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In recent years, we have seen transfer fees increase at an extraordinary rate in football. Fees of £30 million are no longer unusual, and every year we are seeing billions spent across the world.
A decade ago, Real Madrid broke the world record transfer fee by paying £80 million to bring Cristiano Ronaldo to the club from Manchester United. Now, the record is at £200 million, the price PSG paid to buy Neymar from Barcelona in 2017.
Already this summer, we have seen big money spent. Real Madrid, in an attempt to make up for a pretty dreadful 2018/19 season, have already crossed the £250 million mark, bringing in Eden Hazard, Luka Jovic, Ferland Mendy and Eder Militao.
Another team in a similar transition are Bayern Munich. The German side have already spent big money on Benjamin Pavard and Lucas Hernandez, while there has also been significant interest in Manchester City’s Leroy Sane, and RB Leipzig’s Timo Werner.
Without a doubt, we will continue to see big money spent across Europe this summer, as teams look to improve their squad for the new season, and it is likely we will see transfer fees go to the next level yet again.
With that in mind, here are the ten most valuable players in world football right now according to CIES Football Observatory.
#10 Leroy Sane (Manchester City) - £121.9 million
Despite taking tenth spot on this list, it has been a little bit of a disappointing year for Sane on a personal note. First, he was left out of the German squad for the 2018 World Cup, a decision that Joachim Low would live to regret when his side were surprisingly dumped out at the group stage. This season, despite Manchester City winning the domestic treble, the 23-year-old has found his starts limited in the league.
He started just 21 games in the Premier League all season, and often found himself used as an impact substitute. He did put in some impressive performances though, and reached double figures in both goals and assists. He could be on the move this summer, with Bayern Munich registering an interest in the winger, though they may fail to meet City’s asking price.
#9 Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid) - £127.9 million
Of all the players on this list, the most likely to move is Atletico Madrid’s Antoine Griezmann. He may not be an Atletico player for much longer, having already announced his intentions to leave the club this summer. The Frenchman is likely to make the switch across to Barcelona, who he has constantly been linked with over the past few years. There has been interest from Manchester United, but Atletico CEO Gil Martin has confirmed that there is a deal in place with Barcelona.
Individually, the 28-year-old has had a good few years at Atletico, scoring 133 goals in 257 games in all competitions. One thing he will be disappointed with fthough is the return in terms of trophies, with the Europa League the only major title he has won with the club. On the international stage, he has enjoyed more success, and was a key part of France’s World Cup winning squad last summer, scoring the second in their 4-2 win over Croatia in the final.
#8 Roberto Firmino (Liverpool) - £128.2 million
The first of three Liverpool players on this list, Firmino’s value has rose massively since his move from Hoffenheim to Liverpool in 2015. The Brazilian has established himself as one of the top attacking players in the Premier League, and is key to the way that Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool side plays. He may not be the traditional centre forward, but his work rate allows others around him to thrive.
He is also now a European champion, having helped his side to victory in the Champions League Final in Madrid. His next goal will be to help Liverpool to their first Premier League title, having missed out to Manchester City last season, despite accumulating a club record 97 points. The 27-year-old has now hit double figures for goals in the Premier League in each of the last four seasons, managing a career best of 27 in all competitions in the 2017/18 season.
#7 Harry Kane (Tottenham) - £138 million
Very few people would have predicted the rise and rise of Harry Kane five years ago. The Englishman had underwhelming loan spells at Millwall, Leyton Orient, Norwich City and Leicester City in the early years of his career, but is now regarded as one of the top strikers in world football. In the last few years, he has consistently scored goals for Tottenham and England, helping to take both sides to the next level.
His goal record in particular is excellent. He has scored 122 goals over the course of the last five Premier League seasons, twice winning the Golden Boot, as well as being named in the PFA Team of the Season on four occasions. He also won the Golden Boot at the World Cup, netting six goals in Russia last summer, as England reached the semi finals for the first time since 1990. The next step for him now will be trophies, as he has still to win a major title in his career.
#6 Sadio Mane (Liverpool) - £140.3 million
The second of the Liverpool players on this list, Sadio Mane has turned out to be a bit of a bargain for the Reds since joining from Southampton for £34 million in 2016. The Senegalese international was Jurgen Klopp’s first major signing as Liverpool manager, and he has proved to be one of the most important of his reign. His pace and power have been vital to all the success that Liverpool have had under Klopp, and he has helped form a fearsome front line.
