Nigerian football legend, Austin ‘Jay Jay’ Okocha has said if he would’ve cost around €150m in today’s transfer market.
He made the bold claim in an interview with Turkish outfit, hurriyet, explained why he believed he would have attracted such a high transfer fee.
Okocha moved from Fenerbahçe to Paris Saint-Germain for a then African transfer record fee of £14m.
After dazzling during his two years with the Turkish club, the 49-year-old legendary midfielder’s move to PSG was finalised following his impressive performance for Nigeria at the France 1998 FIFA World Cup.
The former Super Eagles Captain also expressed sadness that he left the Turkish giants where he was loved by the fans.
Okocha 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.”
