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
2009–10 Liverpool F.C. season two defenders before a high, curling shot flew into the top right-hand corner. Liverpool cruised into a 2–0 lead when a corner broke loose to right back Glen Johnson, who skipped past a Sunderland defender before unleashing a left-foot strike that took a deflection. Sunderland rarely exerted any pressure to force Liverpool into defensive play in the second half, which meant Liverpool could counter-attack without worrying about numbers at the back. During one of these counterattacks, Liverpool scored their third and final goal, with Johnson fooling everyone by releasing the ball through to Fernando Torres. Torres scored into an empty