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The transfer market has inflated considerably over the past few years, mainly due to clubs bidding over a certain player and ending the auction at a ridiculous fee which makes other clubs hike up the values of their star players to match. It's become a case of, "Well, if X is worth this much, then Y must be worth even more."
Where it will end is anyone's guess; will there be a time in the future where players are sold for £500m? You might think it sounds ridiculous now but cast your mind back to the summer of 2002, when Rio Ferdinand signed with Manchester United for £30m. It had broken the transfer record at the time, and nobody could quite believe that that amount of money was being spent on a footballer.
Then came Fernando Torres' switch to Chelsea for £50m in 2011; again, everybody was shocked. Though now, we see players like Phillipe Coutinho go to Barcelona for a whopping £105m and we don't tend to even raise an eyebrow. Substantial transfer fees are now part of the game, it seems.
With that in mind, some of the market values of the players on this list may surprise you, whilst some might sound reasonable. Let us know what you think in the comments.
#10 Romelu Lukaku (Manchester United) - £76.50m
A product of Anderlecht's youth academy, Romelu Lukaku has made a huge impact on how football is played nowadays. His unreal strength on the ball makes him the ideal target man, but his pace has also made him a strong centre-forward in general. It is not often you find a player who has both strength and speed to his game.
Lukaku's first big move came in the summer of 2011 when he signed for Chelsea for around £13.5m. Only 18 years old at the time, he was sent out to West Bromwich Albion on loan, where he managed to score 17 Premier League goals. His talent now was undeniable, and yet Mourinho showed little interest in testing him out in the first team. As a result, Lukaku was sent back out on loan the following season to Everton.
Yet again, Lukaku delivered, scoring 15 goals in 31 appearances for the Toffees. He was a blatant force to be reckoned with and once his loan spell was over, Everton put in an offer for him. Initially, the fee was supposed to be around £25m, but following a brief back-and-forth with Chelsea, £30m was agreed upon and Lukaku made the switch.
Over the next three seasons with Everton, Lukaku would score a total of 53 goals in 110 appearances, showcasing his ability for all to see. He was also developing into a well-rounded player rapidly, which caught the eye of Manchester United.
Ironically, it would be Jose Mourinho, the same man who showed no interest in him at Chelsea, who would sanction the signing in the summer of 2017. In the end, a fee in the region of £75m was paid for Lukaku, and almost two years on, he has retained that market value, which isn't easy to do in a world where the market is so frequently fluctuating.
#9 Paul Pogba (Manchester United) - £81.00m
Once a Manchester United reject, Paul Pogba has revitalised his career in dramatic fashion.
After being signed by United in 2009 from Le Havre's U19 side, Pogba gradually began to progress through the ranks, going from the U18s to the U23s, before eventually making it into the senior side by January 2012.
However, Pogba's time with the first team was one to forget. He looked out of place in the midfield and struggled to garner any sort of control of the ball at all. It was clear that he wasn't ready for Premier League football at this stage in his career, and that perhaps Sir Alex Ferguson had jumped the gun by including him at such a tender age.
By August, Paul Pogba had been shipped out to Juventus on a free transfer. Clearly, the United board felt as if they were getting rid of deadwood by offloading Pogba, but, boy, were they going to regret it within a few years.
Pogba's time with Juventus was incredible. He would go on to win two Italian Cups, two Italian Super Cups, and four Serie A titles over the course of his four seasons spent with the Old Lady. These staggering achievements were not overlooked by the top clubs in Europe, and it forced the hand of United in the summer of 2016 to get back the player they once dismissed. But it would cost them dearly.
A fee in the region of £95m was paid for Paul Pogba's return, and many fans since he rejoined have questioned whether he was actually worth all that money. Whilst he performs well sometimes, there are games where his general attitude is questionable and it provokes frustration from the fans.
Pogba's market value has dipped by around £14m since that signing almost three years ago.
#8 Dele Alli (Tottenham Hotspur) - £90.00m
Dele Alli's rise to prominence came swiftly and suddenly back in January 2015 when he switched from MK Dons to Spurs for a fee of around £6m. He was loaned back to the Dons for the rest of the season, before permanently staying with Tottenham.
Alli was deemed ready for first team action in his first season with Spurs and he ended up featuring in 33 games out of the 38 in total, scoring 10 goals in the process. He would do even better the following season, scoring 18 goals in 37 matches.
Since then, Alli has become a staple of Spurs' first team and has also flourished at a national level for England. Because of the consistency that he shows from game to game, as well as what he has achieved already, his market value is rightly placed at around £90m. The 22-year-old is one of Tottenham's greatest assets and highly looked upon by other clubs.
#7 N'Golo Kante (Chelsea) - £90.00m
Everyone is likely to know who N'Golo Kante is at this point, as he's gone from strength to strength in recent years and shows no sign of stopping.
After signing for Leicester in the summer of 2015 from SM Caen for around £8m, Kante became one of the best players in the squad within no time at all. Nobody had truly expected him to be as outstanding as he was, given that he never caught the eye of top European clubs whilst still playing out in France. Yet, with Leicester, he showcased a side to him that nobody had ever seen.
Kante was regarded by many as the best centre-defensive midfielder in the league for the 2015/16 campaign. He had stamina unlike anyone else and would just keep running until the final whistle, making it extremely difficult for the tiring opposition to control the game.
Leicester would miraculously win the Premier League in that season, thanks, in part, to Kante's superb performances throughout. But the fairytale with Leicester would end once that season had finished, and Chelsea signed him for £30m.
Eager to prove that he wasn't a fluke, Kante was quickly made Chelsea's main defensive midfielder and he would feature in virtually every single game. A clear indication of the success he's had at Stamford Bridge is reflected in his current market value, which stands at a staggering £90m.
