How much Millwall hero Tim Cahill would be worth in today's money - 8-figure fee predicted | OneFootball

Tim Cahill was one of Millwall's key players during one of the most successful spells in their history so FLW have asked how much he'd be worth today.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Millwall sold their star midfielder Tim Cahill to Everton for £1.5 million in the summer of 2004, so FLW have asked our resident fan pundit what he thinks Cahill would be worth in today's marketplace.

The early 2000s were a very successful period for Millwall. The Lions were promoted into what was then called DIvision One - now the Championship - in 2001, and followed that up in 2004 by reaching the FA Cup final, where they lost to Manchester United.

One of their key players at that time was midfielder Tim Cahill. Cahill was sold to Everton for £1.5 million in the July after the 2004 FA Cup final, and his was a big loss for the Lions. With all of this in mind, Football League World have spoken to our resident fan pundit Lucas Ball to ask what he thinks Cahill would be worth in the transfer market, 21 years on from his move to Merseyside.

"I think he'd be worth £12-15 million" - ex-Millwall star's 2025 valuation revealed

FLW's resident fan pundit doesn't believe that Millwall got what Tim Cahill was worth in 2004: "I think we sold him for £1.5 million in 2004 and even then that was probably too low a fee. Back then he was worth another £1 million on top of that, if not more. The point at which we were selling him, after a couple of good seasons in the Championship, we got promoted from League One. He had a couple of really good years and we'd just got to the FA Cup final, so lots of positives."

But Lucas understands that Cahill's profile was hugely raised by MIllwall's FA Cup run in 2004, meaning that other clubs knew what they'd be getting with his signature: "Lots of people had seen Cahill play by that point, so they knew his qualities and knew that he could be that sort of late-arriving, goalscoring midfielder, but could also do that bit of gritty work when he needed to."

And in the modern transfer market, Lucas feels that Cahill would be sold for anything up to ten times what the Lions received for him in 2004: "I think you're looking at a lot more money now. Now, if we had a player like that on our books, in the mould of Cahill, we wouldn't sell him for less than £12-15 million. Even as a Championship side you'd be slightly disappointed, so at that age and with the potential that he had, you'd be looking at somewhere around that price mark."

Tim Cahill made his mark for Millwall, Everton and the Australia national team

Over the course of seven years at The Den, Tim Cahill made a mark like no other in the Millwall team. He made over 200 League appearances for the club, and was one of their star performers during what was arguably one of the most successful spells in the club's history.

In 1999, he was in their team which reached the final of the Football League Trophy before losing to Wigan Athletic, the club's first official appearance at Wembley Stadium, and two years later he made 41 appearances and scored 9 goals in their team which won promotion to Division One with what was then a record 93 points.

The success didn't end there, either. The following season, Millwall finished 4th in Division One before narrowly losing to Birmingham City in the semi-finals of the play-offs, but the club caught national headlines again in 2004 with their run to their first-ever FA Cup final.

Starting with a 2-0 win at Walsall in the Third Round, the Lions beat Telford United, Burnley and Tranmere Rovers for a semi-final against Sunderland at Old Trafford, which the Lions won 1-0 thanks to a goal from Cahill. They couldn't get past Manchester United in the Wembley final, beaten 3-0, but it was a huge achievement for them to get there in the first place.

Cahill was sold that summer for £1.5 million, and would go on to spend eight years at Goodison Park, ending as an FA Cup runner-up again in 2009, when Everton were beaten by Chelsea. He would, however, return to The Den, making a further ten appearances for Millwall during the 2017-18 season.

His international career was similarly impressive. In 2014 he became the first Australian player to make appearances at three World Cups, and was the first player to score for them in the tournament in 2006, when he equalised for them against Japan. He made 108 appearances for his country in total, scoring 50 goals.

As a player would go on to become a mainstay in the Premier League and make more than 100 appearances for his country, there's little question that Cahill would be highly sought-after player were he playing now. A valuation of £15 million in this day and age might even be a slight undervaluation.