THE money sloshing around the summer transfer window has gone through the roof since the inception of the Premier League.
Liverpool have just secured the signing of forward Darwin Nunez from Benfica in a deal which could be worth up to £85million.
Shearer was the most expensive transfer in England back in 1996 Credit: Getty Remarkably, that one transfer accounts for more money than the expenditure of all of English football back in 1996.
Statistics show that 26 years ago just £75m was spent by football clubs throughout the country.
The most expensive deal that year was Alan Shearer’s move from Blackburn to Newcastle – which topped out at £15m.
The England striker’s move was more than double the fee of any other player that summer – with Fabrizio Ravanelli’s £7m switch from Juventus to Middlesbrough the next largest transfer.
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Inter REJECT PSG’s £42m Skriniar bid, Spurs working on FINAL Bissouma details Compare that with the most recent summer window in 2021 when more than £1BILLION was spent in the Premier League alone.
In 1996, both Spain [128m] and Italy [85m] paid out more in transfer fees than England.
Ronaldo’s move to Barcelona from PSV was secured for £12.8m – the biggest deal in LaLiga that summer.
And Serie A’s most expensive transfer saw Enrico Chiesa join Parma from Sampdoria for £10m.
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Other notable transfers that summer were Zinedine Zidane joining Juventus for £3.2m, while Clarence Seedorf moved to Real Madrid for the same amount.
Meanwhile, Brazilian superstar Rivaldo signed for Deportivo La Coruna for £5.4m and Romario arrived at Valencia for £4.8m.
Reacting to the dealings back in 1996, one social media user said: “£15 million for Shearer compared to £12.8 for the greatest striker ever. Zidane for £3.2 million – you couldn’t even buy Hanley for that kind of money now.”
Another added: “How things change. You could buy all four of Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Romario and Shearer for less than Tottenham reportedly want to pay Everton for Richarlison.”
And a third said: “Who else gets the feeling that today’s transfer fees look like classic mid-90s minus a zero?
“Nunez £10m – Sounds about right?”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
