10 most expensive players in the transfer market today - as determined by statisticians

7) Cristiano Ronaldo – €126.5m

Cristiano Ronaldo – still top dog in Europe

Club: Real Madrid

Age: 31

Contract ends: 2021

Once upon a time, Cristiano Ronaldo was the most expensive player in world football. Not anymore. The transfers of Gareth Bale and Paul Pogba have seen to that in recent years. But Ronaldo’s records with Real Madrid will not be broken for a long time to come.

No player in the modern game, barring Lionel Messi, comes close to the goal scoring rate of the Portuguese winger-turned-forward. Even though he is now on the wrong side of 30, he still scores more goals than most forwards playing at their peak.

With over 500 goals scored so far in his career, he has shown no signs of slowing down (he has averaged more than 55 goals per season in the past six seasons). With more than four years left on his contract (and a supposed €1 billion release clause), he looks set to finish his career at the Bernabeu.