Revealed: The most respected footballers on this planet – £209m Jude Bellingham beats £184m Erling Haaland in boffins’ listing… and which Premier League stars crack the highest 20 together with three shock picks?
- Stats boffins have compiled a list of the top 100 most valuable footballers
- Jude Bellingham has come out on top ahead of Man City’s Erling Haaland
- LISTEN to It’s All Kicking Off! Jack Grealish won’t be allowed to drift at Man City… he’ll be sold this summer if things don’t change
Jude Bellingham has pipped Erling Haaland to top spot on a list of the most valuable players in world football.
The CIES Football Observatory have compiled a list of the top 100 footballers by factoring in a player’s age and contract length, and it is Bellingham who is the cream of the crop, with the Real Madrid and England star valued at €251m (£209m).
Manchester City‘s Haaland has to settle for second behind his former Borussia Dortmund team-mate as he is rated at €221m (£184m) by the stats boffins.
Vinicius Jr (£171m), who was controversially overlooked for the Ballon d’Or in October, completes the top three, closely followed by Lamine Yamal (£150m) and Kylian Mbappe (£146m).
The Premier League is well represented, with an England trio all finishing in the top 10.
Bukayo Saka (£131m) takes sixth spot, with Cole Palmer (£125m) and Phil Foden (£121m) in eighth and ninth, respectively.
Jude Bellingham has been ranked the most valuable footballer in the world by stats boffins
Bellingham has beaten Man City striker Erling Haaland into second place
England’s Phil Foden (left) and Cole Palmer (right) make the top 10 alongside Bukayo Saka
But there are also three shock picks from England’s top flight that make the top 20. Arsenal forward Kai Havertz (£108m) is 11th, despite a quiet start to the season that has seen him score just seven Premier League goals. He also joined Arsenal for a significantly lower fee – £65m – just 18 months ago.
Two places below him on the list is City winger Savinho (£98m) who has only scored once since joining Pep Guardiola’s side in the summer.
Then, perhaps even more surprisingly, Rasmus Hojlund (£93m) is 18th. The Manchester United striker moved to Old Trafford for £73m in 2023, but has struggled to prove that he is the answer to the club’s goalscoring problems.
However, CIES appear to have faith that he will come good, and he is under contract at United until 2029.
Josko Gvardiol (£97m) and Declan Rice (£90m) are the other two Premier League stars inside the top 20.
Meanwhile, Cody Gakpo (£87m) is the highest-valued player at league leaders Liverpool.
He comes in just ahead of Arsenal pair William Saliba (£85m) and Gabriel Martinelli (£84m), and his Liverpool team-mates Darwin Nunez (£83m) and Ryan Gravenberch (£82m).
Alejandro Garnacho (£81m) and Alexander Isak (£80m) are next, and both have been linked with potential moves away from their respective clubs.
Kai Havertz (second right) is surprisingly rated at over £100m despite his slow start to the season
Savinho only has one goal for City since joining in the summer, but still makes the top 20
Rasmus Hojlund still has his doubters, but is valued at £93m just 18 months after joining Man United for £73m
Garnacho is no longer deemed untouchable by United after being axed from Ruben Amorim’s squad for last month’s Manchester derby, while Isak is in the form of his life and scored again in Newcastle’s 2-0 win over Arsenal on Tuesday night.
However, the Magpies are likely to be looking for much more than £80m for their prized asset, with a recent report claiming Newcastle value him at more than £150m.
Elsewhere, Chelsea duo Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez are the most expensive players in Premier League history, with the Blues splashing out £115m and £107m, respectively, to bring them to Stamford Bridge.
They also make the CIES list, but at significantly lower values, with Fernandez rated at £79m and Caicedo £73m.
