If Premier League legends played in their prime in today’s market, there’s no doubting that the fees negotiated would be up there with some of the highest that we’ve ever seen. The inflation in fees has seen the likes of Antony hit the £82m mark, so we dread to think how much the likes of Rio Ferdinand would be worth.Ever the confident defender, however, even if backed up by his illustrious career, Ferdinand believes that he’d be worth more than double the £75m fee that Liverpool paid for Virgil van Dijk back in January 2018.

Who are the most expensive players in football history?

Given the price that he thinks he’d be worth, the former Manchester United defender would rank among the most expensive players in history. According to Transfermark, the top five list has Neymar sitting top after his move to Paris Saint-Germain cost €222m (£190.71m). Meanwhile, his PSG teammate Kylian Mbappe cost the French club €180m (£154.6m).

Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele make up third and fourth at €135m (£115.9m), whilst João Félix cost Atletico Madrid €127.20m (£109.2m).

So, with that said, given the fact that Ferdinand told his FIVE YouTube channel that he believes he’d be worth £170m in today’s market, the defender would rank second in the most expensive players of all time.

The Premier League winner would also become the most expensive defender in football history, thankfully taking the mantle from a certain Harry Maguire, who cost United £80m back in 2019. The less said about that transfer, the better.

Perhaps if United had a player of Ferdinand’s level these days then they wouldn’t be going through such a difficult spell without many major trophies – ending a six-year drought with their Carabao Cup triumph last term. It must be said, however, not many clubs in world football could splash out more than £150m on a player, no matter the ability.

Ferdinand would be worth spending the money on if a club had the funds available. Even in the modern game, where defenders need to be press resistant and able to play from the back, he would thrive, as highlighted in a compilation put together by @niamhutd:

What did Rio Ferdinand say?

Speaking on his YouTube channel when the topic of how much he’d be worth in today’s market came up, Ferdinand said: “£100m would be cheap for me in today’s market. £170m, £400,000-a-week. That’s what I’ll be now.”

Bear in mind, PSG reportedly could sell Mbappe for €150m (£129) this summer.

The £400k in wages is an interesting number, too. Within Manchester United’s current squad, that would put the defender top of the Red Devils’ earners, as per Salary Sport, with David de Gea losing top spot. So, on that front, United can count themselves lucky that Ferdinand is not in his prime and playing these days.

You can see the video in full below: