When PSG ultimately dished out the £198 million fee Neymar's contract demanded, alternative suggestions on how that money could be spent were quickly forthcoming.
Although buying 22 gold-plated Bugatti Veyrons or 77 million flat-whites from Starbucks may not offer the return Neymar guarantees, Robbie Savage has been vocal in his disagreement of the precedent being set.
Writing in his column for the Mirror, Savage recalled,
Trevor Francis becoming the first £1 million footballer in Britain in 1979.
Whereas Savage doubted that Neymar is "really worth £108 million more than Paul Pogba", it was with the example of Francis' transfer that he persevered:
Even allowing for inflation over the last 38 years, Neymar is not worth 198 Trevor Francises, nor 100, nor a dozen. I'm not even sure he's a better player, full stop.
198 Trevor Francises, just imagine that!
Francis, twice a European Cup winner with Nottingham Forest, was told by Brian Clough ahead of his Forest debut to "give the ball to John Robertson - he's a better player than you."
