Underrated Paul Merson would be worth £100million and could have played for Pep Guardiola

Paul Merson is not revered anywhere near enough for the footballer he was – he would be worth £100million in today’s market.

That is the opinion of his former teammates, who argued that the Arsenal legend ‘was right up there with the best’.

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Craig Harrison played alongside some of England’s greatest ever midfielders after coming through the ranks at Middlesbrough.

The TNS manager shared a Boro dressing room with Bryan Robson, Paul Gascoigne, and Paul Ince, who have a combined 200 caps.

However, the 48-year-old is still at a loss to explain why the most underrated of them all, Merson, featured just 21 times for his country.

Merson would be ‘worth a hundred million’

“I was very lucky to play with the [Fabrizio] Ravanellis, Juninhos, Emersons, but Paul Merson, wow,” Harrison told talkSPORT.com.

“Wow, I don’t know how he didn’t get more England caps than he did. Obviously, it’s been well documented that he has problems and demons, but what a footballer, what a footballer.

“And in the modern game now, he’d be worth a hundred million. He was outstanding.

“His vision, his weight of pass, receiving of the ball in tight areas. He was right up there with the best.

“At the time, he was playing some of his best football as well.”

Merson was famously part of the Arsenal title-winning side of the 1988-1989 season, which was the Gunners’ first league title in 18 years.

The 58-year-old played over 400 times for Arsenal, scoring 99 goals and was man of the match in the 1993 League Cup final triumph.

His £5m switch to Middlesbrough in 1997 made him the most expensive player signed by a non-Premier League club at the time.

Merson then helped the Riverside outfit to promotion the following season, but still retained the title of being the only one of England’s 1998 World Cup squad not then attached to a top-flight club.

The Sky Sports pundit has been open about his issues dealing with alcohol and gambling addictions during and after his playing career.

His current outspoken role at the top level of football punditry is also a factor in Merson not garnering the respect his ability warranted.

“Yeah, I think so,” Harrison agreed. “I think definitely because you look at it back then as well, it wasn’t as technical as it is now.”

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Could have played in one of Pep’s teams

“The coverage and the analyst eye are so much more critical now than what it was back then,” Harrison continued to talkSPORT.

“It was the early start of Sky Sports, and there wasn’t a huge emphasis on technical ability back then.

“It was a lot different. But strange enough, some of the players you had at that era, the Matt Le Tissiers of the world and the Paul Mersons of the world were so, so talented.

“They should have played so many more times for England, and should have been, obviously, Merse was at the top club with Arsenal, Villa, and Middlesbrough.

“Paul Merson was so underrated, a fantastic footballer.

“He would have been absolutely revered right now in this current climate of everyone emphasising a whole lot on technical, technical football and ball possession.

“He could have played in one of Pep Guardiola‘s teams, no problem at all.”

Merson ‘not revered enough’

Merson’s blend of dribbling, vision and spatial awareness in central areas means Harrison found it hard to pinpoint a modern equivalent.

“It’s really tough because probably three, four years ago, with the Kevin De Bruyne type and the David Silva type, but over the last two or three years, there’s not an awful lot of players.

“We went through a stage in Premier League football where everyone wanted to be a [number] 10, and now there’s probably more wingers involved now, the Mo Salah’s of the world, but Merse wasn’t an out-and-out winger, you just come into that, drop in that pocket, the Dennis Bergkamp type player.

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“I’m not too sure he’s quite as good as Dennis Bergkamp, but there wasn’t a lot in it.

“But Merse was that type of player where he’d just play off a striker. He’d be able to go wherever he wanted on the pitch, receive the ball and make something happen.

“I don’t think he’s revered anywhere enough as what he should have been. Possibly that is down to the high-profile personal life he’s had.”

The Road to Europe – The Mike Harris Story is available to buy or rent now on Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV.