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The G-8 That Broke Banks in Summer Transfer Windows
Just as the transfer market in Europe is bubbling with unfolding events, so are the banking halls as vaults are being opened and closed with huge amounts either coming out or inflowing into players and clubs’ accounts.
The world is at the verge of witnessing the biggest movement of money in football history when Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior moves from FC Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain. Courtesy of 90min, the world’s largest football media platform, Sports Village Square brings to you the eight teams that have had to pay ridiculous amounts during summer transfer.
8. Paris Saint-Germain – Summer of 2012
Total spend: £144.5m
In their first transfer window with the Qatari owners on board, Paris Saint-Germain went all-out ahead of the 2012/13 season, spending nearly £150m on signing seven of Europe’s brightest and most experienced players.
The double swoop of Thiago Silva and Zlatan Ibrahimovic from AC Milan was worth in excess of £55m, while the likes of Lucas Moura, Ezequiel Lavezzi and Marco Verratti helped put the French side on the map.
7. Manchester United – Summer of 2016
Total spend: £147m
Last summer was a big one for Manchester United. Two of football’s biggest personalities, Jose Mourinho and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, joined the club, but neither are included in United’s total transfer spend.
Rather, the world’s most expensive player, Paul Pogba, as well as the additions of Armenian playmaker Henrikh Mkhitaryan and no-nonsense defender Eric Bailly, cost a combined fee of £147m.
6. Manchester City – Summer of 2015
Total spend: £147.5m
Manchester City are serial spenders when it comes to the transfer window, but even by their own lofty standards the summer of 2015 was an expensive one, as they captured five players for a combined fee of nearly £150m.
While Raheem Sterling and Kevin De Bruyne represented the bulk of the spending at nearly £100m together, Fabian Delph, Patrick Roberts and Nicolas Otamendi were hardly on the cheap side.
5. Barcelona – Summer of 2014
Total spend: £148m
Newly installed manager Luis Enrique was backed by the Barcelona owners to return to winning ways, following a disappointing 2013/14 campaign and the flurry of signings had the desired effect, with Barca finishing the season as treble-winners.
The main expenditure went on Luis Suarez, who cost £65m from Liverpool, while the arrivals of Claudio Bravo, Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Ivan Rakitic, Thomas Vermaelen and Jeremy Mathieu took the spending almost to £150m.
4. Real Madrid – Summer of 2013
Total spend: £148.5m
Beating Barcelona by just £500,000 to 4th spot here, Real Madrid broke the world record in September 2013 when they brought Gareth Bale to La Liga, signing a cheque for around £85m.
The Welshman was joined by Dani Carvajal, Casemiro, Isco and Asier Illarramendi, the former being the second priciest signing of that summer for Los Blancos, and the new arrivals contributed to the club’s unprecedented ‘La Decima‘ success.
3. Manchester United – Summer of 2014
Total spend: £149m
After the disaster of David Moyes’ stewardship the year before, Manchester United’s owners gave new boss Louis van Gaal a transfer warchest ahead of the 2014/15 season and he gladly accepted it, bringing in five major players.
The Red Devils broke a British transfer record when they acquired Angel Di Maria from Real Madrid for almost £60m, while the likes of Luke Shaw, Marcos Rojo, Daley Blind and Ander Herrera also came through the doors of Old Trafford.
2. Manchester City – Summer of 2017
Total spend: £202m
The Citizens find themselves this summer as having the second most expensive transfer window of all time for a club, after a number of pricey acquisitions following a somewhat disappointing campaign last year.
Kyle Walker (£45m), Benjamin Mendy (£52m), Ederson (£35m), Danilo (£26m) and Bernardo Silva (£43m) have all signed on the dotted line for Pep Guardiola’s men and the spending might not even be done yet!
1. Real Madrid – Summer of 2009
Total spend: £230m
The summer of 2009 saw Real Madrid begin a new dawn of the Galacticos era, by breaking the world record not once, but twice in a matter of week as they followed the £56m capture of Kaka with the £80m signing of Cristiano Ronaldo.
Also arriving to the Spanish capital prior to the start of the 2009/10 season were Xabi Alonso (£30m from Liverpool), Karim Benzema (£31m from Lyon) and Raul Albiol (£13.5m from Valencia).
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Morocco Handed Boost as Brazil Lose Only Specialist Right Back Ahead of World Cup Clash
Morocco have received an early boost ahead of their FIFA World Cup 2026 Group C opener against Brazil after the South Americans lost their only specialist right back, Wesley, to injury.
The AS Roma defender was ruled out of the tournament after suffering a left thigh muscle injury during Brazil’s 2-1 international friendly victory over Egypt in Cleveland on Saturday.
The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) confirmed on Sunday that medical examinations revealed damage to the adductor muscle in Wesley’s left thigh, forcing him to withdraw from Carlo Ancelotti’s 26-man World Cup squad.
His absence leaves Brazil with a significant selection headache ahead of Saturday’s showdown with Morocco. Wesley was the only natural right back in the squad, meaning Ancelotti may now have to rely on makeshift options such as versatile defenders Danilo and Ibanez to fill the position.
“The MRI scan revealed a muscle injury to the adductor muscle in his left thigh,” the CBF said in a statement.
