Paul Pogba is currently the most expensive player in the world today after Manchester United signed him for a record fee of £89m (€105m) in 2016. But he is not the most valued player on the market today.
Juventus may have taken advantage of United’s riches to break the record (as did his agent Mino Raiola) but a new study has shown that as many as 14 players across Europe are currently valued at over €100m.
The study by CIES Football Observatory considered a number of variables such as player performances, the club’s performances, the length of their contracts, their age and even their position to arrive on a transfer value. We look at the Top 10.
Those who missed the top 10 but are valued at over €100m are:
14) Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich) – €100.6m
13) Romelu Lukaku (Everton) – €105.4
12) Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) – €110.5m
11) Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) – €112.4m (It’s surprising in spite of winning two major trophies, a host of individual awards and 42 goals. But his age goes against him.)
10) Paulo Dybala (Juventus) – €115.3m
The 23-year-old forward is the next big thing in Argentine football since the arrival of Lionel Messi. Signed from Palermo in 2015 thanks to his 13 goals and 10 assists in one season, he has seamlessly fit into this Juventus squad under Max Allegri.
The 2016/17 season saw him come into his own and justify the €40m price tag that Juve paid to get him. 19 goals and 7 assists only tell half the story. It is the impact he made with his performances that saw Juventus come close to sealing a treble, missing out on the Champions League trophy to a superior Real Madrid.
His best performance of the season came against Barcelona when he scored twice in the first leg with two well-taken goals to seal their progress through to the semi-finals. With a number of clubs chasing his signature, Dybala only increased his worth when he signed a contract extension to stay in Turin till 2022.
9) Eden Hazard (Chelsea) – €117.2m
Chelsea’s biggest star had a season to forget in 2015/16 but made up for it with a superb 2016/17 season to lead Chelsea to the Premier League title and the FA Cup final. 16 goals and 5 assists in the league was enough to lead Antonio Conte’s side to the title in the Italian manager’s debut season.
Playing in a slightly different formation, Hazard worked well in the 3-4-3 system – either out on the left or even drifting inside to play as a central attacking midfielder at times. The Belgian worked well with Diego Costa and Pedro on the other flank and the attacking trio was largely responsible for the 13-match winning run that propelled the Blues to the top of the table.
Hazard’s contract runs out in 2020 and clubs such as Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain were interested in securing his signature. However, a broken ankle on international duty might see clubs back off at least for another season.
8) Gonzalo Higuain (Juventus) – €120.2m
El Pipita had finished the previous season with 36 goals for Napoli to win the Capocannoniere award. Juventus had seen enough and bought him for a record fee to help them reached the promised land by winning the Champions League. They came close but their bad luck in finals continued.
Still, Higuain represented a coup for The Old Lady as they strengthened their own team while weakening a major rival. The Argentine forward scored 29 goals in Serie A and UCL to end the season as the club’s top goalscorer.
It included nine braces; the highlight being the one against Monaco in the Champions League semi-finals. Higuain has a contract until 2021 which is why he is now rated at over €120m.
7) Paul Pogba (Manchester United) – €134.3m
Paul Pogba’s transfer back to Manchester United is proof that the club have moved past Sir Alex Ferguson’s philosophy and got out of his shadow. The Scottish manager did not want anything to do with the player (and more so his agent) and Juventus were only too glad to sign him up.
The €100m cheque was obviously inflated and it was never the player’s fault. Despite early criticism, Pogba soon adapted to the game in England and became one of the best midfield players in the league even though he didn’t have a great supporting cast around him save for Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
The French midfielder put in a shift and was also the first player to complete 1,000 passes in the opposition half in the league this season. He was instrumental in United’s League Cup and Europa League triumphs with telling contributions throughout the season – especially in the Europa League final where he scored the opener.
With a contract util 2021 and Jose Mourinho at the helm, expect Pogba to stay at the club for a while and possibly dominating the Premier League.
6) Luis Suarez (Barcelona) – €140.8m
The Uruguayan striker did not exactly have the best of seasons at Barcelona in 2016/17 even if he did score 36 goals and bag 15 assists with the Catalan club. He had almost single-handedly kept Barcelona on course for the league title in 2015/16 but was probably let down this season by Barca’s tactics and personnel.
The 30-year-old hasn’t been playing his natural game at times and has sometimes been forced to play second fiddle to Lionel Messi who has craved space in the centre rather than the right. It has forced Suarez to drift wide on occasions with dummy runs when he is supposed to be the primary goal threat.
However, it hasn’t stopped him from getting into good positions at times to make it count. But his performances in Europe left a lot to be desired.
