uruguay||Napoli||Paris Saint-Germain||€64 M
Brazilian Super-Star and attacking midfielder Kaka is the 5th most expensive player in the history. After his success with Milan, Kaká joined Real Madrid for a transfer fee of €68 million. At the time, this was the second highest transfer fee (in euros) ever, behind only the €75 million fee for Zinedine Zidane.
You May Like: Top 10 Most Handsome Footballers
|7||Kaká||Brazil||A.C. Milan||Real Madrid||€68 M