Rio Ferdinand claims he would be worth £170MILLION in today’s market and on £400,000-a-week wages

Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has made a bold claim that he would be worth £170million in today’s transfer market.

The 44-year-old – who was the world’s most expensive defender when he joined the Red Devils for £30m from Leeds back in 2002 – believes he would break the record once again if he was playing today.

When speaking on his Five YouTube channel, Ferdinand was asked to value himself.

‘£100m plus now with inflation‘, he said. ‘I was £30m back in the day. 

‘£100m will be cheap mate. Serious, in today’s market… £170m… 400k-a-week. That’s what I’ll be now. I would be that now.’ 

The defender spent 12 years at Old Trafford and is considered a Manchester United legend

During his playing career, Ferdinand became the world’s most expensive defender twice. 

Firstly, he broke the British transfer record alongside becoming the most expensive defender in world football when he moved to Leeds United from West Ham for £18million in 2000.

Once again this was broken as he joined Man United just two years later for a reported £30million, regaining the title as the most expensive defender in world football after losing it to Lillian Thuram in 2001.

Since then, many defenders have cost well over Ferdinand’s then-record, but he has now backed himself to smash the transfer record if he was in his prime today.

Currently, Harry Maguire holds the record after joining Ferdinand’s old club Man United for just shy of £80million in 2019.

It is expected that RB Leipzig’s Josko Gvardiol will beat this record if he seals a move away from the Bundesliga side this summer.

Manchester City have been heavily linked with the Croatian star, with it believed that Leipzig will demand at least £85million to sell their asset. 

Ferdinand was the most expensive defender in the world twice at Leeds and Man United