Former Super Eagles captain Austin ‘Jay-Jay’ Okocha has said he would have cost around €150m in today’s transfer market.
The legendary Nigerian midfielder joined Paris Saint-Germain from Turkish giants Fenerbahçe for a then African transfer record fee of £14m.
The 49-year-old move to PSG was finalised following his impressive performance for Nigeria at the France 1998 FIFA World Cup.
In an interview with Turkish outfit, Hurriyet, Okocha explained why he believed he would have attracted such a high transfer fee.
“They paid £106m for their defensive midfielder [at] Chelsea. For 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 said.
The 1994 Africa Cup of Nations winner expressed his sadness at leaving Fenerbahçe, where he was adored by the fans.
“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,” he recalled.
“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 sell 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.”
After spending four years at PSG, Okocha joined English Premier League club Bolton and led them to the final of the League Cup in 2004.
Unfortunately, Bolton fell to a 2-1 defeat to Middlesbrough in the final.
