Jeff Stellings top 20 bargain buys

sonic85

event wrote: »

good thing the list wasnt listing players who have had the most successful careers then.

i dont think anyone could argue with people on the list really. when you look at all the players, everyone of them either was instrumental in their clubs fortunes afterwards and/or were sold at a big profit.

people listing coleman are having a laugh really

on the contrary i think people can disagree with some of the players on the list. so you think zat knight is more deserving than kolo toure? novo instead of solskjaer? that bit in bold could be said for thousands of players in different leagues and divisions all around the world. the likes of knight and whittingham may have been decent pieces of business for their respective clubs but two of the top 20 bargains of the last 20 years - you must be having a laugh

Blatter

event wrote: »

not its not really. as said, keane was a transfer record at the time

As I said already if you had bothered to read the rest of the thread, that if P.Vieira makes the no.4 on the list, for 4.1M in 1996, then Keane should be on the list IMO.[/QUOTE]

event wrote: »

what has RVP done with arsenal since he signed?

****Facepalm****

event wrote: »

free signing, not a transfer

Why are the Kevin Davies and Scott McDonald free transfers on the list then?

event wrote: »

fabregas was a free.

So were Kevin Davies and Scott McDonald.

event wrote: »

i dont think anyone could argue with people on the list really.

You already have by disputing the inclusion of free transfers.





Tell me more!:rolleyes:

eh i dunno

Everton buying Arteta for £2m was a steal. Pienaar for £2.5m was a pretty good deal too imo.

master-t

Kerrydude1981 wrote: »

Just been looking at this months Sky Sports Mag,as Sky Sports is 20 years old Jeff Stelling picks his top 20 bargain buys in the past 20 years,

1 Cristano Ronaldo Sporting to Man Utd 2003 14.4m
2 Sami Hyypia Willem ll to Liverpool 1999 3m
3 Tim Cahill Millwall to Everton 2004 1.75m
4 Patrick Vieira AC Milan to Arsenal 1996 4.1m
5 Kevin Philips Watford to Sunderland 1997 705k
6 Kevin Davies Southampton to Bolton 2003 Free transfer
7 Eric Cantona Leeds to Man Utd 1992 1.4m
8 Peter Schmeichel Brondby to Man Utd 1991 620k
9 Paulo Di Canio Sheff Wed to West ham 1999 2m
10 Tore Andre Flo Brann to Chelsea 350k
11 Henrik Larsson Feyernoord to Celtic 760k
12 Nacho Novo Raith Rovers to Dundee 2002 115k
13 Scott McDonald Wimbledon to Motherwell 2004 Free transfer
14 Brian Laudrup AC Milan to Rangers 1994 2.7m
15 Pierre V Hooijdonk NAC Breda to Celtic 1995
16 Graham Dorrans Livingston to West Brom 2008 115k
17 Peter Whittingham Aston Villa to Cardiff 2007 410k
18 Eidue Gudjohnsen KR Reykjavik to Bolton 1998 Free transfer
19 Andy Cole Bristol City to Newcastle 1993 2m
20 Zat Knight Rushall Olmpic to Fulham 1999 30 tracksuits

That just makes me laugh out loud a lot.

Imagine how he felt........30 tracksuits........poor fella

tdv123

Chelsea got some great bargains during the 90's/early 00's.

Leboeuf - 2.5m
Poyet - Free
Flo - 300,000
Vialli - 1m
Zola - as already mentioned for 4.5m
Desailly - 4.6m
Hughes 1.5m
Gullit - Free

sonic85

i doubt he gave a toss to be honest - in fact id say he thought all his christmasses had come at once!

sonic85

emmanuel petit to arsenal for £2.5 million and nicolas anelka also to arsenal for £500,000 - that was an absolute steal

Neil3030

Schmeicel and Larsson top 2 for me, in that order.

Paully D

In all fairness we could probably all pick a list and easily end up picking 20 different players who were bargains. There has been so many of them it's unreal.

You'll never get even near everyone agreeing on something like this.

d.anthony

Neil3030 wrote: »

Schmeicel and Larsson top 2 for me, in that order.

What that man said.

Only in reverse order:D

£650,000 for Larsson was an absolute steal given what he achieved in the game. The only world class player to play in Scotland in the modern era... Sniff, sniff... memories:)

citytillidie

Cant say £14.4M is a bargain

Blatter

citytillidie wrote: »

Cant say £14.4M is a bargain

Even though he was integral to 3 PL titles and a CL win?

