In recent years, we have seen football clubs spend millions and millions of dollars to get some of the best players to their clubs, paying huge wages and fat transfer fees for them. Luis Suarez signed a new contract with Barcelona on Thursday and revealed that the deal will include a massive release clause of £200 million. Football clubs put in huge release clauses in their best players' contract so that no other club in the world can afford to buy them. Here is a list of the top five highest release clauses in football:
1. Gareth Bale
Gareth Bale broke the transfer fee record when he signed for Real Madrid back in 2013 and despite being overtaken by Paul Pogba over the summer, the Welsh international holds the highest release clause in world football. Gareth Bale signed a new contract with Real Madrid earlier this year and despite Bale stating that he wants to stay in Spain, Real Madrid have put a massive £900 million release clause in his contract to ward off any interest in the future from any club.
2. Cristiano Ronaldo
Real Madrid's top goal scorer Cristiano Ronaldo is second on the list. The Portuguese captain might be one of the highest earners in world football but given increasing age, his value has been slowly decreasing in the transfer market. Most reports say that the Real Madrid star's release clause is somewhere around £700 million and could stretch to almost £1 billion.
3. James Rodriguez
When James Rodriguez joined Real Madrid, he was tipped to become one of the greatest players in the world. The former Puskas Award winner had a bright start to his career at Real Madrid, but since Zidane took over, his playing time has become limited. Despite that, Real Madrid value him at a very high and have set a release clause of £426 million in his contract.
4. Neymar
Brazilian captain Neymar is one of the best players in the world and will soon become the best player in the world. It's understandable why Barcelona paid such a huge amount for him back in 2013. Neymar was another Barcelona player who recently signed a new contract and with money rich clubs like Manchester City and PSG keen to sign him, Barcelona slapped a massive £210 million release clause with his contract.
5. Lionel Messi
This list would not be complete if it did not include the world's best player Lionel Messi. The little Argentine has been at Barcelona since the beginning of his career and the only reason he is fifth on the list is because of the loyalty he has shown to the club. Had Messi been eager to leave Barcelona in the last few years, the club would have put a much higher release clause that just £200 million.