“The CBF regrets the injury. Wesley is a player much loved by the squad and will always be considered part of this team as it seeks to win its sixth World Cup title.”
Brazil have moved quickly to replace the injured defender, calling up Atalanta midfielder Ederson, who is expected to join the squad in the United States on Monday.
For Morocco, the development could offer a tactical advantage as the Atlas Lions prepare to face the five-time world champions in what is expected to be one of the most eagerly anticipated matches of the group stage.
The North Africans, who reached the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup and continue to be regarded as one of the strongest teams outside Europe and South America, will be looking to exploit any defensive uncertainty on Brazil’s right flank.
Brazil, chasing a record-extending sixth World Cup title, are grouped alongside Morocco, Haiti and Scotland in Group C. The opening encounter between Morocco and Brazil is expected to play a key role in determining the eventual group winner.
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Algeria have extended the contract of national team coach Vladimir Petkovic and his technical staff until 2028, the country’s football federation said on Sunday, days before the World Cup in North America, with his previous deal due to expire immediately after the tournament.
Petkovic, who took charge in February 2024, has overseen a strong turnaround, leading Algeria to 21 wins, four draws and three defeats in 28 matches and guiding the team to qualification for the 2026 World Cup, after their absence from the 2018 and 2022 editions.
Algeria also reached the quarter-finals of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations after consecutive group-stage exits in 2021 and 2023, while climbing from 43rd to 28th in the FIFA world rankings and from seventh to fourth in Africa during the Bosnian’s tenure.
The federation said the extension reflected “stability and confidence in the work accomplished”, with Algeria set to open their World Cup Group J campaign against Argentina on June 17 before facing Jordan and Austria.
-Reuters
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Multi-champions Brazil, Argentina and Germany all won their preparatory games for the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Saturday, although by small margins, with former champion England and hopeful Portugal also securing victories.
The busy day of friendlies saw some of the biggest stars on display, with Cristiano Ronaldo, Vini Jr and Mohamed Salah playing, but three-time champion Argentina opted to rest Lionel Messi against Honduras in Texas in a game where forward Lautaro Martinez shone with a goal and one assist for a 2-0 win. Simeone scored the second for Argentina.
Five-time champion Brazil beat Egypt 2-1 in Cleveland with Newcastle midfielder Bruno Guimaraes scoring early from inside the box and Lyon forward Endrick adding in the second half after an assist from Barcelona’s Raphinha. Zico scored for Egypt, while Salah played the first half and seemed to be in good form.
There was some drama with Brazil and AS Roma right back Wesley leaving the field in tears after what appeared to be a serious muscle injury in the left leg, which might take him out of the World Cup. Teams can change players up to one day before their first games.
Harry Kane’s first-half header earned England a 1-0 win over New Zealand in Tampa, while there were also victories for Scotland and Belgium as teams fine-tune ahead of the tournament’s kickoff next week.
With England manager Thomas Tuchel rotating his entire team at halftime and handing minutes to 22 players in the scorching 32-degree Celsius (90-degree Fahrenheit) heat, the result was secondary to the process.
But Kane’s clinical finish with a glancing header into the bottom corner from Djed Spence’s cross offered a timely reminder of the skipper’s importance to their hopes of winning a second Cup.
Four-time world champions Germany secured a ninth win in a row with a 2-1 victory over World Cup co-hosts the United States in Chicago.
Germany’s Kai Havertz (left) challenges United States captain Tyler Adams during the international friendly match between the USA and Germany at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois, on June 6, 2026. Photo: Talia Sprague/IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters.
Kai Havertz headed in Joshua Kimmich’s free kick to give them a second-minute lead, but the Americans snatched a stunning equaliser when Antonee Robinson thundered in a volley after defender Jonathan Tah had headed away a corner.
But Leroy Sane rifled in from 12 metres to restore Germany’s lead in the 57th minute.
Portugal defeated Chile 2-1 in an ill-tempered clash in Oeiras, where both teams finished with 10 men as Rafael Leao and Ivan Roman received their marching orders.
Goncalo Guedes gave the home side the lead before Bruno Fernandes added a second from outside the box. Lucas Cepeda scored a late consolation for Chile.
“We were superior in the 90 minutes, we managed to control the game very well, especially having a lot of the ball in the last third,” Fernandes told RTP.
Striker Romelu Lukaku continued his comeback from injury for Belgium with 25 minutes off the bench as they enjoyed a 5-0 victory over 10-man Tunisia in Brussels.
Leandro Trossard, Charles De Ketelaere, Kevin De Bruyne, Dodi Lukebakio and Nicolas Raskin scored the goals as Lukaku grabbed an assist.
“We wanted a good performance in front of our fans,” Belgium coach Rudi Garcia said. “It is a good preparation for the World Cup, we know this team can do great things.”
A much-changed Scotland scored all their goals in the first half as they romped to a 4-0 success over Bolivia in New Jersey.
Che Adams bagged two to go with strikes from Lawrence Shankland and Scott McTominay in an impressive performance.
Switzerland and Australia drew 1-1, while Bosnia and Herzegovina were held to the same scoreline by Panama.
-Reuters
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