December 10 – There is still big money in youth development despite an overall stagnation in the transfer market. A new transfer value analysis of the Big 5 leagues says there are 15 players under the age of 23 who could command a transfer fee of €100 million or more.
Top of that list are three forwards – Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund and Norway), Vinícius Júnior (Real Madrid and Brazil) and Phil Foden (Manchester City and England) – all of whom are valued at €150 million.
Attacking midfielders Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen and Germany) and Pedri Gonzales (Barcelona and Spain) are both valued at €140 million. Defensive midfielder Jude Bellingham (Dortmund and England) is also a standout valuation at €120 million, while the most valuable U23 full back – by €50 million over his nearest rival – is Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich and Canada) at €120 million.
The data is compiled by the CIES Football Observatory using its own proprietary valuation model for players across the Big 5 leagues. The data breaks out Top 10s by six positions: Goalkeeper, full back, centre back, defensive midfield, attacking midfield and forward.
“Seventeen of the sixty U23 footballers listed play in the English Premier League, fourteen in the German Bundesliga, twelve in the Spanish Liga, ten in the French Ligue 1 and only seven in the Italian Serie A. Bayer Leverkusen is the most represented club with six players, followed by Barcelona (5) and Chelsea (4),” say the report authors.
Nine of the players listed are qualified for England and have made their international first team debuts.
The transfer value estimate intervals for all big-5 league players can be seen on the CIES Football Observatory website at www.football-observatory.com.
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