Why Kaka is Not the Most Expensive Footballer of All Time

Seems some in the English media are convinced that Kaka’s transfer to Real Madrid makes him the most expensive of all time. And going purely by £GBP, they’re completely correct.

Kaka’s €65m move from Milan to Real converts to about £55.5m (at current rate of €1 = £0.85). But Zinedine Zidane’s 2001 move from Juve cost Real €76m, which at the then exchange rate (€1 = £0.60, about) which worked out around £46m.

But in a place called reality, they’re 100% wrong.

Kaka may be the most expensive player of all time based on GBP exchange rates. But since both transfers were conducted 100% in euros (with a player going from an Italian team to a Spanish team), doesn’t that make the € to £ conversion completely irrelevant?

The fact that the pound did a spectacular nosedive recently shouldn’t make Kaka the most expensive player in the world. Especially when not a single &pound: changed hands.

Obviously the varying exchange rates presents all kinds of problems when calculating “the most expensive player of all time”. But I’m pretty sure that when one player cost €76m and the other €65m, then the player that cost over €10m more was the most expensive.

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Category: World Football