Raheem Sterling and Mohamed Salah are ranked as two of the three most valuable players in the world according to the Football Observatory, putting them both above Lionel Messi — while England star Jadon Sancho is hot on the Barcelona man’s tail.
Ranked third is Sterling with the Manchester City forward priced at £190million and he is just behind Salah whose value sits at a £200m following two stunning campaigns at Liverpool.Both though trail Kylian Mbappe who tops the list of 100 players, with the Paris Saint-Germain star well out in front at £230m.Perhaps surprisingly Messi’s value falls well below the trio with his £153million tag only good enough to rank him fourth.
The CIES Football Observatory list is based on an algorithm produced with around 57 variables including age, contract, position, minutes, goals, international status and team results.Transfer values are also based on the potential recruiting club. All of Liverpool’s front three feature in the top 10, with Sadio Mane sixth and Roberto Firmino ranked eighth.
Premier League stars make the majority of the top 10 with Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane and Manchester City’s Leroy Sane also featuring, while there is a space in fifth for Borussia Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho with the England international’s value just £8m less than Messi’s.
Antoine Griezmann, who moved to Barcelona from Atletico Madrid for £105m this summer has already seen his value increase by over £25m to make him the ninth most valued player.Outside of the top 10, Paul Pogba and Neymar (both £114m) are ranked 16th and 17th respectively, but below Philippe Coutinho and Romelu Lukaku.
Squeezing into the top 20 is Cristiano Ronaldo (£108m) just behind Eden Hazard (£110m) and Marcus Rashford (£113m).Virgil van Dijk may be a strong contender to win the Ballon d’Or but he is not even ranked the most valuable defender, with that honour going to 13th placed Trent Alexander Arnold (£119m). Van Dijk is instead valued at (£102m) and down in 22nd spot. Liverpool also boast the most valuable goalkeeper with Alisson a further two places down at £98m
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