The Football Observatory at the International Centre for Sports Studies released its annual review for the 2014 season, and it contains estimated market values for the most valuable players in the five big European leagues. The player valuations were made by a model that takes into account age, length of contract remaining, position, player performance at club level for last and previous seasons (matches, minutes, goals, assists, passes, tackles, interceptions, etc.), results of the clubs to which players belong, as well as players international experience and results of association represented at national A-team level. When a player switches teams in soccer, the club buying him pays the selling team a transfer fee. This Football Observatory study estimates that transfer fee for each player. Some observations: Lionel Messi, whos the most valuable player in the world as well as the highest-paid player in the world , is nearly twice as expensive as the 2nd- most valuable player, Cristiano Ronaldo. Thats because Messi is just 26 years old while Ronaldo is 29. Nearly every player in the top-25 could be described as an attacking player (23 out of 25, with Sergio Busquets and probably Paul Pogba as the lone exceptions). Eleven of the top-25 players play in the English Premier League, eight play in Spain, two play in France, two play in Germany, and two play in Italy. The youngest player (Raheem Sterling) is 19 years old. The oldest (Andres Iniesta) is 30. Heres the top 25 (club and national team in parenthesis): 1. Lionel Messi (Barcelona, Argentina) — $ 272-317 million 2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid, Portugal) — $144-167 million 3. Luis Suarez (Liverpool, Uruguay) — $ 134-156 million 4. Eden Hazard (Chelsea, Belgium) — $ 103-120 million 5. Neymar (Barcelona, Brazil) — $86-99 million 6. Paul Pogba (Juventus, France) — $ 83-96 million 7. Gareth Bale (Real Madrid, Wales) — $ 80-92 million 8. Mesut Ozil (Arsenal, Germany) — $ 67-78 million 9. Edinson Cavani (PSG, Uruguay) — $ 65-76 million 10. Mario Gotze (Bayern Munich, Germany) — $64-74 million 11. Diego Costa (Atletico Madrid, Spain) — $64-74 million 12. Oscar (Chelsea, Brazil) — $63-$72 million 13. Sergio Aguero (Manchester City, Argentina) — $62-72 million 14. Isco (Real Madrid, Spain) — $56-65 million 15. Raheem Sterling (Liverpool, England) — $53-61 million 16. Ross Barkley (Everton, England) — $ 50-58 million 17. Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich, Germany) — $50-$58 million 18. Wayne Rooney (Manchester United, England) — $50-58 million 19. Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool, England) — $50-58 million 20. Andres Iniesta (Barcelona, Spain) — $ 50-58 million 21. Mario Balotelli (AC Milan, Italy) — $ 48-56 million 22. Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea, Belgium) — $48-56 million 23. Juan Mata (Manchester United, Spain) — $47-54 million 24. Sergio Busquets (Barcelona, Spain) — $47-54 million 25. James Rodriguez (Monaco, Colombia) — $47-54 million
Posted on: Thu, 11 Dec 2014 08:01:01 +0000
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