According to the CIES Football Observatory, the most valuable players in the world are Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr, and Erling Haaland....CONTINUE READING
Mbappe, 23, who turned down a move to Real Madrid to stay at Paris St-German, leads the list with a transfer value of 205.6 million euros (£175.7 million).
Real Madrid’s Brazilian winger Vinicius Jr, who scored the game-winning goal against Liverpool in the Champions League final, is second at £158.3 million, with Norway’s Manchester City-bound forward Haaland third (£130.4 million).
Jude Bellingham (£114.1m) of Borussia Dortmund is the most valuable English player on the list, ranking fifth, ahead of England teammate and Manchester City midfielder Phil Foden (£105.9m).
Premier League clubs dominate the top 100, with 41 representatives.
To calculate estimated transfer valuations, the CIES considers a variety of factors such as a player’s age, performance, economic value of their club, and inflation.
Mbappe, the France striker, signed a new three-year contract with PSG last month, opting to stay in Paris rather than join La Liga and Champions League winners Real Madrid.
The World Cup winner scored 28 goals in Ligue 1 to help PSG win the championship in 2021-22.
Haaland, 21, joins Manchester City from Borussia Dortmund after the club activated his 60 million euro (£51.2 million) release clause. Ruben Dias, his new City teammate, is the most valuable defender in tenth (£93.6m).
The Premier League player of the season, Manchester City’s 30-year-old Kevin de Bruyne, is the oldest player in the top 100 (£48.9m) and Barcelona’s 17-year-old Gavi (£49.9m) is the youngest.
Meanwhile, PSG’s Gianluigi Donnarumma, who won the European Championship with Italy, is the most valuable goalkeeper at 41st in the rankings (£62.9m).
This season’s Premier League and Champions League runners-up, Liverpool, are represented in the top 10 by January signing Luis Diaz (£94m).
Barcelona trio Pedri, Frenkie de Jong, who has been linked with Manchester United, and Ferran Torres all feature in the top 10.
England internationals Jadon Sancho (£88.1m), Mason Mount (£85.7m) and Bukayo Saka (£85.6m) are ranked 13th, 14th and 15th respectively.
Darwin Nunez, who has been heavily linked with a move from Benfica, has the highest valuation (£59.9m) for players outside of Europe’s top five leagues.