Even though a £65.6M profit was made?

L'prof

Hank_Jones wrote: »

Thought he had done more to be honest.

04-05 26 app 5 goals
05-06 24 app 5 goals
06-07 22 app 11 goals
07-08 17 app 7 goals
08-09 28 app 11 goals
09-10 16 app 9 goals
10-11 16 app 11 goals

No good to a team if he is always injured I suppose.
Still a class player though.

Just as well he does more than play in the league, 88 goals & 40 assists in 215 games.

seafood dunleavy

Why is Sami Hyypia number 2?Just a 3 million pound player in my opinion.Which wouldn't of been that cheap in 1993 I don't think.

citytillidie

SOCCER4LIFE wrote: »

Even though he was integral to 3 PL titles and a CL win?

Even though a £65.6M profit was made?

A bargain in my eyes is a player any team in the PL could afford and not all teams in the PL could afford to spent that money on 1 player.

L'prof

citytillidie wrote: »

Cant say £14.4M is a bargain

No, but with hindsight it certainly was. The same goes for Bergkamp @ £7.5m and Henry @ £10.5. Made a tasty profit on Henry after 8 seasons too!

citytillidie

seafood dunleavy wrote: »

Why is Sami Hyypia number 2?Just a 3 million pound player in my opinion.Which wouldn't of been that cheap in 1993 I don't think.

3 Million pound player who has won everything he could bar a league title while playing in England

Blatter

citytillidie wrote: »

A bargain in my eyes is a player any team in the PL could afford and not all teams in the PL could afford to spent that money on 1 player.

That's a very strange and narrow definition of bargain you have there.

Nalz

bargain = you got way more out of your money than you expected

seafood dunleavy

citytillidie wrote: »

3 Million pound player who has won everything he could bar a league title while playing in England

Djimi Traore has a champions league medal.Just because Hyypia won all them trophies doesn't say that much about the player other than he was in a winning team.Probably should be in the list but not at number 2.

citytillidie

SOCCER4LIFE wrote: »

That's a very strange and narrow definition of bargain you have there.

Just my thoughts

citytillidie

seafood dunleavy wrote: »

Djimi Traore has a champions league medal.Just because Hyypia won all them trophies doesn't say that much about the player other than he was in a winning team.Probably should be in the list but not at number 2.

Hyypia was one of the better CB in the premier league

applehunter

Shane Long for 15k was more robbery than a purchase.

wandatowell

Freddie Ljungberg @ 3.5mil i think was a great price.


Not the greatest bargin but an unbelievable price

CSF

citytillidie wrote: »

Just my thoughts

Opinions can be wrong. This may just be one of those times.

finty

Surely Nicolas Anelka has to be one of the best bargains out there.....signed for 500,000 sold 2 years later for 22million?


Plus he helped Arsenal win the double

blue-army

Kevin Doyle - £78k in 2005.
Scored 19 goals, got Reading promoted, named in Championship Team of the Year and got Fans Player of the year in his first season alone.

Blatter

finty wrote: »

Surely Nicolas Anelka has to be one of the best bargains out there.....signed for 500,000 sold 2 years later for 22million?


Plus he helped Arsenal win the double

Definitely.

I don't know how Hyypia can make 2nd on the list @3M when Anelka isn't even there.

K-9

seafood dunleavy wrote: »

Why is Sami Hyypia number 2?Just a 3 million pound player in my opinion.Which wouldn't of been that cheap in 1993 I don't think.

He was bought in 1999 for £3 Million. The inflation from 93/94 on was amazing.

Considering how much Ferdinand cost, a definite bargain.

seafood dunleavy

K-9 wrote: »

He was bought in 1999 for £3 Million. The inflation from 93/94 on was amazing.

Considering how much Ferdinand cost, a definite bargain.

Ah misread that,thought it said he was bought in 1993.

Hank_Jones

L'prof wrote: »

Just as well he does more than play in the league, 88 goals & 40 assists in 215 games.

Michael Owen has a better strike rate than that sure and he has played 79 games for Newcastle and 42 generally as a substitute for Utd.

Owen - 217 goals in 463 games - averaging a goal every 2.13 games
Van Persie 88 goals in 215 games - averaging a goal every 2.44 games

The Owen numbers do include 45 games he played for Madrid though, if I took that out and had only Premiership games the average would be even better.

edolan

The man hasen't a clue about football, where's Seamus Coleman?

srfc19

Hank_Jones wrote: »

Michael Owen has a better strike rate than that sure and he has played 79 games for Newcastle and 42 generally as a substitute for Utd.

