Leeds United: The staggering amount Rio Ferdinand and Brian Deane would've cost in today's market

That’s according to research from TotallyMoney, which took the average transfer values of players since the English Premier League began in 1992, and compared the increase in transfer costs over time calculating what they are calling 'football player inflation'. Take a look at the full list of top flight signings made by Leeds below and how much they would have cost today according to the research:

The results are pretty staggering.

Brian Deane, who joined United for £3m in the 1993/94 season, would be valued at £56.6m in today's market while Robbie Keane (£47m), Robbie Fowler (£44.6m), Lee Sharpe (£44.6m) and new Bradford City boss David Hopkin (£33.5m) would also rack up some serious investment.

Fan favourites such as Mark Viduka would've cost a little over £27m in today's market following his move from Celtic to Elland Road in the 2000/01 season and David Batty, who joined the club in a deal worth £4.2m, would've cost £27m alongside newly appointed permanent Charlton boss Lee Bowyer who would've required a little under that valuation at £24m.

At the top end of the Premier League Chelsea striker Andriy Shevchenko, who cost the Blues £29m in 2006, sees his market value today at £114m which is more than Alan Shearer's £15m move from Newcastle United to Blackburn Rovers which sits second on the list at £125m.

When Ferdinand left West Yorkshire and made the move to arch rivals Manchester United it cost the Red Devils £29m but that move would've been worth £122m in the current market.

There are several factors as to why football transfers have inflated so much since the formation of the Premier League in the early 1990s from mega sponsorship deals to TV deals which supply fans with the ever-increasing worldwide demand.

You can check out the full list on TotallyMoney here.