Inevitable reaction.
Robbie Savage, like the rest of us, is a bit puzzled by the exorbitant transfer fees being paid this summer. Neymar cost Paris Saint-Germain almost £200m, Kyle Walker joined Manchester City for £50m and Liverpool have rejected a bid worth £118m from Barcelona for Philippe Coutinho.
The idea of a transfer offer worth more than £100m, never mind rejecting it, would have been outlandish a few years ago.
He must be staying, because there's no way Barca will offer more https://t.co/geTVDirUkE
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) August 18, 2017
The sight of decent full-backs being sold for £50m, and a club rejecting a bid of over £100m for someone who arguably isn’t even their best player, makes you wonder what great players of the past would be worth in the current market.
Diego Maradona cost Napoli £5m in 1984, Alan Shearer cost Newcastle United £15m in 1996 and Real Madrid paid £80m for Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009. They were all record fees at the time, but how much would each cost in 2017? How much would Thierry Henry in his prime cost now? What fee could Roy Keane demand? Or Ryan Giggs? Or Robbie Fowler and Michael Owen before injuries took their toll?
The same probably can’t be said of Robbie Savage. The former Wales midfielder cost Blackburn Rovers £3m when he left Birmingham City in 2005. In the current market, he would probably be worth… about £3m.
Robbie wasn’t the most talented footballer to have graced the Premier League, but he managed to play a couple of hundred games in the top flight. In light of Liverpool rejecting Barcelona’s bid for Coutinho, Savage asked his Twitter followers how much would he be worth in the current market.
Robbie Savage’s Twitter accountThe consensus was that he wouldn’t be worth a lot.
https://twitter.com/DonieHartney/status/898570471800700928
https://twitter.com/Football44too/status/898571118306615296
Bosman with no signing on fee
— JO (@jezo08) August 18, 2017
https://twitter.com/brakey7/status/898571603524583424
https://twitter.com/tom9022/status/898570515375325184
10p and a penny chew as an add on. Less with the long hair.
— Sam Vitty (@samvitty) August 18, 2017
About 50p you lemon
— Graham Potts (@easy_g87) August 18, 2017
Barely the phone call to complete the deal Robbie xx
— Ian (@IanButteryTCS) August 18, 2017
Two batman masks and a balloon.
— @bear69 (@JamesMcNair8) August 18, 2017
Today's market in your prime.. 12.5 million. Johnny Evans going at 22 mill for a 29 yr old on 140,00 a week. RoyKeane prime75 mill.Way it is
— John Hayes (@JohnHay26780878) August 18, 2017
You stole a living Robbie awful player but decent character
— Nic Ashford (@ashyn17) August 18, 2017