One thing that he has improved the most is his goal record, scoring 22 times in the league last season, meaning he shared the golden boot with Mo Salah and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. He was also a key member of Liverpool’s side during their run to the Champions League Final in Madrid, where he won the penalty for their opening goal in the win over Tottenham.
#5 Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund) - £141.8 million
The youngest players in the top ten, Sancho has had a massive impact since moving to Borussia Dortmund from Manchester City in 2017. He has also led a change in attitude of young British players, with a number of other moving abroad in search of success, with former Arsenal striker Stephy Mavididi moving to Juventus, and Welshman Rabbi Matondo joining Schalke from Manchester City. The winger certainly took a big risk making a move to Germany at such a young age, but it has certainly paid off.
Sancho had an excellent 2018/19 season. He scored 12 Bundesliga goals, as well as providing 14 assists, with only Eden Hazard managing more in Europe’s top five leagues. The 19-year-old also made his England debut, and has gone on to make six appearances for his nation, a number that will surely get much bigger in the coming years. There has been reported interest from Manchester United, but it would be in Sancho’s best interest to stay in Germany for now.
#4 Lionel Messi (Barcelona) - £148.9 million
Probably the greatest player in the world right now, and maybe the greatest we have ever seen. Lionel Messi has produced a standard of football that we have never seen before, and it almost feels like he has rewritten the rules of the game. The fact that at 31 he is still considered to be such a valuable player shows how good he really is, and that even at an age that many would consider to be past his prime, he is still delivering the goods.
His goal record is quite incredible. In 687 Barcelona games in all competitions, he has scored 603 goals, more than anyone else in the club’s history. He has won the Ballon d’Or five times, no other player has won it more. The list of honours he has won with the club is quite incredible. He has been part of ten La Liga winning sides, and has also won the Champions League four times.
#3 Raheem Sterling (Manchester City) - £184.8 million
The most valuable English player on the list. Sterling has received a lot of criticism over the years, both for his on field performances, and some of his off field antics, even though some of this criticism has been very harsh. Sterling has come on leaps and bounds since Pep Guardiola took over Manchester City, and he can now be considered as one of the top players in the world.
His numbers over the last two seasons have been excellent. In the 2017/18 season he scored 18 times in the Premier League, the first time he had hit double figures for league goals, as well as adding 11 assists. Last season he scored 17 goals, together with 10 assists, as he was named Football Writers’ Association Player of the Year. He is now a vital member of this Manchester City team, and was key member of their treble winning side last season.
#2 Mo Salah (Liverpool) - £195.3 million
The rise of Mo Salah over the course of the past two seasons has been nothing short of extraordinary. The Egyptian winger was considered a flop in English football after his first spell at Chelsea, where he failed to make a real impact, and was subsequently sidelined by manager Jose Mourinho.
However, after a spell in Italy, he resurrected his career, and after two quite brilliant seasons with Liverpool, he is one of the top players in the world, and he certainly has the numbers to prove it.
In his two seasons at Liverpool, Salah has scored 71 goals in all competitions, and has won the Premier League Golden Boot in both seasons. He has been vital in the Reds making it to consecutive Champions League Finals, scoring the opener in this year’s final against Tottenham, as Liverpool were crowned European champions for the sixth time.
He has also made an impact on the international stage, and helped Egypt qualify for the World Cup in Russia, the first time they had qualified since 1990.
#1 Kylian Mbappe (PSG) - £224.1 million
It’s been a long time since we have seen a young player as talented as Kylian Mbappe is. The Frenchman made his first real breakthrough at 17, helping Monaco reach the Champions League semi-final. That impressive form was enough to earn him a big money move across France to PSG, who paid £160 million for his signature, making him the second most expensive player in football history, behind only his teammate, Neymar.
It is clear that he has the talents to go all the way to the top, and potentially take over at the top of the game when Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have retired. Last season, he scored 33 Ligue 1 goals in just 29 games, comfortably winning the Golden Boot. He has also shown that he is more than capable of transferring his skills to the international stage, playing a crucial part when France won the World Cup in 2018, as he became the first teenager since Pele to score in the final.
