Football's mega money moves this summer

The season of summer, for most people is a joyful time where you can relax and just have fun; however, if you’re a football fan it’s often a time of being bored on Saturday afternoons and waiting till the end of August for the new football season to start. While Jeff Stelling and friends hit the snooze button on their alarm on Saturdays instead of dashing to the Sky Sports studio, and the likes of Gareth Bale are out sunbathing on a beach instead of running through some extra finishing drills, something’s got to be happening in the football world, right? That something is the transfer window, a time where agents and negotiators are dashing around the globe to find the best new players for the club they work for. There’s a lot of money in this transfer window, so what are the biggest potential moves that could happen?

The biggest possible move would be for the golden boy of British football and PFA player of the year winner, Gareth Bale to leave Tottenham. The 24 year old Welsh wizard had a stellar season, and his dynamic style of play and extraordinary eye for goal led to comparisons to Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo, who is seen by many as the best player in the world. Despite Bale’s excellent form and ability to grab a game by the scruff of the neck and win it all by himself, Tottenham Hotspurs once again missed out on a spot in the prestigious Champions league. Seeing as all the top players will want to play in this tournament this could possibly spur Bale to consider a move, especially considering the many offers he’d have from the top clubs in the world. Real Madrid seems to be his most likely destination if he leaves due to the fact they have first refusal on him. Their club president, Florentino Perez, even described the winger as ‘born to play for Real Madrid’. However Bale will not come cheap at all, taking him away from Spurs would likely take a bid of more than a staggering £65 million!

Another potential move could be Liverpool FC's Uruguayan hitman, Luis Suarez. Suarez has just come off a mixed season with Liverpool, scoring a great total of 30 goals in all competitions, but he ended the season with great controversy after he bit Chelsea defender, Branislav Ivanovic, and got suspended for 10 games as a result of his actions. Despite saying earlier in the season that he was happy at plying his trade at Merseyside, it seems now Suarez is eager to leave for new pastures that include Champions League football. Like Bale, he is interested in the possibility of joining Real Madrid; but after seeing that the Spanish giants may not be as interested as he first assumed, Suarez has said that joining English clubs like Chelsea or Arsenal are viable options for him. 'El pistolero' is a world class player that would walk into any team in the world, with a maximum of 1 or 2 exceptions, but he will bring a lot of potential controversy and bad publicity wherever he goes. Taking all this into consideration he would most likely cost at least £40 million, with the price being higher if he was sold to another English club.

The last big money move that could be made is Wayne Rooney, the face of the Premier League for the last 8 years. When you think of Manchester United, you think of Wayne Rooney. Season after season he's proved himself to be a truly world class player, adapting to many different positions on the pitch whenever it's been necessary. However it seems that now he wants to leave, after being dethroned as top dog in the Manchester United attack by consecutive golden boot winner, Robin Van Persie. After putting in a transfer request 2 years ago because of a dispute over wages, Rooney has asked for a transfer once again this year after being benched in the crucial Champions League match against Real Madrid. The two possible suitors to attain the services of the former winner of the European Golden Boy award, would be Arsenal and Chelsea. Arsenal seems the less likely of the two due to the fact the chairman's board likes to run the club like a business, and has a specific wage structure that doesn't go too much higher than £100,000 a week.  Rooney would likely be demanding wages of higher than £250,000 a week so it casts a doubt over a move to the Gunners (all that money yet he still can't sort his hair out properly). Chelsea however would be able to afford Rooney's wage demands if they wanted, due to the seemingly endless funds supplied by Russian owner, Roman Abramovich. Current Chelsea manager, Jose Mourinho, has admitted to being an 'admirer of him (Rooney)' and seems to be searching for a top centre forward to replace the £50 million flop, Fernando Torres. Due to the extremely high wages Rooney will demand, it is likely it would take a bid between £20 million - £30 million to prise the Englishman from the red side of Manchester.

These potential transfers could happen in addition to the many big money moves that have already happened in the football world. We've already seen Ballon d'or nominee, Radamel Falcao, move to AS Monaco for €60 million; Uruguayan star striker, Edinson Cavani, move to French champions Paris Saint-Germain for €63 million; and Brazillian golden boy, Neymar, move to Barcelona for €57 million. These are just a handful of the deals that have happened this season and they seem like a lot of money for someone who kicks a ball around for a living, right?

Reyad Malique