1. Alan Shearer (£15million)
John Walton/EMPICS SportHe made it to number 1 in our
Local Heroes article, and then it was said that Shearer would top most lists, so it shouldn't at all be surprising that he is here again. If you ask Florentino Perez, the Real Madrid President, whether he regrets breaking the world transfer record in 2001, spending £46million on Zinedine Zidane, or again in 2009, this time £80million on Cristiano Ronaldo, he'll tell you no, because they were bargains. Newcastle United broke that same record in 1996, spending £15million in one lump sum on Alan Shearer from Blackburn Rovers, and it was the best money the club would ever spend. He famously rejected Manchester United, where he would have won trophies and played at a higher level for longer, but instead chose the pull of his boyhood club, their manager at the time Kevin Keegan and of course that number 9 shirt. However, hindsight is a wonderful thing, because when Shearer signed, Newcastle had just come off the back of the famous 1996 title choking season. He was seen as someone needed to get them over the line. It didn't work out that way, but he'd later captain the side, and break the club's all time goalscoring record with 206 goals in the black and white shirt in a ten year spell. Alan Shearer is a legend who will always be the best value for money signing ever made by Newcastle United. And now on to the big money deals that everyone on Tyneside would rather forget...