Austin Okocha, the former captain of Nigeria’s national football team, the Super Eagles, has made a bold statement about his worth in today’s football transfer market.
POLITICS NIGERIA reports that according to Okocha, he would cost approximately €150m if he was still an active player.
Okocha, who is also known as “Jay Jay,” was transferred from Eintracht Frankfurt to Fenerbahçe for a sum of around £1m after Frankfurt’s relegation from topflight football in 1996.
During his two-year stint with the Turkish club, Okocha amazed football enthusiasts with his unparalleled artistry on the pitch.
His stellar performance at the 1998 FIFA World Cup was enough to convince French club Paris Saint-Germain to break the African transfer fee record and pay a whopping £14m for his services.
In an interview with Hurriyet, Okocha expressed his regret about leaving Fenerbahçe, where he was adored by the fans. The 49-year-old football legend, who retired from the game in 2008, is confident that his skill set and talent would be highly valued in today’s transfer market.
“Maybe 1 billion should have been paid for me,” he said.
“They paid £106m for their defensive midfielder Chelsea. To a player from Portugal. I would have cost around €150m. My assists, dribbles… World football started to pay a lot of money. Such would be the numbers of players of this quality.”
He added, “It was a really difficult decision. I left very sadly. I was very happy in Fenerbahçe. Moreover, I married my wife in Turkey. My children were about to be born.
“When I went to the World Cup, I had no such thing in mind. After the matches in the World Cup, an offer came from PSG. Aziz Yildirim was the president. He didn’t want to send me. He didn’t even interview the PSG Club. This process has been very difficult. Despite my sadness, when such an offer came, I wanted to make money for Fenerbahçe.”
