The 10 Most Shocking Big-Name Transfers in World Football History

The history of world football has been littered with big-name players moving during the transfer window for exorbitant fees.

However, if FIFA's Financial Fair Play rules have their intended impact, fans aren't going to be seeing the kind of sums of money that have been thrown around over the past couple of years.

On one hand, that's a good thing because it can level the playing field. But on the other hand, you're not going to see a club shell out £35 million on a striker who's largely unproven at the top level, which is really great comedy.

The transfer window can be both exciting and nerve-racking for supporters of world football.

It can mean your favorite team can finally add that missing piece to put the club over the top, but it can also mean losing your star player to your most hated rival.

Football supporters are a very fickle breed. Even the most beloved players can go to public enemy No. 1 if they move to the wrong club.

Ahead is a list of the 10 most shocking transfers in the history of world football. Cutting it down to 10 meant omitting some of the most expensive transfers ever.

More than likely, you'll disagree with the list, so let your opinion be known in the comments section.

Honorable Mention

It was tough to try to trim the list to 10. With the entire history of world football, there's so many options when deciding which transfers were the most shocking.

With that said, the following transfers didn't make the cut because they either didn't feature a big enough name, or weren't really all that shocking.

Andy Carroll, Newcastle to Liverpool (2011)

Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United to Real Madrid (2009)

Kaka, AC Milan to Real Madrid (2009)

Sol Campbell, Tottenham to Arsenal (2001)

David Beckham, Manchester United to Real Madrid (2003)

Ronaldo, Inter Milan to Real Madrid (2002)

Andriy Shevchenko, AC Milan to Chelsea (2006)

Thierry Henry, Arsenal to Barcelona (2007)

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Inter Milan to Barcelona (2009)

While it seemed Samuel Eto'o was nearing the end of his time at Barcelona, few could have expected the way he was moved.

In a swap with Inter Milan, Barcelona moved out Eto'o and brought in Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Barca also paid a rumored fee of €40 million.

It was quite a coup for the Catalan club, and a bit puzzling at the same time.

They were clearly looking to replace a world-class striker with another world-class striker.

But Ibrahimovic never has been known for his quality of performances in European competition, and his massive ego was surely to clash with a mostly humble, reserved Barcelona squad. (At least they were in 2009.)

Although he scored 21 goals in 43 matches for Barcelona, his time at the Nou Camp is not exactly remembered fondly. He often clashed with manager Pep Guardiola and never really gelled into the squad.

Ibrahimovic was loaned out to AC Milan after one season, and the move was made permanent prior to the 2011-12 season.

Robinho, Real Madrid to Manchester City (2008)

Robinho was all set to make his desired move to Chelsea. Then Sheikh Mansour and the Abu Dhabi United Group arrived at Manchester City.

Their first move was to secure the Brazilian's signature. It took until the final day of the summer transfer window, but they got their man for a record fee of £32.5 million.

Along with the fee came expectations, many of which went unfulfilled for Robinho.

He just never seemed to fit in the Premier League. As a kind of flair player, he was too easily out-muscled by defenders. Not to mention that Robinho never seemed to fit in the country itself.

It's hard not to regard his time in England as a failure, but his transfer opened the door for other South Americans like Sergio Aguero and Carlos Tevez. This transfer also put City on the road to becoming a power in English football.

As for Robinho, he was loaned out to Santos in 2010, arriving at the club in a most dramatic way, in a helicopter with Pele.

Like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, he then made a permanent move to AC Milan.

Fernando Torres, Liverpool to Chelsea (2011)

What slide show regarding huge transfers would be complete without Fernando Torres?

Torres had long been rumored to be making a move to Anfield prior to the January transfer window.

The idea of him leaving Liverpool wasn't as surprising as the timing and price were.

While the club had been in turmoil, Liverpool were under new management both on the pitch and in the box, as Kenny Dalglish was brought in to replace Roy Hodgson by new owners Fenway Sports Group.

There was reason for new hope at the club. Then on January 27, Torres handed in an official transfer request. It was a bit of a shock to everyone involved at the club.

In a bit of great business, Liverpool held out for as long as they could before finally getting Chelsea to agree to a £50 million fee.

(Side note: Liverpool turned around and immediately lost all marks for business acumen when playing the Chelsea role in the transfer of Andy Carroll.)

Pretty much every football fan knows how awful the transfer has been. Torres is a shell of himself at Stamford Bridge and a summer transfer looks to be in the cards.

Luis Figo, Barcelona to Real Madrid (2000)

Few transfers, if any, have ever created the kind of anger from supporters than did the move of Luis Figo from Barcelona to Real Madrid in 2000.

During a 2002 match, a pig's head was even thrown at the Portuguese midfielder as he was taking a corner kick.

It's safe to say Barca supporters didn't exactly take the move well.

Figo was the beginning of the Galacticos era at Real Madrid. Following Figo, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo and David Beckham were all brought in.

