We present the finest hits on the market since 2000, depending on the price/performance ratio, in this article. Young people on the rise, rather than players with a few years of professional experience but who are still relatively unknown to the general public.
The characters of this list have one thing in common: they were bought for extremely low prices just to turn out to be genuine champions. In a nutshell, the market smashes!
5. N'GOLO KANTE
Photo: sportzcraazy
All football fans are familiar with Leicester's feat of winning the Premier League against all odds and reasoning in 2016. That season had such remarkable - and perhaps unrepeatable - overtones that it seemed only fitting to honor the team's lungs, as well as its prince scorer. Vardy was, without a question, the major character in that fairy tale.
The Foxes would have never reached the correct balance if it hadn't been for this little ball-grim stoner's effort. Infinite stamina, speed, and the ability to snare the ball from opponents, combined with a keen sense of positioning and game vision, have propelled him to the top of the international rankings and made him one of the best market hits in recent years.
He's been named to the Premier League's top XI twice.
Kanté is an honest player, one of several, in the summer of 2015. He is 24 years old and plays at Caen, France, where he has just completed his first season in the top national tournament.
Claudio Ranieri purchased Kanté without hesitation when the (little) budget allocated to try to preserve Leicester was made accessible. The deal cost 9 million euros, for what would become the finest half-time in the Premier League in a matter of months and more. When Ranieri was coaching Monaco between 2012 and 2014, he saw him in action and was struck by the midfielder's ability to cover virtually the entire midfield on his own.
The rest is history: Kanté starts the first three days as a reserve, but once he is named a starter, he never quits and is instrumental in the Foxes' victory. The national team, Chelsea, and the world cup, which the owner and protagonist won, are on their way. All of this happened in just two years. Kanté conquered the globe only via his ability to run.
4. NEMANJA VIDIC
Photo: skysports
Assume you're a striker and you're up against two 1.5-meter-tall giants. Rio Ferdinand is one, and Nemanja Vidic is the other. A human wall, in other words. Big, strong, and evil all at the same time. Between 2005 and 2011, the two established one of Europe's strongest defensive pairings. Probably the youngest and most preoccupied, recall Vidic's misfortune at Inter, where he arrived with a slew of physical issues.
Pantaleo Corvino had essentially snatched Vidic from Spartak Moscow before the end of the 2005/2006 season. But then came Sir Alex's phone call. The Serbian center had grown up with Belgrade's illustrious Red Star and then spent two years in Russia.
With his performances in the Uefa Cup and Champions League, he had managed to attract the attention of European clubs as a promising young player. Ferguson had begun a serious restyling operation for his club at the time: Vidic would be one of the pillars of the Red Devils, capable of winning all kinds of championships, alongside Ronaldo, Rooney, and Tevez.
What makes the Serbian one of our review's great hits is its surprisingly modest purchase price: 10.5 million euros for a player who would go on to become one of Europe's best, as well as captain of United in 2011, following Gary Neville's departure.
3. JAMIE VARDY
Photo: eurosport
Jamie Vardy's story is the classic transformation of the ugly duckling into a swan. His narrative became well-known to the general public at the same time as Leicester's wild journey, which resulted in the usual happy ending: championship victory. He joined the Premier League late when he was already 27 years old.
He certainly must have taken the steps after a first year in the least thrilling championship, which finished with only 5 goals, because the annals tell of 98 goals split over five championships, nearly the exact average of 20 each season, discounting cups. In 2015, just before his breakout season, he won the English national team, with whom he had a tumultuous relationship.
Not bad for a guy who played in amateur leagues until approximately 10 years ago and believed he'd had enough of football. He'd worked in metalworking and prosthetic sales, and he'd been forced to wear an electronic bracelet for six months after a brawl at a pub. But there were also numerous goals.
First at Stockbridge, then Halifax, before joining Fleetwood in Conference Premier, the first level for professionals. He scored 31 goals here, and Leicester manager Naigel Pearson goes insane, paying a million pounds (about 1.25 million euros) to get him to the Premiership.
Vardy has been named to the top 11 of the Premier League twice, has been named player of the year once, has been named top scorer once, and has won a championship for a single million pounds.
2. FRANK LAMPARD
Photo: pinterest
To say the least, the Chelsea legend's statistics are astounding. He scored 147 goals in the league and 211 goals in all competitions throughout his 13 years in London. He has scored in double figures in the Premier League for the past ten seasons.
The record-breaking season is 2009/2010 when the league's total number of centers reaches 22. He has scored at least 20 goals in six consecutive years, from 2006 to 2010, in all competitions.
He has won three titles, eight national cups, the Champions League, and the Europa League. On a personal level, he was twice named England's Player of the Year and was named to FIFA's World XI in 2011. And he was the league's best assist man twice.
1. CRISTIANO RONALDO
Photo: twitter
You'd pay $19 million for one of the world's two best players in the last 15 years to join your team? We are confident that the answer is "yes," assuming that we have a team capable of spending that much money. In front of Cristiano Ronaldo, talking about numbers is virtually unnecessary.
Everyone has their favorite, the years pass, but they still have the number one spot from the previous football period, and there isn't much they can do about it. He stayed in Manchester for six years and won all he could, including the first golden ball of his collection in 2008.
He scored 118 goals for United and helped them win three championships, six national cups, a Champions League League, and a club world cup. We don't quote all of his records not because we're lazy, but because a computer screen wouldn't be big enough to hold them all.
Cristiano Ronaldo's career was forever changed on August 6, 2003. Sir Alex Ferguson was enchanted by that goblin who was all speed, dribbling, and imagination, as were his players.
The veteran manager has had his eye on that right-winger who has been highlighted at Sporting Lisbon for quite some time. The friendly match between the Red Devils and the green-and-whites to commemorate the opening of the José Alvalad stadium is the perfect opportunity to put that number 28 with bleached hair to the test.
The boy passed the test with flying colors, sending the expert defenders stationed in front of Barthez's goal into a frenzy. Following the game, Ferguson locked himself in a room with Sporting executives until Ronaldo's contract signature arrived.
The rest is history and many more; at Manchester, the Portuguese went from being a wacky winger to a lethal goal machine, netting 31 goals in the 2007/08 season and 42 in all competitions. Ronaldo's transfer to Real Madrid for 94 million euros in 2009 makes him one of the best players in history, both technically and financially. He is still devoting his career at Manchester as he returned this season.
