While Sol Campbell made his controversial switch across North London yesterday the rest of European football, not to be outdone, has pulled its wallet out and dusted off its credit cards and today could see the completion of two of the biggest transfers in history.
According to reports on Spanish radio, Zinedine Zidane is on his way to Real Madrid to complete a world record £46m transfer with the Spanish champions.
Real president Florentino Perez is believed to have met with Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi in Switzerland on Tuesday, and agreed a fee for the player. Perez has been chasing the mercurial Zidane for the best part of a year, but the club would make no official comment on the matter.
The addition of Zidane to a midfield that already includes Luis Figo, Ivan Helguera, Claude Makelele and our own Steve McManaman could cause many clubs to reconsider their plans for European competition this season (like taking up crown green bowls instead). But for Juve the money is likely to come in handy, seeing as they've just spent £32.6m on a new goalkeeper.
"Juventus are a very big team and I'm sure we are going to win lots of trophies", said Gianluigi Buffon today after the Italian international completed his move from Serie A rivals Parma. The 23-year-old is rated as one of the best Italian custodians of all time and will replace the Dutch international Edwin van der Saar (also rated as one of the best keepers in the world only two seasons ago).
Van der Saar has been linked with a move to Arsenal, although the Gunners look more likely to sign Richard Wright from Ipswich. The fee? A paltry £6m.