The results on the pitch were mixed, as Madrid did win two La Liga titles and a Champions League. But with their sky-high expectations, those weren't enough.

David Beckham, Real Madrid to LA Galaxy (2007)

David Beckham put MLS on the world football radar back in 2007.

That's when he made his move to the L.A. Galaxy from Real Madrid. At the time, and he probably still is, Beckham was the most famous footballer in the world.

It was a move that had been in the works for years. But when it happened, it was still a surprise, especially because Beckham had been fresh off helping lead Real Madrid to a league title.

Perhaps Becks did move a tad too early. His desire to move to AC Milan on loan showed he still had the itch and ability to play in Europe.

People could debate for hours whether Beckham's move to the States has been a success.

Prior to L.A. winning the MLS Cup this past year, it had not really been an on-field success. But off the field, MLS received the kind of exposure that wouldn't have been available any other way.

The league's profile grew and, in turn, the competition has arguably gotten better.

Pele, Santos to New York Cosmos (1975)

Of course, David Beckham was only following the path blazed by Pele.

Sure, by the time Pele moved to the United States in 1975, he already was in his mid-30s. But he was and still is arguably the greatest footballer ever.

Him moving stateside would be a bit like Michael Jordan going to play in China after he retired in 1998.

Pele wasn't alone, either. He was later joined by some of the greatest football players ever. Franz Beckenbauer, Carlos Alberto, Johan Cruyff and Giorgio Chinaglia all spent time in the North American Soccer League.

Pele helped to make soccer huge In the United States for a time, but interest eventually died out.

Johan Cruyff, Ajax to Barcelona (1973)

Johan Cruyff was arguably one of the best players in the world and had just won his third consecutive European Cup with Ajax.

Deciding it was best to move on, he chose Barcelona. It has to be considered a surprise any time a player moves on from a three-time European champion.

Don't be fooled by the name either. Prior to Cruyff's arrival, this wasn't exactly the Barca that football fans know today. Sure, they were a big club, but the Catalans hadn't won a league title in a decade and their European profile was nonexistent.

Always the idealist, Cruyff had refused to go to Real Madrid because of the club's link to dictator Francisco Franco.

Instead, he joined his former Ajax manager Rinus Michels and the Camp Nou, and the effects are still being felt today.

The two would go on to be the key brains behind the Total Football Holland side of the 1974 World Cup.

Cruyff would later try to bring that attacking style to Barcelona as a manager from 1988-1996. He coached a young Pep Guardiola, who would later carry Cruyff's style to the Barcelona team we see today.

Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano, West Ham (2006)

There seemed to be something fishy about Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano's move to West Ham back in 2006.

They were two of the hottest young South American prospects, coming off appearances for Argentina in the '06 World Cup, and they had chosen to sign with, well, West Ham.

It, of course, turns out that Tevez and Mascherano were owned by third parties, Tevez by Media Sports Investments and Mascherano by Global Soccer Agencies and Mystere Services.

English clubs didn't want to deal with the hassle of third-party ownership, so they initially passed on signing either of the two.

It ended up costing West Ham £5.5 million, but the club probably wasn't too upset.

In the final match of the season, Tevez scored the goal that ensured West Ham would avoid relegation in 2007.

And it was certainly not the first time Tevez would be in the headlines for a controversial transfer.

Carlos Tevez, Manchester United to Manchester City (2009)

It's tempting to put Denis Law in this position. He made the same move back in 1973. But he had spent time at Manchester City prior to playing for United.

Carlos Tevez had spent two years mostly coming off the bench for Manchester United. Feeling slighted by Sir Alex Ferguson, the Argentinian decided to make a statement and sign for the Red Devils' biggest rivals, Manchester City.

He was immediately loved by almost all City supporters. The club chose to put the above billboard in Manchester city center.

Everything was great for the first two seasons. After narrowly missing out on a Champions League place in 2009-10, City finished third in 2010-11 and won an FA Cup, defeating United in the semifinal.

Then things went all wrong. He fell out with manager Roberto Mancini, refused to come off the bench in a CL match against Bayern Munich and hasn't played for the club since September.

He's been angling for a move away from City for the past couple of seasons now.

Tevez, in some football fans' minds, has come to represent all that is wrong with the rich footballer.

Rio Ferdinand, Leeds United to Manchester United (2002)

It's hard to blame Rio Ferdinand for wanting to move away from Leeds United.

The club had failed to make the Champions League, and without the revenue from the tournament, it was clear to see Leeds were headed for a precipitous fall.

Still, the club had made Ferdinand the most expensive defender in the world following his £18 million move from West Ham.

Leeds had spent big to try to win immediately, but it backfired. Without Champions League revenue, they couldn't afford to keep their best players.

It would have been tough for Leeds supporters to watch a player like Ferdinand leave. But what made it worse was his leaving for hated rivals Manchester United.

No one can argue that it wasn't the right career move for Ferdinand. He became one of the best central defenders in the world and won five league titles and a Champions League crown.