5 Most unexpected football events of the decade

4) Neymar's transfer to Paris Saint-Germain

Neymar's move to Paris from Barcelona is the biggest transfer story of the decade

Paul Pogba's transfer to Manchester United for £89 million inflated the transfer market, Neymar's move to Paris Saint-Germain broke the market altogether. While Pogba's move to his former club marked the beginning of a new era concerning player transfers, it was the Brazilian's move to the French capital which is more important.

The Ligue 1 club paid €222 million for the talented winger, and set a new precedent for how transfers were going to be conducted moving forward.

Both the transfer and the precedent it set going forward were equally shocking. Neymar moved to Paris from his dream club Barcelona, where he had won two La Ligas and a treble. The rumoured reason is that the star wanted to get out from the shadow of Lionel Messi, and therefore he made this decision.

At the time of his move, Neymar was the third-best player in the world and his move shocked the entire world. Barcelona are yet to replace the player, whereas PSG is constantly in contention for the Champions League (although they are yet to capitalise on the same).

Due to the enormous amount that PSG paid for him, the transfer market was blown wide open. Virgil van Dijk and Harry Maguire went for upwards of £70 million and teenage sensations Kylian Mbappe and Joao Felix were transferred for a combined fee of over €250 million.

Clubs across Europe are forced to pay an extravagant amount of money nowadays for even a bench option, and this seismic shift in player rates can be traced back to the Neymar transfer saga.