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News

Wed. 05 January 2022

Most expensive players: Vinícius Júnior at the top

Issue number 362 of the Weekly Post presents the traditional bi-annual list of the 100 big-5 league players with the top estimated transfer value according to the CIES Football Observatory algorithm. The Real Madrid’s Brazilian rising star Vinícius Júnior (€166 million) outranks Phil Foden and Erling Haaland. These figures are irrespective of eventual buy-out clauses in players’ contract.

Per position, the top transfer values were calculated for Gianluigi Donnarumma among goalkeepers, Rúben Dias for centre backs, Alphonso Davies among full backs, Jude Bellingham for defensive midfielders, Florian Wirtz for attacking ones, as well as for Vinícius Júnior among forwards. Kevin de Bruyne has the greatest valuation among players aged 30 or over, while Kylian Mbappé tops the list for players running out of contract next June.

The values were calculated using the exclusive econometric approach developed by the CIES Football Observatory research team. A paper presenting the method has been recently published in the peer-review and open access journal Economies. It can be accessed here. The transfer value estimates for all big-5 league players are also available in free access here. Go to the Weekly Post to find out the top 100!

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