REVEALED: How Much Premier League Transfers From the Past Would Be Worth in Today's Insane Market
Chelsea flop Andriy Shevchenko has been named as the most expensive player in Premier League history, after research from TotallyMoney calculated how much every Premier League transfer that has happened since 1992 would cost in today's transfer market.
Shevchenko set Chelsea back £29.4m at the time. That was a huge amount of money in the summer of 2006, but the scale of what that means has been dampened over time when even mid-table clubs are now routinely spending more than £30m and the world record is £198m.
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Comparing the average transfer value of players when the Premier League era first began in 1992 to the increase in costs over time, TotallyMoney created a 'football player inflation' formula to work out just what every player would cost if they were being bought in 2018.
That means that had Chelsea bought Shevchenko today, with all else being equal, his fee would have been an astonishing £144.4m. Similarly, Alan Shearer's £15m move from Blackburn to Newcastle in 1996 would be worth £125.1m today, while Rio Ferdinand would be a £121.7m player had his 2002 move from Leeds to Manchester United happened in this market.
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With average inflation in football (1,721%) increasing at a far higher rate than in other aspects of life (applying the same formula to the price of a pint of milk would mean it should cost £7.62 today), even Paul Pogba's huge world record switch from Juventus to Manchester United in 2016 would have been much more expensive now, valued at £117.7m to be precise.
Juan Sebastian Veron, Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, Roy Keane and Wayne Rooney are the other Premier League players whose transfers would have gone through at more than £100m today.
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Other notable players in the top 25 deals include Shaun Wright-Phillips, whose £21.4m move to Chelsea in 2005 would be the equivalent of £95.8m in today's money. Stan Collymore was an £8.7m buy for Liverpool back in 1995, with that deal worth as much as £82.9m now.
Top 25 Most Expensive Premier League Transfers in 2018 Prices:
Player | Transfer | Original Price | Today's Price |
Andriy Shevchenko | AC Milan to Chelsea | £29.4m (2006) | £144.4m |
Alan Shearer | Blackburn to Newcastle | £15m (1996) | £125.1m |
Rio Ferdinand | Leeds to Man Utd | £29m (2002) | £121.7m |
Paul Pogba | Juventus to Man Utd | £86m (2016) | £117.7m |
Juan Sebastian Veron | Lazio to Man Utd | £26.4m (2001) | £115.9m |
Didier Drogba | Marseille to Chelsea | £26.2m (2004) | £115.7m |
Michael Essien | Lyon to Chelsea | £25.8m (2005) | £115.5m |
Fernando Torres | Liverpool to Chelsea | £50m (2011) | £115.5m |
Roy Keane | Nott'm Forest to Man Utd | £5.7m (1993) | £111.2m |
Wayne Rooney | Everton to Man Utd | £25.2m (2004) | £103.6m |
Angel Di Maria | Real Madrid to Man Utd | £61m (2014) | £99.8m |
Sergio Aguero | Atletico Madrid to Man City | £35m (2011) | £99.1m |
Kevin de Bruyne | Wolfsburg to Man City | £55m (2015) | £98.9m |
Shaun Wright-Phillips | Man City to Chelsea | £21.4m (2005) | £95.8m |
Robinho | Real Madrid to Man City | £34m (2008) | £91.2m |
Andrew Cole | Newcastle to Man Utd | £6.4m (1995) | £91.2m |
Fernando Torres | Atletico Madrid to Liverpool | £25.8m (2007) | £90.7m |
Michael Carrick | Tottenham to Man Utd | £18.5m (2006) | £90.2m |
Ricardo Carvalho | Porto to Chelsea | £20.4m (2004) | £84.4m |
Stan Collymore | Nott'm Forest to Liverpool | £8.7m (1995) | £82.9m |
Dwight Yorke | Aston Villa to Man Utd | £12.8m (1998) | £81m |
Raheem Sterling | Liverpool to Man City | £47m (2015) | £80.6m |
Andy Carroll | Newcastle to Liverpool | £35m (2011) | £79.6m |
Dimitar Berbatov | Tottenham to Man Utd | £30m (2008) | £79.3m |
Hernan Crespo | Inter to Chelsea | £17.9m (2003) | £78.1m |
