The CIES Football Observatory, a Swiss football thinktank, has released its data for the year on the world’s most highly transfer valued clubs…
Their figures are based on adding up the value of every individual. Individuals are valued on ability, contract status, age, marketability and the league in which they play in. The Premier League has the highest premium, which has probably contributed to our unbelievably high ranking…
How are we above Bayern Munich! How are we above Manchester City?!
It’s likely because our squad is very young, meaning the potential sell-on value of the players is much higher.
Anyway – here’s their top 10!
10) Juventus – €308.1m
The Champions League finalists have a very old average age in their squad, and they’d be ranked significantly lower if it wasn’t for their prize asset: Paul Pogba.
9) Tottenham – €313.9m
Spurs have Harry Kane, who is rated as the 15th most valuable player in the world in the report – based on potential sell-on value! He’s the reason they appear in the Top 10, primarily.
8) Manchester United – €337.3m
Angel di Maria, Wayne Rooney, Juan Mata, David de Gea… And still below Liverpool? We’re not sure we agree with the calculations – but we’ll take it!
7) Manchester City – €374.7m
City’s better players are mostly ageing, although Sergio Aguero is valued at €78-86m, the fifth highest in the world.
6) Bayern Munich – €378.9m
Now this one we really cannot get… Bayern possess an absolute plethora of the world’s best players – including brilliant young ones like Thiago, David Alaba and Mario Gotze. Perhaps the perceived lower value of Bundesliga players has significantly affected their ranking?
5) Liverpool – €381.5m
Sterling (6th) and Coutinho (17th) are both ranked in the world’s top 20 most valuable players, while Jordan Henderson, Emre Can and Daniel Sturridge make the top 100. Their age and potential, plus the fact we traditionally charge mammoth sums for our best players (Torres, Suarez, Alonso…) has caused our rank to be so high.
4) Arsenal – €466.1m
The Gunners are the third highest valued English side – thanks mainly to Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez and Aaron Ramsey.
3) Real Madrid – €545.1m
CIES value Cristiano Ronaldo below Eden Hazard, and Real Madrid below Chelsea, too. The Spaniards have four players in the top 20 – with James, Isco and Gareth Bale joining the three-time Ballon d’Or winner joining him.
2) Chelsea – €617.8m
Chelsea’s Premier League title winning squad is worth an enormous amount. Even their squad players get sold for massive money (Lukaku, De Bruyne, Mata, Schurrle), which has increased the value of the current batch… Diego Costa, Eden Hazard, Cesc Fabregas, Thibaut Courtois and Oscar all make the top 20.
1) Barcelona – €682m
Barbarically (but probably fairly…) CIES value Lionel Messi at €255-280m! Alongside the greatest player in the world, Barcelona deploy Neymar (ranked 4th) and Luis Suarez (11th) as part of the most devastating front-three in football – while virtually their entire squad is valued in the top 100 players.
