January Transfer Window Opens

Gareth Bale holds the all-time record
 for most expensive transfer in soccer.

Probably the most dramatic part of any professional soccer season is the January transfer window. The window opens in the middle of all major soccer seasons. There are two transfer windows every year. The Winter transfer window runs from January 1-31. The Summer window runs from July 1-August 31. These are the only times all year that professional clubs are allowed to contact players and other teams with the intent of trading or buying other players. Any transfer business outside of these windows may result in sanctions and bans from transferring by FIFA.

The transfer process is very dramatic, but the general idea is very simple. Figuratively, Team A wants Player B from Team B:

Step 1) Team A would contact Team B to negotiate a price to pay Team B to release Player B from his current contract. Prices can be negotiated, but some contracts have a set value that a team must pay to release a player. This type of contract is usually used by the more elite players in the world. Once a price is determined the next step begins.

Step 2) Team A now has to contact Player B to determine the player's new contract. Depending on a player's age, skill, experience, and position a team will negotiate a player's new contract. Team A must contact Player B or his agent. The two sides will determine the length of Player B's contract and his weekly wages. If an agreement is made then Team A pays Team B the previously negotiated transfer fee, and Player B joins Team A under the terms of his new contract. If an agreement is not made then no money is sent or received between Team A and Team B, and Player B would remain on Team B.

This process is very simple in theory, but it is a very complex negotiation process that can last hours, days, weeks, or even months. These negotiations have produced transactions with money amounts that are unheard of in some sports. Here is a list of the top 3 most expensive transfers of all time:

1) Gareth Bale in 2013
Tottenham Hotspurs to Real Madrid
Transfer Fee: $132,000,000
Weekly Wages: $480,000

2) Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009
Manchester United to Real Madrid
Transfer Fee: $111,000,000
Weekly Wages: $454,000

3) Luis Suarez in 2014
Liverpool to Barcelona
Transfer Fee: $95,758,200
Weekly Wages: $302,460