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HOW MUCH WOULD YESTERDAY’S STARS COST YOU TODAY?
HOW MUCH WOULD YESTERDAY’S STARS COST YOU TODAY?
After all that transfer activity and the eventual closing of the window on September 1st, a staggering £870m was the total spend of Premier League clubs. Some of the transfers, fees and bids that went with them certainly raised a few eyebrows. £54.5m for Kevin De Bruyne, £49m for Raheem Sterling and £36m for Anthony Martial to name but a few.
It wasn’t just the done deals that caused a stir. Tottenham’s pursuit of WBA frontman Saido Berahino saw some massive bids rejected by stubborn Albion Chairman Jeremy Peace – credit to him for holding firm, but is he really worthy of a bid of £25m and beyond?
Here at Colossus, knee deep in Soccer Saturday last weekend, it got us thinking. Tony Cottee, now covering nil nils for a living, was once the priciest player signed by a British club, when Everton paid £2.2m for him in 1988. Is Berahino any better? And what would TC and his colleagues command in transfer fees in today’s money? Let’s have a little look…
Matt Murray – Wolves
The youngest of the ‘Pundit XI’, Murray was blighted by injury in his relatively short career as a goalkeeper. On the books at Wolves for his entire career (with a few loans here and there towards the end), the former England U21 International was heavily linked with a move to the Premier League in his pomp, namely Arsenal, but a move never materialised and he remained on the books at Molineaux. Murray’s career was cut short at the tender age of 29, but the pitches loss is the screens gain.
We reckon at his best, he’d of easily commanded a fee in the region of £10-15m today.
Scott Minto – Biggest transfer fee: Benfica to West Ham £1m 1999
Slotting into the back-line, Scott got his big break in the top division with Chelsea, after they swooped with a £875k bid from Charlton, where he’d made over 200 appearances. 3 years with the Blues, then a free transfer to Portugal with Benfica, Minto’s biggest fee was paid by West Ham when they brought him to the East End for a shade over 1 million quid in 99.
A steady and reliable full back, similar to his presenting, we think if he was to move in his peak today, he’d be worth £8-10m.
Phil Thompson – Liverpool
Phil Thompson, effectively known as a ‘one club man’, a rare, if not extinct, beast these days. He signed for Liverpool a day after his 17th birthday in 1971. A dependable defender, Thomson made 340 appearances for his club, and 42 for England, scoring one international goal, against Italy in New York. People often say, who was better Hansen or Thompson? We reckon Thompson by a nose…
Now offering ‘non-partial’ views on the action every Saturday from 3pm, in today’s market, he’d probably fetch around £35m.
Andy Hinchcliffe Biggest transfer fee: Everton to Sheffield Wed £2.75m 1998
Strong, dependable, and a left footed set piece specialist, Hinchcliffe began his career at Man City in the mid 80’s, spending 4 years at Maine Road, before transferring to Merseyside with Everton in 1990. He would go onto win the FA Cup in 95 with a famous 1 nil win over Utd at Wembley during his time at Goodison, but after reaching the form of his career, including 7 caps for England between 96-98, he was dealt a cruel blow, suffering a serious knee injury. In 98, Hinchcliffe was sold to Sheffield Wednesday for £2.75m.
In today’s money, he would be worth 10 times that, bear in mind Luke Shaw commanded a fee in the region of £30m. So £20-25m for Andy’s services.
Matt Le Tissier – Southampton
Another dying breed, Le Tissier was a one club man. Staying loyal to his beloved Saints through thick and thin despite reported interest from Spurs and Chelsea in the mid 90’s, ‘Le God’ as he was known by the Southampton faithful, was a silky central midfielder with a gift for scoring the most audacious goals or providing a killer ball. Not blessed with speed, he didn’t need it anyway, the Saints number 7 was one of those players that could do anything with the ball. A travesty that he only earned 8 full England caps.
A fixture in the Soccer Saturday starting line up, today, Matt would surely be worth a ‘Sterling matching’ £50m as a player.