HIs contract runs until 2021 and it is hard to see Barcelona extending it beyond that. Still, his current value would make him a feared striker at any club for at least another two to three seasons.
5) Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid) – €150.3m
Poor Antoine Griezmann finished runners-up with Atletico Madrid in the Champions League last season, with France in Euro 2016 and lost to Cristiano Ronaldo in the Best Footballer of the Year awards. In spite of his quick rise to prominence, he has only been the bridesmaid and never the bride.
With Atletico Madrid, he scored 26 goals this season but a host of injuries over the course of the season meant Atletico were never able to compete in the league. And the Champions League semi-final debacle against Real (and Ronaldo again) saw them dumped out in spectacular fashion when they became the only team to fail to score against Real.
Griezmann looked all set to increase his worth with a record move to Manchester United but, unfortunately, the transfer ban was upheld for the Rojiblancos meaning he will stay for at least another season. It is noble on his part but he still has a few years to take the step up to the next level. With a contract until 2021 and a release clause of £86m, he will only see his stock rise – if and when he makes a move.
4) Lionel Messi (Barcelona) – €151.7m
If Lionel Messi had ever moved from Barcelona, he would easily smash all the transfer records and any club spending the money would get it all back with interest (along with a few trophies to boot). However, he has remained a one-club man ever since he turned professional. Barcelona have also ensured that their talisman remains at the Camp Nou.
The Argentine forward was a man on a mission this season and picked up both the Pichichi and European Golden Shoe awards for his 37 league goals (53 in all competitions). It’s been a while since Messi had such a prolific season. He hadn’t scored more than 50 goals since his treble-winning campaign.
But why is Messi only fourth on this list? Simple. His contract runs out next summer (2018). The 29-year-old will easily become the most valuable player again once he signs that contract extension. Because if Barcelona fail to agree to his terms, they risk losing him for free next summer.
That is highly unlikely to transpire, though. The club will do all it can to keep him, including selling other players to make space for him on the wage bill.
3) Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur) – €153.6m
How can one be so prolific and yet look so ordinary as a player? When you watch Tottenham Hotspur, Harr Kane doesn’t exactly do anything special. He gets into the right positions and finds the back of the net with routine ease.
Perhaps that is what makes him such a lethal striker. He does the simple stuff very well. And when that clicks, even the ordinary looks extraordinary. How else can you explain averaging 25 league goals a season in the past three years including two Golden Boots in consecutive seasons?
The new England skipper has a contract with Spurs until 2022 and it would be very difficult to prise him away from the club – not only because Mauricio Pochettino is doing a fabulous job at the Lane but also because Spurs chairman Daniel Lvey drives a very hard bargain (as Real Madrid found out when they signed Gareth Bale).
Kane is only 23 years old and easily has at least a decade of top quality football left in him – which is why his value is above €150m.
2) Dele Alli (Tottenham Hotspur) – €155.1m
After a scintillating season with the Spurs, it comes as no surprise that Dele Alli is on this list and among the top three players. Having clocked over 3,000 minutes in the league alone, the English midfielder scored 18 goals and grabbed 7 assists – enough to win the PFA Young Player of the Year award outright.
Alli’s eye for a pass and his strong finishing has given England hope that they can still produce players of top quality. The fact that a 21-year-old bossed the Premier League in midfield suggests that he has a great future in store as he develops into a world class player.
It’s also a testament to Spurs’ scouting network who signed him for just £5m in the 2015 January transfer window. With a contract until 2022, clubs will not even think about approaching Spurs to sign Alli – at least until he himself decides it is time to look for greener pastures if he does not share the same ambitions as his club.
1) Neymar Jr (Barcelona) – €210.7m
Only one player is currently worth more than €200m and that is Neymar Jr. His teammate Messi could join him up there when his contract is extended. But, for now, the Brazilian forwards stands lonely at the top.
His transfer to Barcelona is now mired in legal issues with respect to the original transfer amount but it hasn’t exactly affected his performances on the pitch. While he did not have the greatest season with only 20 goals in all competitions (he had scored 39 and 31 in the two previous seasons), he did play provider with 19 assists in La Liga and Champions League alone.
However, he is Barcelona’s future – especially since he has a contract until 2021. Even though cash-rich clubs such as PSG have reportedly attempted to prise him away from the Camp Nou, it seems like he is set to stay. Clubs will have to cough up more than twice the current record fee if they are to sign him in the future.
Also read: All rise for Prince Neymar, the imperfect heir to Messi's throne at Barcelona
