Sergio Aguero
Getting close to A-list stars is tricky but one way for fans to do it is to get hold of their favourite player’s autograph.
Fans of all ages patiently wait outside training grounds, arrive early at matches and attend promotional events armed with a pen and paper to get what can prove to be a lucrative signature.
Football’s most recognizable stars have become used to signing shirts, balls and autograph books but the question over which player’s signature is worth the most has thrown up some fascinating results.
Analyzing pieces of signed memorabilia from two auction sites and then comparing to find an average price, Gamblingdeals.com drew up a list of the top 20 most expensive signatures of footballers past and present.
Averages were worked out with prices of every piece of memorabilia added together and then divided by the number of items on sale for each player. Popular selling site, eBay, was not considered due to issues over the veracity of some memorabilia items.
Brazilian great Pele (£511.90) made the list, as did Argentine icon Diego Maradona (£582.07), but neither was able to crack the top five.
Seven active Premier League players feature in the full list with four of those – Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Alisson Becker – coming from Liverpool’s famous title-winning side of 2019/20.
Egyptian star Salah sees his autograph command the most with an average re-sale value of £659.99, which leaves him fifth in the list.
It is one of Salah’s Premier League rivals that takes top spot.
Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero stands at number one with the Argentine striker’s signature coming in at an average cost of £1,363.71.
Aguero is Manchester City’s all-time leading goal-scorer and famously netted the winning goal against QPR in 2012 to secure their first league title under boss Roberto Mancini.