Jay-Jay Okocha: I would’ve cost around €150 million in today’s transfer market

The former Paris Saint-Germain and Bolton star compared his value back then to the hefty fees being paid for footballers in today’s transfer market.

Okocha noted that if a player like Enzo Fernandez, who is a defensive midfielder, could command a nine-figure fee, then he would’ve cost more.

“Maybe one billion euros should have been paid for me,” he told Hurriyet, as quoted by Punch Nigeria.

“They (Chelsea) paid £106m for their defensive midfielder. 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.”

Okocha was an entertainer in his prime, having dazzled in the Premier League, Ligue 1, Bundesliga and the Turkish Superlig.

The 49-year-old was known for his showboating and skillful play and is rumoured to have mentored a young Ronaldinho while at Paris Saint-Germain.

For Nigeria, he made 74 appearances, scoring 14 times and was part of the side that won the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in 1994.

Okocha also won the BBC Africa Footballer of the Year award twice and was named in IFFHS all-time Africa Men's Dream Team in 2021.