SOL CAMPBELL HAS claimed that Arsenal’s ‘Invincibles’ squad would cost over £1 billion in today’s transfer market. The Gunners won the Premier League in 2003-04 without losing a single match, winning 26 and drawing 12 of their 38 games to finish 11 points ahead of second-placed Chelsea.
And Campbell believes assembling a squad of such quality in 2014 would cost an astronomical fee, with icons like Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Robert Pires.
“Would our team be the best today? Oh yeah,” he told the London Evening Standard. “You look back at the team we had and you think it would cost more than £1b to buy those players now. Easy, £1bn.
“We had Thierry doing his stuff, Dennis causing problems and scoring goals. Patrick was at his best, Robert could thread passes through the eye of a needle. We had Fredrik Ljungberg, Jens Lehmann, Ashley Cole, myself, Kolo Toure, Lauren.
“The amazing thing was that we didn’t even cost that much. Thierry was £11million, Dennis £7.5m, Pires £6m, Ljungberg £3m, Lauren £7.2m, Gilberto Silva £4.5m, Lehmann £2m.
“I moved on a free, Kolo Toure cost £150,000, Ashley Cole came through the ranks, Patrick was £3.5m. Imagine what all those players would cost today.”
No team has matched Arsenal’s unbeaten season since, but Campbell believes current Premier League leaders Chelsea could emulate what the Gunners achieved. Jose Mourinho’s side have won seven and drawn one of their opening eight games this season, and Campbell believes the Blues “have the best team” in England.
“You have to have the team, and they do,” Campbell added. “The best team have always got a chance but it might still go against you. A ricochet here or there can end the run or keep it going. They are fine lines.
“Even if you have the best players and manager, there are certain things you can’t control. “There were a few games that season where we came off the pitch and thought, ‘how did we get through that?’ At the time, I didn’t realise how incredible it was.”
Campbell believes the impressive form shown by Chelsea is largely down to their well-stocked cash reserves, though he concedes the “balance of power has moved to west London” in recent years. ”
Arsenal are still hanging in there but at Chelsea the purse is just that bit bigger, and it opens more avenues,” he added. “The north London teams have to work with restrictions. They can buy players but there isn’t the financial power of Chelsea.”
So, on average, over £90,000,000 a player? Somehow I doubt it
Squad… Not starting 11
Sol cracks me up!
Rubbish talking…an excellent team but if they were that good why didnt they dominate the league and Europe.
I’m sure 900million of that would have been on him, if he was white that is.
From the same guy who said he wasn’t picked as England captain cos he was black. Sol mate, there was 3 or 4 English men at arsenal ahead of you in both the arsenal and English squads
He’s mental.
Complete idiot.
This lad is a clown! That team didn’t even retain a title or win in Europe! Some of the things he has come out with lately really are off the wall
The invincibles are worth infinity amount of money
Jesus, even a footballer should have perspective on how much a billion is .. No team would be worth even half of that. I’m not looking forward to the day when the value of money has eroded to such an extent that a billion no longer carries that sense of being a colossal amount, the way a million has been eroded in the last 20-30 years. Statements like Campbell’s only serve to diminish the value of large sums, and hence small sums, in people’s eyes. Inflation is bad mmkay
I’d say it would cost around the price of the Real or Barca team now. Saying 1 billion is ridiculous
Why is this even on the score??? Who gives a f@#k what he thinks there worth
He’s an awful clown
Sol loves the sound of his own voice.
Read a piece where Pascal Cygan was included as part of the Invincibles squad, if he’s worth a fraction of a billion then Sol is fkn deluded
D’invincibles to the d’unbelievables