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European football has evolved into a global behemoth industry that is currently worth more than €22.5 billion with a significant part of that amount generated from player transfers.
Player transfer values have evolved over time. Clubs spend colossal sums of money to lure and convince players and their agents to switch teams. Football has come a long way from the time when €100 was enough to lure a player from one club to the other.
It took eleven years for a player to be transferred with a fee of €5,000 after the €100 record fee was broken. Football has really come a long way. At a time of highly inflated transfer fees, it is difficult to know if players deserve their price tags today.
Today, we take a look at the 5 players whose performances proved they deserved the world record transfer fees they were sold for.
#5 Luis Figo to Real Madrid
Luis Figo, at the time a Barcelona star player, transferred to rival club Real Madrid for a record €60 million in 2000.
He arrived at Real Madrid with a lot of expectations on his shoulders as part of the Galactico era signings that included Zidane, Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos, and Beckham. Luis Figo proved that he deserved every bit of the fee splashed to acquire his services during his five-year stay at Real Madrid.
In his first season, he helped win the La Liga title for Real Madrid, scoring 14 times in all competitions. The following season, he helped the team win the UEFA Champions League title, scoring on three occasions. He helped the team win the league once again in 2003.
His time at the club was largely successful, scoring a total of 45 goals and winning the Fifa World Player of the Year in 2001. Figo would spend five seasons at Madrid, with his final success being the 2003 La Liga title.
In April 2013, Figo was named by the sports newspaper Marca as a member of the "Best foreign eleven in Real Madrid's history."
#4 Ronaldo to Inter Milan
Ronaldo joined Inter Milan from Barcelona for a then-record fee of €28 million.
His performances at Inter proved to be the best of his club career and further cement his legacy as one of the greatest footballers in history. His time at Inter earned him the name, the "Phenomenon".
He helped the team to UEFA Cup glory in 1998 and won the Fifa World Player of the Year award in 1997. Despite a succession of injuries that threatened his career, he scored a total of 59 goals in 99 appearances for Inter Milan and left the supporters with pleasant memories of dazzling skills, feints, and goals.
Ronaldo certainly proved he was worth his world record amount.
#3 Zidane to Real Madrid
Zidane joined Real Madrid from Juventus in a world record fee of €77.5 million in 2001.
He helped the team win the UEFA Champions League in his first season, scoring a famous match-winning goal, a volley hit with his weaker foot, during Madrid's 2–1 win over Bayer Leverkusen.
The following season he helped the team win the league title, starring in a midfield with Luis Figo. His performances for the side won him the Fifa World Player of the Year award in 2002.
He played for the team in 225 matches scoring 49 goals and winning six trophies during his five years at the Bernabeu.
He is particularly remembered for his extraordinary playmaking abilities.
#2 Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid
Cristiano Ronaldo joined Real Madrid in 2009 for a world record fee of €94 million from Manchester United.
As a player who was brought in to replace the fading era of Galacticos, Ronaldo arrived with a lot of expectations. Real Madrid had not won the UEFA Champions League in seven years and a lot was at stake.
He played there for a total of nine seasons, helping the team win a total of 15 trophies including four UEFA Champions League titles and two League titles. His performances for the club earned him the Fifa Balon D'or on five occasions and Fifa Player of the Year on four occasions.
He was the top goal scorer of the UEFA Champions League on seven occasions, becoming the highest goal scorer of the competition in the process. He also became the team's all-time top scorer with 451 goals.
Cristiano Ronaldo's performances at the club have earned him a place in history as one of their greatest ever players.
#1. Diego Maradona(Napoli)
Maradona transferred to Napoli in Italy's Serie A for a world record fee of €13 million in 1984.
At Napoli, Maradona reached the peak of his professional career. Led by Maradona, Napoli won their first ever Serie A Italian Championship in 1986–87. Napoli would win their second league title in 1989–90, and finish runners-up in the league twice, in 1987–88 and 1988–89.
Other honors during the Maradona era at Napoli included the Coppa Italia in 1987, (second place in the Coppa Italia in 1989), the UEFA Cup in 1989 and the Italian Supercup in 1990.
Maradona was the top scorer in Serie A in 1987–88, with 15 goals, and was the all-time leading goalscorer for Napoli, with 115 goals. During his time, he inspired an average Napoli side to victory.
