Hold your horses and put away the torches, I’m not here to tell you that Neymar is better than Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo.
Although the top two players in the world might still outclass the young Brazilian on the pitch, they are not nearly as valuable as Barcelona’s number 11 according to a study from the CIES Football Observatory.
Using their statistical model to estimate player values, the Football Observatory concluded that in order to buy Neymar at a fair price, a club would need to unload no less than 246.8 million Euros. That is 76.3 million more than the runner-up on the list, Messi.
These numbers include all kinds of factors such as performance, achievements, age, current contract and international status.
The CIES Football Observatory rank the most valuable players in Europe's top 5 leagues.
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In this latest ranking, age certainly played a factor as the winner of the Ballon d’Or, Ronaldo, at 31 years of age, ranked only seventh in the list. While he might be number one in the award ceremonies, CR7 has the same number next to his name as he does on his jersey when it comes to how much he is worth.
The majority of the list is composed of Premier League and La Liga stars, but there was a surprise from Italy in the top 10.
With Neymar headlining the list for La Liga players and Messi claiming the second spot, third place belonged to Manchester United’s Paul Pogba. The Premier League’s most valuable man is worth no less than €155.3m, which makes the world record fee of €105m United paid for him seem like a bargain.
The Serie A surprise in the top 10 was none other than 23-year-old Argentinian striker Paulo Dybala, who beat Tottenham’s Dele Alli to the eighth spot and is worth €113.8m.
From the Bundesliga, the most valuable player is neither Robert Lewandowski nor Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Instead of the two world-class strikers, the honor went to a teenager from Borussia Dortmund.
No, not Christian Pulisic.
Dortmund’s 19-year-old winger Ousmane Dembele was considered the most expensive man in Germany with a €71m value.
The most valuable man in France’s Ligue 1 was Monaco’s Bernardo Silva, who finished 51st in the rankings and is worth €52.5m.
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