5 Most Valuable Footballers Born In 2000

#2 Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid / Brazil) - £31.50m

Vinicius Junior's last Flamengo game

Vinicius Junior was only 10 years old when he signed a youth contract with Flamengo. The club already then knew that Junior is something special.

The young winger was leading the Brazilian youth teams (U-15 and U-17) while being a year younger than everyone else. Junior's serious burst to stardom came in 2016 Sao Paulo Youth Cup, the largest U-20 tournament in Brazil. He was one of the best players in the competition even though he was much younger than most footballers there.

After Junior turned 16 in July 2016, Flamengo signed him professionally and included a massive £27m release clause. In May 2017 the young winger made his debut for the club. Junior attracted Europe's biggest clubs and Flamengo immediately signed a new contract with him, increasing the release clause to £40m.

Real Madrid was down for it and bought Junior. After two great seasons with Flamengo, making almost 70 appearances and scoring 14 goals, the Wonderkid joined Spanish giants in July 2018, after turning 18.

As Real Madrid's head coach Julen Lopetegui has said, Junior will stay in Madrid but is going to play mostly with the B team.