Owen - 217 goals in 463 games - averaging a goal every 2.13 games
Van Persie 88 goals in 215 games - averaging a goal every 2.44 games

The Owen numbers do include 45 games he played for Madrid though, if I took that out and had only Premiership games the average would be even better.

Completely different players. Van persle would have alot more assists than Owen. Not even sure why Owen was brought into this thread as he would never have been considered a bargain anytime he was signed.

seafood dunleavy wrote: »

Djimi Traore has a champions league medal.Just because Hyypia won all them trophies doesn't say that much about the player other than he was in a winning team.Probably should be in the list but not at number 2.

Hyypia was instrumental in winning all those trophies for Liverpool. Being signed for 3m around the same time as Ferdinand was being signed for 10x that and being as important to his team makes him a complete bargain.

master-t wrote: »

That just makes me laugh out loud a lot.

Imagine how he felt........30 tracksuits........poor fella

Think the tracksuits were a gift as his original club couldn't demand a fee as he wasn't a pro. I'd say he felt pretty good seeing as he was going Premiership team from a small non-league team.

SOCCER4LIFE wrote: »

When you compare it to Vieira@4.1M in 1996 which made it high up the list it is IMO.

Keane was a British transfer record. Vieira was not. He only cost .6million more than Keane and this was 3 years later when inflation and player costs had begun to rise dramatically. Ergo Vieria=bargain. Keane = no bargain.

partyndbs wrote: »

graham dorrans who the hell is he? wheres kevin doyle

You make my head hurt, a lot.

Liam O

edolan wrote: »

The man hasen't a clue about football, where's Seamus Coleman?

:eek:

dfx-

Good list, can't really argue with any of them on it.

SeantheMan

I would have went with Denis Irwin too, but just outside the 20 years.

I remember reading about Alex Ferguson describing him as his best bargain ever.

Modern day.... Zidane signing for Juventus 3.2million in 1996

Also..i know it was a free, but Cambiasso from Madrid to Inter (2004)

And by todays standards, 15 million for Sneijder in 2009 is nothing, winning the Treble and a host of Individual awards in his first season. Easily worth in the 50+ category now, only 2 years on.

L'prof

Hank_Jones wrote: »

Michael Owen has a better strike rate than that sure and he has played 79 games for Newcastle and 42 generally as a substitute for Utd.

Owen - 217 goals in 463 games - averaging a goal every 2.13 games
Van Persie 88 goals in 215 games - averaging a goal every 2.44 games

The Owen numbers do include 45 games he played for Madrid though, if I took that out and had only Premiership games the average would be even better.

What's that got to do with anything van Persie is far more than just a striker (when fit), is Owen? It's worth noting that van Persie's strike rate is constantly improving too.

eagle eye

Fulham have a couple in Brede Hangeland £2m, Clint Dempsey £1.5m and Louis Saha £2m.

Lucas Radebe was a great one for Leeds who only cost £250k.

Rob Lee for 700k from Charlton to Newcastle has to be one of the best bargains ever. Andy Cole and Peter Beardsley were two others for Newcastle when they became known as the entertainers in the early days of the Premier League.

Gus Poyet went to Chelsea for free back before they had gazillions and Aaron Lennon only cost Spurs £1m.

And if you are the type that believes success is a key factor when considering a bargain then for me Gary McAllister has to be near the top of that list. Houllier signed him on a free for Liverpool when he was 35 and while he was only there for about two seasons he was just phenomenal during that time.

My own club have two bargain signings in Brad Friedel on a free from Liverpool and Tugay for £1.5m from Rangers that for me are up there. Alan Shearer like Roy Keane was a bargain in hindsight but at the time it was a transfer record.

eagle eye

SeantheMan wrote: »

I would have went with Denis Irwin too, but just outside the 20 years.

Denis Irwin and Paul McGrath were two bargains I thought of but both were outside the 20 years.

WallyGUFC

If VDV keeps up this seasons form...

Pauleta

Cant seem to find to figures but Del Piero to Juve wasnt a bad bit of business.

Predalien

SOCCER4LIFE wrote: »

When you compare it to Vieira@4.1M in 1996 which made it high up the list it is IMO.

