Paul Pogba might be the most expensive player in Premier League history, breaking the world record when he switched from Juventus to Manchester United last summer for £89m, but when the market is adjusted for the price of the average player, the France international does not even break into the top five deals since 1992-93.
Research completed by SmartBets shows that the 24-year-old is only the seventh most expensive deal of all time when that adjustment is made.
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Didier Drogba’s transfer from Marseille to Chelsea, for example, was only £24.4m by 2004’s prices, but that is represented at £90.4m in the current age. His deal is ranked sixth in this regard.
Also read: 10 most valuable players in the world
So who are the top five? Here is the list.
Note: Worth today is found by dividing the avg. price per player in the 16/17 market by the avg. price per player in the player's given transfer season, then multiplied by the original transfer fee.
#5 Michael Essien (Lyon to Chelsea) – £93.8 million
Powerful midfielder Essien made the jump from the Ligue 1 champions to Stamford Bridge in 2005 for £24.4m but proved to be value for money as he stayed nine years with the Blues, albeit one on loan with Real Madrid.
He was a strong and energetic player in the heart of the midfield, where he was noted for possessing a powerful shot. Indeed, he might have only scored 25 times for Chelsea, but two of these won the club’s Goal of the Season prize. He won the Premier League twice and four FA Cups, yet the peak of his career came in 2011-12 when he was a Champions League winner.
At 34 years old, he is still an active player, turning out in Indonesia with Persib Bandung.
#4 Angel Di Maria (Real Madrid to Manchester United) – £94.5 million
Coming off the back of some fine performances for Real Madrid when they won the Champions League in 2013-14, Di Maria was expected to be a smash hit at Manchester United, who signed him for a British record fee of £59.7m – 9.5x more than the average player that season.
However, the Argentine struggled under Louis van Gaal, who refused to use him in the role he had excelled at the Bernabeu, despite Di Maria winning the club’s Player of the Month award in September as he scored two and created two more in his first four games. From there, things went sharply downhill and he was offloaded to PSG the following summer for around £44m.
Di Maria is widely considered to be one of the biggest flops in Premier League history, and his form in France has been erratic since his move.
#3 Andriy Shevchenko (AC Milan to Chelsea) – £97.3 million
When Chelsea signed 2004 Ballon d’Or winner Shevchenko for £30.8m, they expected to be adding a player guaranteed to score goals for their side. The Ukraine star had netted at a rate of more than one in every two matches for a very fine AC Milan side.
However, Shevchenko never settled in England. He spent two full seasons with the Blues and scored only nine Premier League goals in 47 outings – a hugely disappointing return for a player with so much talent.
He was eventually loaned back to AC Milan, where he continued to struggle, and then spent the last part of his career back at Dynamo Kyiv.
Despite a poor second half to his career, he remains a hero in Ukraine and currently coaches the national team.
#2 Alan Shearer (Blackburn to Newcastle) – £106.4 million
Alan Shearer might have fired Blackburn Rovers to their only Premier League title in 1995, but the striker is perhaps best remembered for the 10 years he spent with hometown side Newcastle United, who paid a world record £15 million to sign him in 1996.
It was considered to be a huge coup for the Tyneside outfit, who were then serious title challengers, particularly as they beat off competition from Manchester United for his signing. A serious knee injury in the 1997-98 season did not stop Shearer from becoming the Premier League’s leading marksman, though he would never replicate the 25 goals in 31 games he managed in his first season at St James’ Park.
Nevertheless, Newcastle fans will feel that was money well spent, given he scored 148 times in 303 appearances.
#1 Rio Ferdinand (Leeds to Manchester United) – £113.9 million
Often lists of transfers are dominated by strikers, but this one is, unusually, headed by centre-back Rio Ferdinand, who moved from Leeds to Manchester United for £29.1 million in 2002. By today’s prices, that is close to £115m and at the time it was more than 11x the price the average player was being transferred for.
Sir Alex Ferguson, though, was a huge admirer of the England centre-back, who would play 12 years at Old Trafford and enjoy outstanding success, winning six Premier League titles and the Champions League of 2007-08. Despite serving an eight-month ban for missing a drugs test, he was named in the Premier League PFA Team of the Year six times.
Today, Ferdinand is remembered as perhaps England’s best defender of the modern era.
