Embargoed 00.01 Wednesday 5th September 2018. New research by credit and eligibility experts TotallyMoney reveals how much our favourite footballers would cost if football clubs bought the players today. The credit report specialists took the average transfer values of players since the English Premier League began in 1992, and compared the increase in transfer costs over time. From this, they calculated a “football player inflation” to work out how much our favourite footballers would cost if they were bought today. Information and analysis: https://www.totallymoney.com/content/transfer-index/ Interactive tool: https://www.totallymoney.com/content/transfer-index/data/ Infographics, player cards, interactive tool embed code: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1AEgTiyrv_c-AhEfbIoLzCNaglZDwigbE 

The most-expensive three

Soaring to the top of the list is former striker turned politician Andriy Shevchenko, who cost just over £29 million when he transferred to Chelsea in 2006. Today, it’s estimated he would cost over £144 million. Rio Ferdinand takes second place, whose value was just shy of £29 million when he transferred to Manchester United in 2002. The defender today would be worth just over £125 million.Former Newcastle and England captain Alan Shearer takes third place. When he transferred to Newcastle in 1996, the club paid close to £13 million — a world record at the time. Today, the striker would cost just over £121 million. Based on the research, TotallyMoney has created an interactive tool, which shows all the transfer costs since 1992, when football began. Customers can use this to find their favourite players and see how much they would cost today.

Why do footballers now cost so much?

It’s thought that more family-friendly stadiums, increased TV, broadcasting, and advertising potential, as well as better merchandise, are the main reasons for the rise in player costs. Football clubs now are earning more than ever as a result, which means they have more money to spend, and often enter into a bidding war with other clubs to secure the best players. For context, if day-to-day items increased in line with Premier League inflation, a pint of milk today would cost £7.62, a loaf of bread £12.32, and a litre of fuel £11.20. Head of Communications Henry Keegan said: “Many think footballers have always been paid a lot. But, compared with how much they cost now, they were an absolute steal when the Premier League began. “What our research shows is that with the globalisation of football and its ever-increasing worldwide popularity and TV deals, the biggest football clubs can afford to compete for the very best players — and that football inflation far outweighs day-to-day inflation.” For more information and for the complete list of players, please visit https://www.totallymoney.com/content/transfer-index/.