John Barnes with one of two First Division titles he won with Liverpool. AFP Photo

Paul Kennedy

I think there comes a time in life when you stop registering, or even acknowledging, birthdays. Maybe it’s an age thing and I’m just trying to ignore the inevitable fact that last month I became another year older.

Birthday gifts are also really a thing of the distant past for me. I don’t expect anything, although my father does usually throw a few quid in my bank account with the message: “Have a beer on me, son.”

This year however, I was surprised and I must admit, touched after receiving two very unexpected, and very different, birthday gifts.

The first was from work colleagues. It was an oversized stuffed toy of a cat looking miserable because he is being forced to wear a frog costume. Bonkers.

Apparently, according to my colleagues, this moody moggy bears a striking resemblance to me. I couldn’t quite see it myself.

And the second shock present was given to me this week by a football-mad pal. An authentic, autographed framed photo of someone who for me, was the greatest ever Liverpool player I’ve seen.

Steven Gerrard? Nope. Luis Suarez? Afraid not. Mohammed Salah or Kenny Dalgish then? Nah. It’s a signed picture of John Barnes.

I was blessed to have been a regular match goer when Liverpool signed Barnes in the summer of 1987 from Watford for a little over $1.1 million, which at the time, was a decent chunk of change.

It got me thinking, in today’s market, what would a prime John Barnes be worth? And where would he rank in the current crop of top players?

Well for me, he’d be the best.

The most expensive player to date is Brazilian Neymar who moved from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain for about $255 million in 2017.

In the Premier League, the top price paid for a player was $135 million by Chelsea for Enzo Fernandez who joined the Londoners in from Benfica last year.

Manchester City’s Jack Grealish and Arsenal’s Declan Rice fetched figures of $127 million when they left Aston Villa and West Ham respectively.

Now in my eyes, and I’ll challenge anyone who disagrees, John Barnes was better than all of the above. He was just a joy to watch.

It’s worth noting too, that when he was at his peak and firing on all cylinders, he was playing with zero protection from referees and against defenders who would try their utmost to kick lumps out of him.

He also, week in and week out, received the height of abuse from opposing fans simply because of the colour of his skin.

Barnes played more than 300 times for Liverpool scoring 84 goals. He won two First Division titles, two FA Cups, one League Cup and three Charity Shields.

In today’s market? Difficult to estimate. But, like a thoughtful and unexpected birthday gift, I would say priceless.