5 transfers that shocked the football world

#5 Luis Figo to Real Madrid, 2000

After leaving Barcelona for Real Madrid, the reaction to Luis Figo was hostile, to say the least

As the 1990’s came to a close, Barcelona was a club almost at the peak of their powers once again after a somewhat leaner period in the middle of the decade. They won two La Liga titles (1997/98 and 1998/99) and captured the imagination of the fans again like they had in the years of Johan Cruyff’s ‘Dream Team’, but one man stood out above all others – Portuguese midfield talisman Luis Figo. He was so good that one teammate even stated Barca’s game plan was simply to give Figo the ball and let him do the rest.

So in the summer of 2000, the football world was shocked to its core when it was announced that Real Madrid had broken the world transfer record to trigger the Portuguese’s release clause – around £37m – and bring him to the Bernabeu. Transfers between the bitter rivals had taken place before but never had one side simply bullied the other to take a player in this manner. And suddenly, Figo went from being the hero of the Catalan fans to the most hated man on planet earth.

Returning to the Nou Camp for the first time in October 2000, Figo was met with merciless hatred probably never seen before in football. He was met by a banner reading “100 million pieces of silver” – comparing him to Judas – and even had a pig’s head amongst other objects thrown at him when he attempted to take a corner. Apparently, Figo could barely understand the reaction himself. “I feel like I’m in the skin of a murderer” was supposedly the quote.

But this transfer wasn’t just shocking because it was a Barcelona icon moving to Real. It was a power-play from Real Madrid to ensure that they, and only they, were recognized as the biggest club in the world again, as they had been decades earlier. The move ushered in the era of the ‘Galacticos’, and nothing has been the same in European football ever since.