CIES Football Observatory speaks on record-breaking Neymar transfer

Since its creation in 2005, the CIES Football Observatory has become a reference point for the demographic analysis of the football players’ labour market, the technical analysis of player performance and the scientific estimation of transfer values.

Therefore, the expertise of the CIES Football Observatory is regularly requested by the Football industry (federations, confederations, clubs, leagues, etc) and various media organisations from all over the world. As with every transfer window (mercato), our analysis is always in high demand, and this was particularly true in relation to the historic Neymar transfer from Barcelona to Paris St-Germain this summer.

Please find below a non-exhaustive list of articles and interviews on the Neymar transfer, where the expertise of the CIES Football Observatory has appeared in world media over the past few weeks:

· BBC News

· Daily mail online

· Le Monde

· Libération

· Avis d'experts

· RTS Forum - 02.08.2017, 18h00

· Jeune Afrique

· Agefi

· 20 minutes

· arcinfo

· La Croix

Further, the CIES Football Observatory research team has developed a powerful approach to estimate, using a scientific basis, the transfer value of professional football players. The exclusive CIES Football Observatory algorithm is based on the thorough analysis of almost 2,000 fee paying transfers and has been developed based on a detailed analysis of deals concluded over the past seven years. The variables through which transfer values are modelled notably include the performance of the player and the employer club, international status, contract, age and position. More information on the unique approach used by the Observatory is available in the 16th edition of the CIES Football Observatory Monthly Report.

Using this methodology, Neymar’s transfer value was estimated by the CIES Football Observatory over the past few years. The last estimation was close to the record breaking amount of €222m, which confers even more credibility to the research of the CIES Football Observatory.  

For more information on the CIES Football Observatory, click here.