We've come a long way since Alf Common moved from Boro to Sunderland for £1,000 in 1905. The timeline is below*.
It is strange quirk that some of the names here are all time greats. Cruijff, Maradona (twice), Zidane, Figo, Baggio, Gullit, Ronaldo (The Phenomenon). Others, on the other hand, really aren't all time greats. This shouldn't surprise us. A player is only worth as much as someone is willing to pay for them (and, for that matter, only worth as much as someone is willing to sell them for). Sometimes players look great at one team but just don't fit in at another. Sometimes teams have money that they don't mind spending, sometimes managers make mistakes (I can pay for this player and he'll fit into my jigsaw). Finally, some players just don't want to move from a club or don't want to move in their peak (Beckenbauer, Charlton etc).
Those who aren't really in the legends category include the likes of Lentini, Denilson and, to some extent, Papin had one or two great seasons only to fizzle out. Even Vieri is unlikely to be remembered in 30 years or so. To be fair Lentini's dip in form was due to a car crash. Denilson looked fabulous at Le Tournoi but never shone at Betis despite playing alongside the likes of Pedro Alfonso.
Their are some names that are too obscure even for a pub quiz. Giuseppe Savoldi only ever played four times for Italy but he will go down in history as the first million pound player.
It is interesting to look back and see that teams like Falkirk and Sunderland once owned the most expensive player in the world. Interesting also, for all the talk of Premiership domination, only one player British player since the Second World War has held the record (Shearer), only one British club has paid the record fee (Newcastle for Shearer) and only two British clubs have sold the most expensive player in the world (Blackburn and Manchester United). When it comes to the super transfers Italy and Spain still dominate with Real Madrid doing the really big buying.
I suppose average player cost across a league or across the 'Big Teams' in the league would be a more useful one.
RCM
Timeline
1905 Alf Common - Sunderland to Middlesbrough. £1,000.
1922 Syd Puddefoot - West Ham to Falkirk. £5,000.
1922 Warney Cresswell - South Shields to Sunderland. £5,500.
1928 David Jack -Bolton Wanderers to Arsenal. £10,890.
1932 Bernabé Ferreyra - Tigre BA to River Plate for £23,000 (Wonderfully nicknamed The Mortar of Rufino).
1952 Hans Jeppson - Atalanta B.C. to SSC Napoli. £52,000.
1954 Juan Schiaffino - Penarol to A.C. Milan. £72,000
1957 Enrique Omar Sivori - River Plate to Juventus. £93,000
1961 Luis Suárez - FC Barcelona to Inter Milan. £152,000
1963 Angelo Sormani - Mantova to Roma. £250,000
1968 Pietro Anastasi - Varese to Juventus. £500,000
1973 Johan Cruyff - Ajax to Barcelona. £922,000
1975 Giuseppe Savoldi - Bologna to SSC Napoli. £1m
1976 Paolo Rossi - Juventus to Vicenza. £1m
1982 Diego Maradona - Boca Juniors to Barcelona. £3m
1984 Diego Maradona - Barcelona to SSC Napoli. £5m
1987 Ruud Gullit - PSV Eindhoven to A.C. Milan. £6m
1990 Roberto Baggio - Fiorentina to Juventus. £8m
1992 Jean-Pierre Papin - Marseille to A.C. Milan. £10m
1992 Gianluca Vialli - Sampdoria to Juventus. £12m
1992 Gianluigi Lentini - Torino to A.C. Milan. £13m
1996 Alan Shearer - Blackburn Rovers to Newcastle United. £15m
1997 Ronaldo - Barcelona to Inter Milan. £19.5m
1998 Denílson de Oliveira Araújo - São Paulo to Real Betis for £23m
1999 Christian Vieri - Lazio to Inter Milan. £31m
2000 Hernán Crespo - Parma to Lazio. £36m
2000 Luís Figo - Barcelona to Real Madrid. £37m
2001 Zinedine Zidane - Juventus to Real Madrid. £46m
2009 Kaka - AC Milan to Real Madrid. £56m
2009 Cristiano Ronaldo - Manchester United to Real Madrid. £80m
It is strange quirk that some of the names here are all time greats. Cruijff, Maradona (twice), Zidane, Figo, Baggio, Gullit, Ronaldo (The Phenomenon). Others, on the other hand, really aren't all time greats. This shouldn't surprise us. A player is only worth as much as someone is willing to pay for them (and, for that matter, only worth as much as someone is willing to sell them for). Sometimes players look great at one team but just don't fit in at another. Sometimes teams have money that they don't mind spending, sometimes managers make mistakes (I can pay for this player and he'll fit into my jigsaw). Finally, some players just don't want to move from a club or don't want to move in their peak (Beckenbauer, Charlton etc).
