AN all-time most valuable Premier League XI has been calculated… that doesn’t feature Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Portuguese genie is renowned as one of the greatest stars to ever play the game, and was the sport’s most expensive player for four years following his £80million move to Real Madrid.
What bettingodds.com deem to be the most valuable Premier League XI
Cristiano Ronaldo somehow didn’t make the cutCredit: Getty Images – Getty
But following a study conducted by bettingodds.com, Ronaldo wasn’t deemed valuable enough at the time to be included in an all-time most valuable Premier League XI.
Going back to the 2004-05 season, when squad values became available, they used the website Transfermarkt to gather what each player’s value was deemed to be at the time, before running them through the Bank of England’s inflation calculator to bring them up to speed.
And the results definitely feature a bias towards the stars of today.
In fact, not a single player from prior to the 2017-18 season made the cut, which interestingly was following the summer in which Neymar joined PSG and sent the market a little bit loopy.
The league has featured some great goalkeepers since 2004, with Petr Cech and Edwin van der Sar having dominated for around a decade.
But according to the numbers, Alisson is the division’s most valuable goalkeeper of the last 16 years – being deemed to be worth £73.9m during the 2018-19 campaign – which has now dropped just slightly to £72m, most likely only because he is a little older.
The Liverpool theme continues in defence, with three of the back four currently turning out for the Reds.
Trent Alexander-Arnold is currently at his peak value, being rated at £99m, while fellow full-back Andrew Robertson is rated at £67.5m, with no place for Chelsea legend Ashley Cole.
Alexander-Arnold and van Dijk were two of five current Liverpool players to make the cutCredit: Reuters
Aymeric Laporte also appears ahead of the likes of John TerryCredit: AP:Associated Press
There’s also no place for the likes of John Terry, Rio Ferdinand or Nemanja Vidic in the centre, with the 2018-19 iterations of Virgil van Dijk, at £83.1m, and Aymeric Laporte, at £69.3m, making it instead.
The 2018-19 N’Golo Kante is our holding midfielder at £92.34m, ahead of Claude Makelele and Patrick Vieira, and there’s no place for the likes of Steven Gerrard or Frank Lampard ahead of him.
Instead, we get a £238.5m duo from the 2017-18 season.
Dele Alli, who spent most of that campaign aged just 21, scored 14 goals that season – including a memorable brace against Real Madrid in the Champions League.
He was therefore valued at £95.4m, while Kevin De Bruyne, who was mesmerising everyone on the way to Manchester City’s record-breaking season, was deemed to be worth a mouthwatering £143.1m.
Kevin De Bruyne and N’Golo Kante are two of the most valuable players to ever play in EnglandCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
Dele Alli was on top of the world after scoring twice against Real MadridCredit: Reuters
Mohamed Salah stunned English football after returning in 2017 following a stint in Italy, with everything the Egyptian touched seeming to turn to gold.
He notched 44 goals that season, with his value rocketing up to £143.1m, dwarfing the £69.2m, that even through inflation, Ronaldo was deemed to be worth.
Eden Hazard was instrumental in two Chelsea title triumphs, but it was actually in the 2018-19 season that he was deemed most valuable, being listed at £138.51m, with Thierry Henry rated at just £59m in 2005 and Gareth Bale only £45m in 2012-13.
Up front we again turn to that 2017-18 season, in which Harry Kane bagged 41 goals in 48 games, rocketing his value up to £143.1m, leaving the likes of Sergio Aguero, Wayne Rooney and Didier Drogba lagging well behind.
Perhaps what can be taken from this study, is that the rate of inflation in football has been far quicker than the general rate of inflation, with the values of great players from yesteryear not given as much of a boost as they maybe should have been.
Eden Hazard finished at Chelsea with a bangCredit: AFP or licensors
Mo Salah couldn’t stop scoring for LiverpoolCredit: PA:Press Association
Spurs icon Harry Kane was valued at £143.1m in the 2017-18 seasonCredit: AFP or licensors
Man Utd ‘in talks over sensational Cristiano Ronaldo transfer return next season as Juventus look to offload superstar’
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