#6 Leroy Sane (Manchester City) - £90.00m
Leroy Sane was one of the hottest young talents in the Bundesliga when Manchester City signed him for a whopping £45m in the summer of 2016 from Schalke. Everybody knew at the time that he was special and that his potential was almost limitless -- he has proved that in recent seasons, especially.
As a youngster, he was passed around various youth academies, switching from Wattenscheid Jugend to Schalke, then to Bayer Leverkusen, before being re-signed by Schalke a couple of years later.
He would progress through the ranks at Schalke over the span of four years, before eventually being promoted to the first team in 2015, age 19. It only took one season for Manchester City to swoop in and seal the deal. Now, three years later, Sane sits on a market value of around £90m, which is only bound to increase in the coming years.
#5 Raheem Sterling (Manchester City) - £108.00m
Now, this is where the list suddenly takes a sharp turn in terms of market value figures. We've passed the £100m mark and find ourselves with Manchester City's Raheem Sterling, who is tagged at a staggering £108m.
Originally starting out with Queen's Park Rangers' youth side, he was signed by Liverpool to play for their U18s in February 2010 for around £630k. Two years on, and Sterling was bumped to the first team, despite only being 18 years old at the time.
With Liverpool, he showed supreme ability on the ball. His rapid pace was a nightmare for opposing defenders to deal with, and to make matters worse, he had an eye for goal akin to a top striker in the Premier League. The Reds knew they had a star on their hands, but so did other clubs who were now eyeing him.
Sterling would remain with Liverpool for three more seasons before Manchester City splashed out almost £60m to sign him in the summer. The Reds fans were furious when Sterling departed, as they felt a degree of betrayal in that Sterling was able to switch sides so easily.
Almost four years on from that move, Sterling is now quickly rising in the list of the best players in the world, performing not only for Manchester City but also on the international stage with England. His performances at the FIFA World Cup this summer were sublime.
#4 Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) - £135.00m
Kevin De Bruyne, like Paul Pogba, was dismissed by his Premier League club as a youngster, and it took for them to prove that they had ability elsewhere, for their previous club to realise what they'd done wrong. Except this time, instead of De Bruyne returning to Chelsea after his great performances for Wolfsburg, he instead opted for Manchester City.
De Bruyne is a true catalyst in the heart of City's midfield. Having him on the pitch opens up innumerable options for City's attack, as he can either pick out a stunning pass or shoot himself, often scoring thanks to his thunderous right foot.
Adding to his value is the fact he's a star player for Belgium, as well, and had a string of great matches for them in the World Cup this summer. When City won the Premier League title last season, De Bruyne played an instrumental role in the midfield by dictating all the attacking play.
#3 Eden Hazard (Chelsea) - £135.00m
From the get-go, it was clear that Eden Hazard was set out to become a special player. He rapidly progressed through LOSC Lille's youth system before making his debut in the first team. He turned heads and was constantly rumoured to be moving to a top club in each transfer window, but he stayed put out of loyalty to the club.
However, by the summer of 2012, he eventually made the switch to Chelsea for a fee of around £30m. He was met with many critics and the newspapers dubbed him 'overrated' for some time before he eventually found his feet and proved them wrong.
Since then, Hazard has won several trophies with Chelsea, including the Premier League title (twice). To this day, he remains a key player in the line-up at Stamford Bridge, but with such strong links to Real Madrid right now, this could be his final season as a Blue.
#2 Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur) - £135.00m
Now regarded as one of the best strikers in the world, it actually took some time before Harry Kane found his feet as a youngster.
He was loaned out to Leyton Orient at 18 years old but was just mediocre during his spell with them, showing none of the qualities he possesses today. Kane was then given another chance the next season on loan to Millwall, where he performed slightly better, indicating signs of development.
Two more consecutive loan spells with Norwich City and Leicester City, respectively, would happen before he was finally given a chance in the Spurs first-team, now 20 years old. This was really the last chance for him to show everybody that he had what Spurs wanted, and he did just that.
Kane, over the last six seasons with Spurs, has scored a total of 125 goals in 175 games. A truly staggering amount. Adding to his market value is the fact he's the captain of England and also earned himself the Golden Boot at the World Cup this summer. He has truly blossomed into a world class player.
#1 Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) - £135.00m
Mohamed Salah's sudden rise to the top surprised everyone. He had been with Chelsea in the Premier League before, after having signed with the Blues from Basel in 2014, but he was ultimately below-par and disliked by the fans.
He was sent out to Fiorentina on loan for a chance to redeem himself, but he failed to perform and came back somehow worse than he was when he left. Chelsea, at this point, were preparing to sell him on, but they wanted to make more than the amount they paid for him (£15m), and without any offers matching that sum, they settled for another loan spell.
This time, he was shipped out to Roma in Serie A. Salah played a lot better than usual here, as he had been given a role that wasn't out on the flank; it was more central, almost like a second striker. He flourished for Roma and once his loan was up, they bought him for £13.5m in the summer of 2016. Ultimately, Chelsea would lose £2m from what they paid for him, but it seemed that they were just desperate to clear out the books at this point.
Premier League fans thought that would be the last of Salah, until, out of the blue, Liverpool signed him for almost £40m in the summer of 2017. Nobody could quite believe it, and even the Reds' fans thought it was a huge gamble. That was until Salah got out onto the field.
That first season, Salah would break the record for the most amount of goals scored in a 38-game season, previously held by both Luis Suarez and Cristiano Ronaldo at 31 goals. Salah scored a whopping 32.
Everything changed from that moment on, which is why Salah tops the list for the most valuable players in the Premier League right now.