Those who aren't really in the legends category include the likes of Lentini, Denilson and, to some extent, Papin had one or two great seasons only to fizzle out. Even Vieri is unlikely to be remembered in 30 years or so. To be fair Lentini's dip in form was due to a car crash. Denilson looked fabulous at Le Tournoi but never shone at Betis despite playing alongside the likes of Pedro Alfonso.
Their are some names that are too obscure even for a pub quiz. Giuseppe Savoldi only ever played four times for Italy but he will go down in history as the first million pound player.
It is interesting to look back and see that teams like Falkirk and Sunderland once owned the most expensive player in the world. Interesting also, for all the talk of Premiership domination, only one player British player since the Second World War has held the record (Shearer), only one British club has paid the record fee (Newcastle for Shearer) and only two British clubs have sold the most expensive player in the world (Blackburn and Manchester United). When it comes to the super transfers Italy and Spain still dominate with Real Madrid doing the really big buying.
I suppose average player cost across a league or across the 'Big Teams' in the league would be a more useful one.
RCM
Timeline
1905 Alf Common - Sunderland to Middlesbrough. £1,000.
1922 Syd Puddefoot - West Ham to Falkirk. £5,000.
1922 Warney Cresswell - South Shields to Sunderland. £5,500.
1928 David Jack -Bolton Wanderers to Arsenal. £10,890.
1932 Bernabé Ferreyra - Tigre BA to River Plate for £23,000 (Wonderfully nicknamed The Mortar of Rufino).
1952 Hans Jeppson - Atalanta B.C. to SSC Napoli. £52,000.
1954 Juan Schiaffino - Penarol to A.C. Milan. £72,000
1957 Enrique Omar Sivori - River Plate to Juventus. £93,000
1961 Luis Suárez - FC Barcelona to Inter Milan. £152,000
1963 Angelo Sormani - Mantova to Roma. £250,000
1968 Pietro Anastasi - Varese to Juventus. £500,000
1973 Johan Cruyff - Ajax to Barcelona. £922,000
1975 Giuseppe Savoldi - Bologna to SSC Napoli. £1m
1976 Paolo Rossi - Juventus to Vicenza. £1m
1982 Diego Maradona - Boca Juniors to Barcelona. £3m
1984 Diego Maradona - Barcelona to SSC Napoli. £5m
1987 Ruud Gullit - PSV Eindhoven to A.C. Milan. £6m
1990 Roberto Baggio - Fiorentina to Juventus. £8m
1992 Jean-Pierre Papin - Marseille to A.C. Milan. £10m
1992 Gianluca Vialli - Sampdoria to Juventus. £12m
1992 Gianluigi Lentini - Torino to A.C. Milan. £13m
1996 Alan Shearer - Blackburn Rovers to Newcastle United. £15m
1997 Ronaldo - Barcelona to Inter Milan. £19.5m
1998 Denílson de Oliveira Araújo - São Paulo to Real Betis for £23m
1999 Christian Vieri - Lazio to Inter Milan. £31m
2000 Hernán Crespo - Parma to Lazio. £36m
2000 Luís Figo - Barcelona to Real Madrid. £37m
2001 Zinedine Zidane - Juventus to Real Madrid. £46m
2009 Kaka - AC Milan to Real Madrid. £56m
2009 Cristiano Ronaldo - Manchester United to Real Madrid. £80m
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