You could buy the entire 2015-16 PFA Team of the Year for the same price as one Raheem Sterling…
What would you spend your £49million on given the choice, the Manchester City and England forward or eleven of the Premier League's best players from this season?
THE PFA Team of the Year for 2015-16 plays host to eleven of the most talented players in the world.
David De Gea prowling between the posts, English duo Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy raring to go up top, Dimitri Payet, Riyad Mahrez, Dele Alli...
I could go on, but you get the gist — they’re an incredibly gifted bunch.
So given the choice, if you were in charge at your club, would you sign all eleven of those stars... Or one Raheem Sterling?
Why do I ask? Well, the PFA TOTY starting XI costs exactly the same as what Manchester City paid for the former Liverpool man just 12 months ago: £49million.
If Leicester winning the Premier League with a starting XI of just £20.5m wasn’t enough to prove that money doesn’t always buy you success, then this surely does.
In fact, only three players in the Team of the Year cost more than £10m — De Gea, Toby Alderweireld and Payet.
Meanwhile Kane came through the youth ranks at Tottenham, Mahrez cost £400,000 and Vardy was just £1m.
Someone get those scouts a medal.
Sterling meanwhile has fallen from grace somewhat spectacularly, netting just 11 goals all term while many are calling for Roy Hodgson to leave him in England for this summer’s European Championships in France.
The forward, 21, was once the hottest property in the country after a rampant season at the Reds.
But being drowned in a sea of talent at City — and perhaps weighed down by his enormous pricetag — has seen him endure a mixed bag in 2015-16.
In truth Manuel Pellegrini’s Etihad crew have had a sketchy season as a whole, going into this weekend’s final game at Swansea caught up in an all-Manchester battle for the final Champions League spot.
The failing this term have seen Pell sacked — to be replaced by Bayern Munich genius Pep Guardiola.
But will Pep throw money at clubs in the summer? Or will he go with the knowledge that a big wad of cash can only get you so far?
I think we know which way oil-rich City will go on that front, in an ‘if you’ve got it, flaunt it’ kind of way.
Back to the original point, which would you rather? Sterling or eleven of the Prem’s best?