Progression of the British football transfer fee record lagged behind those paid by clubs in Italy, France and Spain to take British players abroad until 1995, when Manchester United paid Newcastle United £7,000,000 for Andy Cole. The fees paid by the Premier League's top clubs began to increase at a rapid rate, with Alan Shearer commanding the first £15,000,000 fee in 1996, and the new millennium heralding the first £30,000,000 transfer, although sources differ as to whether this barrier was broken by Rio Ferdinand's move to Manchester United in 2002 or Andriy Shevchenko's transfer to Chelsea four years later for some reason, however Veron' s transfer to United
Fernando Torres draw with Empoli two days later. On 27 December 2014, it was announced that Torres' move to Milan would be made permanent on 5 January 2015, but two days later, he agreed to rejoin La Liga club Atlético Madrid on loan until the end of the 2015–16 season. The loan was agreed after Alessio Cerci went the opposite way from Atlético to Milan on the same day, 5 January. Torres' unveiling at the Vicente Calderón Stadium on 4 January 2015 drew a crowd of 45,000 persons. He played the first match of his second spell on 7 January 2015, starting