5 most valuable goalkeepers at the time of their retirement

#3 Petr Cech - £2.25 million

Petr Cech played his last game as an Arsenal player against Chelsea

One look at the opposition goal, between the sticks, a tall figure with a protective headguard. The strikers knew they had to pull up their socks if they wished to get on the scoresheet after that sight. Petr Cech was the best goalkeeper in the Premier League and the logetivity of his career, the performances, his trophies and the stats all vouch for him.

At the time of his retirement in 2019, the 37-year old was valued at £2.25 million. Cech made a massive 494 appearances for Chelsea, the most by an overseas player, and it's a shame he did not reach the 500 milestone. The goalkeeper was a leader in the dressing room and on the pitch as well.

He was known for being pivotal in arranging his defense, giving them timely shouts to inform them of potential threats. The former Chelsea and Arsenal custodian won the Premier League Golden Glove award four times in his decorated career.

He holds the record for most clean sheets in the English top-flight, both overall (202) and in a single season (24). The Czech keeper was agile in his box, assured and strong while getting hands on shots fired at him and brilliant in one vs one situations. In his last season, Cech made 22 appearances for Arsenal and kept nine clean sheets in all competitions.

Cech's best performance undoubtedly came in the 2012 Champions League final. He saved a penalty from Bayern Munich's Arjen Robben in extra-time and denied a further two in the penalty shootout as Chelsea won their first Champions League title. The goalkeeper has a total of 18 trophies with Chelsea and Arsenal, which includes four PL titles and five FA Cups.

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#2 José Francisco Molina - £3.47 million

Molina representing Deportivo La Coruna Photo courtesy: Twitter

There were goalkeepers who loved their goal and protected every inch of the net by staying firmly planted between the sticks. There are many who love doing that duty today as well. But most goalkeepers were not Jose Francisco Molina, who loved to leave his goal vacant at times and come forward or move around the box towards the threat rather than wait for it.

No one knew why the Spanish goalkeeper did it, sometimes he was successful, other times it led to silly mistakes, but he was not one to care. The 1995-96 season, his first with Atletico Madrid remains the best of his career. He won his first and only La Liga trophy and was also awarded the Zamora Trophy for his individual performance.

Molina made a total of 397 appearances in La Liga and kept 117 clean sheets. His final club was Levante, which he joined in 2006 for a one-year stint. He played 34 games and kept 11 clean sheets in his final season. His market value at the time of retirement was £3.47 million, quite astonishingly.

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#1 Oliver Kahn -

Oliver Kahn is regarded as one of the best keepers in the history of the game

A certain measure of Oliver Kahn's greatness was the fact that he was the only goalkeeper to twice make it to the podium in the race for the Ballon d'Or. There was a strong mood that he may finally win it and become only the second goalkeeper to do it after Lev Yashin. However, both times he finished third, as Michael Owen and Ronaldo Nazario lifted the award in 2001 and 2002 respectively.

He gathered 85 national caps for Germany and was instrumental for them in their 2002 and 2006 podium finishes in the World Cups. Kahn, known as 'Der Titan', was a formidable and imposing figure in goal. He hated losing and was one of the most fierce competitors at the elite level.

Imagine the size of his trophy cabinet given he boasts eight German Bundesliga titles, six DFB-Pokals and one each of Champions League, Intercontinental Cup and UEFA Super Cup. Kahn finished his career at Bayern Munich in 2008. At the time of retirement, the 39-year old still commanded a market value of £4.5 million, the highest for a retiring goalkeeper in history.