Dele Alli is more valuable than Lionel Messi as top 20 most expensive players in the world revealed

The study listed the 110 most valuable footballers in the world

Jack Austin
Monday 12 June 2017 15:01 BST
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The 110 most valuable players in the world have been released in a study by CIES Football Observatory, with Barcelona star Neymar being listed as the hottest property on the market.

There are a number of other notable things to take away from with Dele Alli’s value as surprisingly high as Gareth Bale’s is surprisingly low.

The report is based on an algorithm of almost 2,000 transfer fees with variables shaped on the performances of the player, performances of the club, international status, length of contract, age and position.

Cristiano Ronaldo, at 32 years old is the oldest player to feature, with Monaco’s Kylian Mbappe, 18, the youngest.

Scroll through the gallery at the top of the page to see the top 20 most valuable players in the world as we list the five biggest talking points of the study below.

Alli more valuable than Messi

Tottenham’s Dele Alli, at 21 years old, is the second most valuable player on the list at €155.1m, which is €4m more than the Lionel Messi, who is widely considered the best player to ever kick a football.

Actually, Harry Kane, who scored 29 Premier League goals this season to push Tottenham to a second-place finish, is also worth more than Messi, with clubs needing to stump up €153.6m to sign him.

Summer transfer window: Likely deals and biggest rumours

List is dominated by Premier League players

In the top 50 most valuable players on the list, 23 of them are owned by Premier League teams, compared to only 14 from La Liga.

That number could be even greater too should transfer targets of Manchester United and Liverpool be signed with Andrea Belotti and Mohamed Salah just two of the names expected to arrive in the Premier League.

Bale’s value drops by nearly 30%

If Manchester United were ever going to sign Gareth Bale, now seems like the time to do it. Bale has spent much of this season out of the Real Madrid team which has seen his value drop to €66.7m, below the likes of Thibaut Courtois and Anthony Martial.

(AFP
(AFP (AFP)

Bale joined Real Madrid for a reported €100m meaning his value has fallen by nearly a third of that, even though he is 27 and about to enter what is widely considered as his prime.

Experience beats youth

Kylian Mbappe, at 18 years old, is expected to smash the transfer record this summer by becoming the world’s first player to be bought for more than £100m.

However, according to the report, he is still worth less than a former holder of that title, Cristiano Ronaldo, who despite being the oldest player on the list, is still worth €112.4m – nearly €10m more than the Monaco teenager.

Rashford ahead of Morata

Manchester United are on the verge of signing Alvaro Morata from Real Madrid, but they could be overpaying according to the study. Real are holding out for around €70m but the report claim him to be worth €61m – placing him as the 51st most valuable player in the world.

He is also less valuable than Rashford, who is rated as €73.5m and likely to surrender is place for Morata should he arrive.

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