One of the most interesting things when reflecting on football from years gone by is how much legendary players would be worth in today’s market. Think Arsenal’s Invincibles, Fergie's great Man United side, and even Jose Mourinho's Chelsea. Players of that are would be worth a pretty penny now, wouldn't they?

Football has changed drastically in the last 30 years, however, and with the fast-moving transfer market, it is fascinating to reflect on the changes in transfer fees.

For example, at the start of the Premier League era, Paul Gascoigne’s move from Tottenham Hotspur to Italian side Lazio was the most expensive transfer, at £5.5m. Fast forward 25 years and Neymar’s £200m move from Barcelona to PSG became the all-time most expensive transfer in 2017.

Interestingly, there is a way to convert a player’s transfer fee from an old transfer into modern-day currency, thanks to a tool by Totally Money's Transfer Index. For example, had Gascoigne’s move to Lazio from Spurs taken place in the modern era, it would have been worth £93.7m. Or take Cristiano Ronaldo’s transfer from Manchester United to Real Madrid in 2009, which would have been worth £195.1m in today’s market.

The other use this tool has is to allow comparisons between a player's modern-day value compared to the past sale of a player in years gone by.

Arsenal’s summer signing Declan Rice, is very highly valued, but there was one star from the 1990s, who Arsenal sold for more than Rice’s value in 2024.

Declan Rice’s transfer value in 2024

Arsenal paid West Ham United a club-record fee of £105m in July 2023 to acquire the services of Declan Rice ahead of the 2023/24 season. It is fair to say the former Hammers captain has been a success at the Emirates Stadium.

Arsenal are still very much competing for the Premier League title. They are currently top of the table, although Manchester City have the chance to displace them should they win their games in hand.

Rice has been superb for Arsenal this season, having scored six goals and registered seven assists in the Premier League in 34 games. He has played at the base of midfield and further forward in a more advanced role, and is having a stellar time of things.

Indeed, his current value reflects just how good he has been this season. According to CIES Football Observatory, Rice is currently worth £85m, although it would likely take much more than that to even tempt Arsenal to sell him. Rice’s teammates William Saliba, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Martinelli are also all valued at £85m.

However, one of Arsenal’s sales from years gone by has actually proven to be more expensive according to modern-day valuation than Rice and his three teammates are currently valued at.

Nicolas Anelka’s transfer value in 2024

The player in question here is Arsenal’s former striker Nicolas Anelka. The Gunners sold the Frenchman for £31.5m to Real Madrid in 1999, but, as per The Transfer Index, that would now be worth a staggering £108.5m in today’s market.

Anelka had initially signed for Arsenal from PSG’s academy in 1997 and scored 28 goals in 90 games for the club, having arriving for a nominal fee of just £500k.

However, it was his exemplary season in 1998/99 which led to Real Madrid signing the Frenchman. Anelka bagged 17 goals and registered five assists in 35 Premier League games during his last season in North London.

Frustrating for Anelka, it did not work out in Madrid, and he left just one season later when he returned to PSG. The former France international scored just two La Liga goals and 2 Champions League goals for Los Blancos, in 19 games and ten matches respectively.

It's safe to say that spending over £100m on that sort of record in today's era would go down as a major blunder. Either way, it should be seen as a huge success story from a Gunners perspective.

Arsenal certainly reinvested the money well, splashing £14.4m on Thierry Henry from Juventus, which equates to £49.9m in today’s market.

Of course, this proved to be a legendary move for the Gunners, as Henry became the club’s greatest player in many fans' opinion, scoring 228 in 377 games for the club.

It remains to be seen when the Gunners will make such a big sale again, if ever. One thing is for sure, they do not seem likely to sell any of their big stars this summer, as they continue to push for trophies under Mikel Arteta.