One of the more interesting things about soccer is the idea of the transfer fee.  Basically, one soccer organization pays another one for the rights of a player, then has to pay that player to play for them.  It’s a bit more complicated than signing a free agent player or even trading a player, and it’s a lot more expensive.  When you want a player badly enough to pay for a transfer fee, you really want him.  Chelsea really wanted Liverpool forward Fernando Torres, agreeing to pay Liverpool a British record 50 million pound ($79 million dollars US) transfer fee.  I guess he didn’t want that master’s degree in Beatles music.

“I am very happy with my transfer to Chelsea and I am looking forward very much to helping my new teammates this season and for many years to come,” said the man of the hour, Fernando Torres, at his press conference.  “Having played against Chelsea many times since coming to England, and in some very big games I will never forget, I know there are many great players here and I will work hard to win a place in the team.  I hope I can score some important goals for the supporters to enjoy this season.”

As high as the transfer fee needed to get Torres was, it’s not a record.  It’s only the third-highest transfer fee on record, in fact.  The Red Devils of Manchester United got $131 million US from Real Madrid for Cristiano Ronaldo; Real Madrid also paid $92 million US to get Kaka from AC Milan.

Tags: sports news, soccer, football signings, Chelsea, Fernando Torres, record-high signing fee for Fernando Torres, Fernando Torres leaves Liverpool for Chelsea, 50 million British pound transfer fee, million dollar transfer fee, record transfer fee for Torres, third-largest transfer fee in professional soccer history

I’ve never had a problem eating food from a gas station.  Just two weeks ago, I ate a couple of hot dogs purchased from a gas station.  They were delicious.  That’s not the first time I’ve eaten gas station food, and I doubt it will be the last.  There’s nothing like a fun food novelty. […]

Commissioner Roger Goodell gathered 32 NFL owners for one big question.  One of the league’s most wanderlust-stricken franchises is looking to move again.  The Oakland-Los Angeles-Oakland Raiders, tired of gutting it out in a run-down stadium, were once again looking for greener pastures.  Only the Miami Dolphins refused to cooperate.  With a vote of 31-1, […]

In 2006, an injury to Dallas Cowboys starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe opened the door for an undrafted free agent by the name of Tony Romo to take the helm of America’s Team and lead the Dallas Cowboys to an early playoff exit.  Bledsoe went from starter to afterthought in a season.  Now, the circle continues […]

For 89 years, Oscars has never had a major mistake.  The last few Oscars might have had a few flubs, but at least they never got the most important category of the night wrong.  Well, that’s now changed, all thanks to OG Bonnie and Clyde legends Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway.  When Faye Dunaway called […]

Tom Brady has been wildly successful, if controversial.  He’s the first quarterback ever to win five Super Bowls and only the second player to do so after Charles Haley.  Unlike Haley, Brady won all his Super Bowls with the same team, the New England Patriots.  The only thing that seems to be able to stop […]

Ben Affleck, no matter what you might think of him, is a talented actor and director.  He’s got the goods, but he’s smart enough to know when he’s in over his head.  All along, since he took on the mantle of Batman, he’s had his eyes on writing, directing, and starring as the Caped Crusader. […]

In May, students for the for-profit American College of Education were running into some problems.  Their access to email accounts and course information was locked down by Google, who had disabled their accounts.  The reason why?  A fired IT worker for the American College of Education locked the school out of their Google cloud account. […]