The Italian soccer club Juventus broke the...

The Italian soccer club Juventus broke the world transfer record when it paid 20,000 million lire--$16.5 million--to Fiorentina for midfielder Roberto Baggio.

The previous record was the $10 million Napoli paid Barcelona for Diego Maradona in 1984. Baggio, 23, the new star of Italian football, will earn a reported 1,780-million lire--about $1 million--a year and the Florence club will also provide him a luxury villa and car.