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The 20 most valuable players in the world featuring Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi, Sadio Mane and more

The CIES algorithm takes into account player performance for club and country, age, position and the ‘economic level’ of his club and those who could potentially buy them

Freddie Keighley
Wednesday 08 January 2020 12:01 GMT
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January transfer window 2020 round-up

The 20 most valuable players in Europe's top five leagues have been revealed by CIES Football Observatory.

The Swiss research group's algorithm finds the player with the highest transfer value to be worth €265.2m, while many English players from all areas of the pitch feature prominently on the list.

The top 20 players are all forwards with the exception of Leicester City's James Maddison in midfield and Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold at full-back. Liverpool also have the most valuable goalkeeper in Alisson (€87m) and centre-back in Virgil van Dijk (€93m), but neither of these players make the top 20.

The CIES algorithm takes into account player performance for club and country, age, position and the 'economic level' of his club and those who could potentially buy them.

Liverpool are the English club with the most players in the top 20 with four, while Manchester City contribute two. Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United, Everton and Leicester all have one player feature, and the Premier League is the home of 11 of the 20 most valuable players.

There are some surprises, such as Manchester United star Paul Pogba only being valued at €80.4m.

Elsewhere, 34-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo is valued at just €80.3m despite the five-time Ballon d'Or winner still producing marvellous displays for Juventus.

In fact, Lionel Messi is the only player over the age of 30 to feature in the top 20 - which has an average age of just over 24.

Neymar is also ranked relatively low down the list despite his record £200.6m move from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain.

Check out the full list of the top 20 most valuable players in Europe's top leagues in the gallery above

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