Chris Kamara – Biggest transfer fee: Leeds to Luton £150,000 1991
Born on Christmas Day in 1957, Chris Kamara was known as a no-nonsense central midfielder. Portsmouth enticed him out of the Royal Navy in 1974, before selling him to Swindon three years later for £14,000! Five clubs, and 13 years later, he found himself at Leeds United, who sold him to Luton Town for around £150,000. With 643 appearances under his belt, including two for Welshpool as recently as 2012, where he was joined by Paul Merson in a 4-1 defeat to Newbridge-on-Wye.
You’d have to fork out around £10m to sign him up these days. Unbelievable Jeff.
Graeme Souness – Biggest transfer fee: Liverpool to Sampdoria £650,000 1984
You didn’t mess with Graeme Souness, a combative midfielder, with an eye for goal. Most famous for his six year stint at Liverpool, Souness scored every 6 ½ games. He won the League 4 times, League Cup 3 times, European Cup 3 times, and the FA Cup once! With 359 Liverpool caps, and 54 Scottish ones, and offloaded to Sampdoria for £650,000 in 1984, this former moustached engine room man would cost a pretty penny.
You wouldn’t get much change from £50m these days for Souness’ signature. A gold dust player.
Tony Cottee – Biggest transfer fee: West Ham to Everton £2.2m 1988
The little man from the East End doesn’t always make it into the studio, but he’s bagged a place in our team. In a career that spans almost 20 years, Cottee was one of the original ‘Fox in the box’ type players. Robust, nippy, and a prolific goal getter, TC was awarded the PFA Young Player of the year in 1986 , helping the Hammers to their highest ever league finish of 3rd. Bagging a career high season total of 23 league goals in 86-87, he would go on to make his big move to Everton one year later in 88.
A £25m bid for Berahino, means Tony must be worth £20-25m all day long in 2015.
Charlie Nicholas – Biggest transfer fee: Celtic to Arsenal £800,000 1983
Young Scot ‘Champagne’ Charlie Nicholas, as he is affectionately known, begun his career as an 18 year old debutant for Celtic in 1980, 2 seasons later and a highly successful 82-83 where he bagged a half century of goals in all competitions, whilst also claiming both major Scottish player of the year awards, putting him on the shopping list of the Gunners. The Arsenal stumped up £800,000 for Charlie in 1983, and rumour has it, the then 21 year old was the highest earning player in Britain, which we’re sure every pub and club in London during that time would confirm…
A highly rated 21 year old in 1983, in this day and age, that usually commands a fee of £20m.
Alan McInally – Biggest transfer fee: Villa to Bayern Munich £1.1m 1989
The nickname ‘Rambo’ gives you a pretty good idea of Alan McInally’s rugged style of play, not sure if he ever stitched up his own wounds though! Starting life in Scotland, playing for Ayr and Celtic, Alan Bruce McInally (All credit to Mr Stelling on the middle name reveal) found himself at Aston Villa in 1987, where he found decent form for club and country before being sold for £1.2m to Bayern Munich in 1989. The Kanu of the Soccer Saturday team, Big Mac is a key man in the squad rotation policy enforced in the studio.
With 8 Scotland Caps under his belt, to sign this 6ft 1in striker at his peak these days, you’d have to lay out around £15-20m.
Paul Merson – Biggest transfer fee: Middlesbrough to Aston Villa £6.75m 1998
The Magic Man, a product of the Arsenal academy and a fans favourite, was as one footed a player as you were ever likely to see, his left foot was for standing on as they say, but that really didn’t matter, as like Le Tissier, his right foot was like a magicians wand. A surprise move down a league to Boro for £4.5m in 1997 meant he became the most expensive player in the history of the then First Division. Merson lit up the league, scoring 12 and getting Boro promotion. The following season, a surprise move to Villa developed, and they paid £6.75m for the pleasure.
Players like this don’t come around often, so a ballpark figure of £45-50m might grab you the Magic Man’s services.
