Actually I would say Demba Ba was the bargain of the season, as he cost us nothing and one of the top scorers in the premier league this year.
Back to the original subject.
Wes Brown may have been a better defender in his day, but he isn't now. That's why I said Steven Taylor is better than any of your defenders, not "Steven Taylor is better than any of your defenders have ever been".
Maybe the reason Brown got called up at 20 and Taylor didn't, was because Brown was better at the age of 20 than Steven Taylor at 20? I'm not denying that. I'm talking about the present, and right now, Steven Taylor is better than Wes Brown.
He must have been on the fringe of an England team call up by how he's played since he returned from his injury, and the fact that before today when Coloccini went off injured and Perch came on, we had the joint best defense in the league, of which Steven Taylor was a massive part. But alas he's got another injury, which is the story of his life so far. He starts to really catch everyone's eye and impress, then gets an injury.
I wasn't trying to make an argument to say who's had the better career so far, because clearly Wes Brown has, but recently, Steven Taylor has better than Wes Brown.