Ronaldo 'worth more than Mbappe and Neymar' and would cost £350m in today's market

That's according to a former Premier League striker who believes Brazil legend Ronaldo would be the world's most expensive player if he was playing today.

With billionaire owners, venture capitalists and state-owned football clubs, it's easy to see why transfer fees have easily hit the nine-figure mark.

Players such as Jack Grealish, Joao Felix, Philippe Coutinho and Antoine Griezmann have all earned big-money moves in recent years.

Meanwhile, Paris Saint-Germain's moves for Kylian Mbappe [£165million] and Neymar [£200million] have really set the benchmark for how expensive the world's best players are.

Such inflated transfer fees have really got fans talking about how much legendary football figures would be worth in today's market.

Ronaldo is one star who would undoubtedly be worth a fortune in the present day.

The Brazilian striker is regarded as one of the greatest number nines of all time having shone for the likes of PSV Eindhoven, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and AC Milan, as well as scoring 62 goals for his country.

Attackers are the most valuable assets in the game, but how much would the Brazil legend be worth today?

talkSPORT hosts Charlie Austin and Andy Goldstein delivered their verdict on Drivetime, with the QPR striker delivering a record-breaking valuation.

"I've got a figure that everyone is going to go mad at, but I've got a figure," said Austin.

"Neymar went for £198million, R9 [Ronaldo] should be £350million."

Goldstein replied: "Yeah, I've gone for £325m.

"You could argue that Ronaldo is the greatest ever centre-forward. You could have that argument."

"It's not could, he is," said Austin. "R9 is number one!"

"If you're talking about strikers scoring goals then Cristiano Ronaldo holds the record, that's all I'm saying," Manchester United fan Goldstein added.

"I'd say that if Man United, who are a few players off, if they got an in-form, in his pomp R9 then you could argue that they'd be challenging. He's that good a player."

It's not unfamiliar territory for Ronaldo, who was twice the most expensive player in world football, although the transfer world was a very different place back then.

He was only the second player to break the transfer record twice, after fellow all-time great Diego Maradona.

The first of Ronaldo's record-breaking moves was when Barcelona paid £13.5m to sign him from PSV in 1996.

The Brazilian ultimately spent just one season at the Nou Camp, plundering a stunning 47 goals in 49 games - form that helped him lift the Ballon d'Or later that year - before contract complications allowed Inter to swoop in.

The Italian giants forked out £19.5m [$27m] to sign him, which seems a pittance of a fee - it was anything but at the time.

In fact, when adjusted for inflation, that transfer fee would make Ronaldo the world's most expensive modern player.

It was recently calculated that transfer would have cost a mind-boggling £383MILLION in today's money.

So it appears talkSPORT duo Austin and Goldstein were still a little way off with their estimations…

Max: Bearing in mind that in 2002 he went for £46million which was astronomical back then, Charlie's hit the nail on the head because I've gone 350million. If financial pair play was disregarded from this conversation and Man City were looking for a striker with R9 being available for £350million, no one would really laugh.