The market had changed dramatically in those three years though because the Premier League money was beginning to have a bigger impact. The British transfer record was £15m by 1996 so £4.1 for a player like Vieira was far more of a bargain than paying the record fee at the time for Keane.

SlickRic

Anelka is the one that always, instantly, comes to mind when i'm asked this question.

RVP for £3.5m.

Sami for around £2.5m.

Cahill for £1.5m.

Joe Hart for an initial £600k, up to £1.5m, will prove to be awesome on Manchester City's part too.

Vidic for £7m (Liverpool could've fúcking had him - damn you Parry & Moores!!!)

Cantona obviously.

Schmeichel.

Vieira to Arsenal for £4m was robbery.

as was Zola for £4.5m.

Zidane to Juve for about £3.5m is hilarious as well.

homerjay2005

the thing that people are missing (and stelling too to be honest) is the fact that some of those fees above are big money at the time and a 2million deal in 93, would be equivilent to 15million now, in relative terms...

for instance, keane for 3.5million was huge money at the time, hardly a bargain.

Pepe LeFrits

I'd agree with xinthecity, to me a 'bargain' implies a general affordability. 5 grand for a high end rolex might represent lovely value but you're hardly going to see one in the pound shop. Ronaldo proved to be well worth the outlay but if I recall correctly his was a record fee for a teenager that looked eye-wateringly expensive to most of the PL. For the same reason I wouldn't include Henry, Bergkamp or Keane.

Vieira (3.5m as opposed to the figure quoted here, I believe) looks closer to the above definition considering the inflationary nature of PL transfers in the 90s - Shearer moved for £15m the same year.

Pepe LeFrits

Also another point I'd like to make is that all other things being equal, a player who takes a couple of seasons to develop isn't as much of a bargain as a player who hits the ground running.

Tim Cahill is a good example; Everton signed him for £1.5m and it was immediately obvious that he was worth far more than that. Developing players costs money that isn't immediately apparent; coaching, lost points, the many players who don't make the grade, and so on. Ronaldo for example had lots of talent to work with, but he wasn't an £80m player right out of the gate - United made him. I'd argue that the £68m transfer profit there isn't so much a mark of transfer genius but of the genius of the operational model.

Pepe LeFrits

L'prof wrote: »

What's that got to do with anything van Persie is far more than just a striker (when fit), is Owen? It's worth noting that van Persie's strike rate is constantly improving too.

I'm not sure what this has to do with anything either; but a very large number of van Persie's 'games' would actually be sub appearances (86 of his career apps are as sub, if soccerbase is to be believed), and a fair chunk after that would be as a left winger.

LeeroyJones

Pauleta wrote: »

Cant seem to find to figures but Del Piero to Juve wasnt a bad bit of business.

I think it was for 5Billion Lira, which I think is around €2.5million, or £2.2million pounds if you want to compare it to Keane's transfer of £3.75million in the same year. Big bucks at the time, but whopping value for money in the long term!

Ebbs

TheEscapist wrote: »

I though he was 16 when he signed for Arsenal? And then made his debut within a year of signing. Think it can be seen as an astute signing considering how quickly he made it into the first team.

You dont formally pay for anyone under 16. Just compensation which may or may not be applicable. Same with Messi etc etc.

Kerrydude1981 wrote: »

7 Eric Cantona Leeds to Man Utd 1992 1.4m
8 Peter Schmeichel Brondby to Man Utd 1991 620k
19 Andy Cole Bristol City to Newcastle 1993 2m

All considerable sums at the time. Id love to see Tomkins use his inflation based measure to see what they are actually worth in real money. Even to what they were sold for with inflation/markets et el.

event

SOCCER4LIFE wrote: »

As I said already if you had bothered to read the rest of the thread, that if P.Vieira makes the no.4 on the list, for 4.1M in 1996, then Keane should be on the list IMO.

was vieira a record signing at the time though(cant remember myself).
maybe thats what he's basing it on, that if a player was a record fee, he couldnt really be classed as a bargain

****Facepalm****

no seriously, what has he done?
he's a good player and all, but what has he won with them, how integral has he been for arsenal considering the most goals he's scored in a PL season is 11

Why are the Kevin Davies and Scott McDonald free transfers on the list then?
So were Kevin Davies and Scott McDonald.
You already have by disputing the inclusion of free transfers.

i missed that they were free's. campbell should definitely be in there so.

edolan wrote: »

The man hasen't a clue about football, where's Seamus Coleman?

you honestly think seamus coleman is one of the best bargains of the last 20 years?