As Gareth Bale prepares for his Real Madrid debut, is there any guarantee the 'world's most expensive player' will be a success

Charting the successes and failures of the players that cost the earth

Friday 13 September 2013 10:03 BST

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This weekend Gareth Bale is expected to make his debut for Real Madrid after completing a world record transfer of £86m.

The pressure is on the former Tottenham player to live up to his price-tag - but is there a chance it will weigh him down?

Here, we take a look at the players who at one stage held the title of world's most expensive player - and assess if they were worth the money...

Click HERE or click 'VIEW GALLERY' to launch our guide

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As Gareth Bale prepares for his Real Madrid debut, is there any guarantee the 'world's most expensive player' will be a success

Charting the successes and failures of the players that cost the earth