How much would they cost today?

[Malcolm Stark]

You got to remember that in Don Revie's Leeds's days, there was only Yugoslavia and USSR. Now we have "gimmes" like Moldova, Kazakhstan, Macedonia, Lithuania, Montenegro, Georgia, Estonia, etc. Sniffer's stats can't be accurately compared to Rooney's, even if they're comparable.

Also we played more games against Wales, Scotland and N. Ireland back in the 70s, and they were all better than they are now.

[Aces]

Just a bit of fun. Imagine if the great Leeds team players were playing today.

Just how much in today's money would they be worth?

Here's my valuations. At their peak.

Sprake £7m
Reaney £12m
Cooper £15m
Charlton £18m
Hunter £20m
Bremner £25m
Giles £28m
Lorimer £25m
Gray £27m
Clarke £30m
Jones £23m
Madeley £25m

I just might have undervalued some of them, but I don't think I'm far off IMO.

What's everyone else think?

I think that because he could play many positions at the top, top level, Madeley deserves that pricetag, but I think Bremner is well underrated, probably one of Europe's premium midfield players, probably 80 million at his peak, and if Rooney is valued at 50 million, Clarke is equal to him in international and league terms. Reaney is undervalued, but Jones and Gray are probably over-valued.

Again mate, you make valid points, who can disagree? Someone might have a different opinion, but who's to say they are right. The money you quote for Billy does seem crazy, but a player is only worth what a club will pay for him.

[Malcolm Stark]

Aces, is Gareth Bale seriously a better player than Bremner?

[Aces]

Aces, is Gareth Bale seriously a better player than Bremner?

Different types of player mate. Bremner was a midfield general, one of the best ever IMO. Bale is a wing wizard, ultra fast and skillful, can score from anywhere and one of the best players around at the moment, again IMO. Only time will tell just how good he is, but he cost RM £85 million pounds, the costliest footballer in history, I think. I personally love Bale and I think he will be one of the best modern day footballers ever.

[NottinghamWhite]

Given that George Best rated Reaney the best full back he ever played against then he is very undervalued. Like the idea of the thread but the players mentioned I'm not sure how they would cope in today's virtual non contact sport.

[Wigan White]

Like the idea of the thread but the players mentioned I'm not sure how they would cope in today's virtual non contact sport.

I think they would have done very well for the first 10 minutes, and then struggled with only 6 men.

[Deleted User 2]

Like the idea of the thread but the players mentioned I'm not sure how they would cope in today's virtual non contact sport.

I think they would have done very well for the first 10 minutes, and then struggled with only 6 men.

Good point by NW, though. Very hard to compare players from such different eras anyway, even more so considering the highly distorted sums of money which are being paid for a handful of top, top players. Also, as good as Revie's team is considered to have been, am I not right in saying it played through a highly competitive decade itself? There were 9 different First Division winners between 65 and 74, and 9 different FA Cup winners too, which looks unlikely to happen ever again, the things are at the moment.

[Wilfred Martin]

I would certainly rate Giles in the same price bracket as Mezul Ozil, and Bremner in a similar price range to YaYa Toure. Clarke and Suarez are similar "goal poaching" types. In today's crazy transfer market, any of those three would be valued at £40 million plus if a Real or Barca really wanted them. Remember that Clarke was the most expensive British transfer in his day, so if you look at what Arsenal bid for Suarez, that figure doesn't seem to be unreasonable to me. Heaven knows what players like Currie, McQueen, Ferdinand, Woodgate, Hasselbaink at their peaks would be worth now.

[Aces]

Like the idea of the thread but the players mentioned I'm not sure how they would cope in today's virtual non contact sport.

I think they would have done very well for the first 10 minutes, and then struggled with only 6 men.

All players adapt to how the game is, they wouldn't be so aggressive, if they were playing today, they were great players then and would be great players now if they were playing today.