Ajax recently agreed to sell winger Hakim Ziyech to Chelsea for $43.4 million, with the 26-year-old moving to Stamford Bridge in the summer. While this number doesn’t even break the top 50 most expensive transfers of all time, it would be a blockbuster deal in most other leagues around the world. This list consists of the 18 most expensive incoming transfers across different leagues.
Alexander Sørloth looked a man bereft of confidence. Just 12 months after arriving in South London in a $11.75 million deal from Denmark's FC Midtjylland, the Norwegian striker was yet to score a Premier League goal for Crystal Palace in 16 appearances. In all but four of those outings, he had come off the bench.
FC Cincinnati fans had high hopes coming into the club's inaugural MLS season. They had every right to — the club had been riding a wave since its inception three years earlier. In 2016, Cincinnati set an Ohio state attendance record when it played host to Premier League side Crystal Palace for a July friendly. The next year, it upset intrastate rivals Columbus Crew in front of a crowd of 30,000 en route to becoming the first second-division side to appear in the U.S. Open Cup semifinals since 2011. All indications were that this was a side ready for the top division.
Steven Gerrard endured what would've been an anxious second half on Wednesday night, but in the end, his Rangers side was able to keep its title hopes alive with a 2-1 win against Hibernian.
Cristiano Ronaldo finalized his transfer from Real Madrid to Juventus back in the summer of 2018, bringing an end to his nine-year spell at the Bernabeu. Juve paid Real $117.25 million for the 34-year-old’s services, and Ronaldo signed a four-year deal worth around $35 million annually.
Since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013, Manchester United has looked like a completely different club. On the pitch as well as in the board room it has looked like a club without a plan. The Red Devils are enduring their worst campaign since the Premier League came into existence in 1992. There is a lack of long-term vision and at the moment the club is a shell of its former self and mired in mediocrity.
A new video has surfaced featuring an emotional phone call between Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez and his parents discussing his move to Los Angeles and the beginning of his retirement.
When The18 launched back in the summer of 2014, we were essentially codependent on the life and times of Javier “Chicharito” Hernández. Our business was Chichagols, and business was damn good.
The 2019 MLS runner-up Toronto FC has decided to invest in youth as it announced the signing of 15-year-old Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty on Wednesday morning.
If you're good enough, you're old enough.
15-year-old Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty becomes the youngest signing in club history.@jahkeelerutty | #TFCLive
Rhian Brewster wasted little time in scoring on his home debut for Swansea, striking in the 19th minute to bring the Swans level with Wigan at 1-1. The 19-year-old did well to sense an opportunity and made a perfectly timed run onto fellow loanee Conor Gallagher's slip pass into the box, burying his shot in the lower right corner for his first senior goal.
He was named Swansea fans' Man of the Match for his performance in the 2-1 victory over Wigan which saw the Swans move up to fifth place in the Championship.