By Wilson Adekumola
Nigeria’s former professional footballer, Augustine Azuka Okocha popularly known as Austin Okocha, has explained why clubs will pay around €150m to secure his services in today’s transfer market.
The former Nigerian Super Egles captain joined Fenerbahçe from Eintracht Frankfurt in 1996 in a deal believed to be around £1m after the German outfits were relegated from topflight football.
The Nigerian No 10 gave an impressive performance during his two years with the Turkish club and a remarkable display at the 1998 FIFA World Cup earned him a contract with the French giants.
Paris Saint Germain coughed out £14m to attract dazzling Okocha to France, an African transfer record fee.
Okocha, while speaking with Hurriyet, believed he would have cost around €150m going by the current transfer market.
He said, “Maybe 1 billion should have been paid for me,” he 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.”
The 49-year-old also expressed his sadness at leaving Fenerbahçe, where he was loved by the fans.
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.”
