20 Most Valuable Footballers in the World

Recently, it seems as if football transfers are spiralling out of control. It felt like only yesterday that Paul Pogba became the first ever £100million player. That sort of sum is a pretty common occurrence now.

Defensive midfielders Declan Rice and Moises Caicedo moved for nine-figure fees in the 2023 summer transfer window, with the latter becoming the most expensive Premier League transfer ever. Given that £100m only seems to get you a 21-year-old midfielder with barely one year of English top-flight experience these days, just imagine how much it will cost to sign the best players on the planet.

Transfermarkt’s latest valuations have seen Erling Haaland break away from his peers and become the most valuable player in the world. Having previously been tied with Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Jr and Kylian Mbappe each valued at €180million (£152million), the Manchester City man is now in a league of his own and worth €200million (£166million).

1 Erling Haaland – £152m

Manchester City

He might have lost his crown as the outright most valuable player in the world since last season, but Manchester City striker Erling Haaland has managed to reclaim his throne with his blistering start to the 2024/25 campaign. Last season may have been a down year by his own lofty standards, but he’s bounced back massively this time around, breaking the record for the fastest time to score 10 goals at the start of a Premier League season.

The Norwegian only cost City a reported £51m, and it has proved to be an absolute bargain. Pep Guardiola hailed him as ‘unique’ after Haaland shattered Alan Shearer and Andy Cole’s record for league goals in a season in 2022/23, while Rio Ferdinand said after City’s 7-0 win against RB Leipzig that Haaland brings ‘a superpower’ to his present club. Named the IFFHS’ footballer of 2023, it’s scary to think that the 24-year-old has not even reached his peak yet.

2 Jude Bellingham – £152m

Real Madrid

Jude Bellingham has emerged as one of the best players in the world in recent years. The Englishman cost Real Madrid a base transfer fee of £88.5m when he joined Los Blancos from Borussia Dortmund in 2023, and he was given the number five jersey at the Santiago Bernabeu – a shirt previously won by iconic figure, Zinedine Zidane.

Has he continued Zidane’s legacy in his legendary jersey? So far so good. Still only 21 years old, Bellingham has wasted little time in becoming one of Madrid’s most important players, hitting the 20-goal mark across all competitions by spring in his debut campaign despite starting in midfield. That prolific return proves exactly why the former Dortmund man is already seen as one of the top English players to have played abroad.

3 Vinicius Junior – £152m

Real Madrid

Vinicius Junior was tipped to be the next Neymar when he first joined Real Madrid, and he’s more than lived up to the hype. While he struggled for goals in his first couple of seasons at the club, he’s developed into one of the most prolific wingers in world football. The Brazilian managed to reach double figures for both goals and assists in the last two La Liga seasons, proving he is just as creative as he is clinical after pinning the nail in Dortmund’s coffin in the 2023-24 Champions League final at Wembley.

Following the departure of Karim Benzema, Vinicius has become the main star at the club, alongside Bellingham. Defenders dread coming up against the fast and agile wide man as he never switches off and, as a result, never lets an opposing full-back rest. Many will expect Vinicius to find himself in the running to win the Ballon d’Or soon.

4 Kylian Mbappe – £152m

Real Madrid

After finally putting pen to paper on that long-drawn-out process of becoming a Real Madrid player, Kylian Mbappe will finally hope to get his hands on the European Cup. Widely considered the best footballer since the Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi duopoly came to an end, the Frenchman already has a World Cup and six league titles to his name, and more space in his trophy cabinet will need to be made in order to fit his impending success in the Spanish capital.

Although he is valued at £152million, Real Madrid signed him on a free transfer as he was out of contract at PSG. They did, however, pay Mbappe a huge nine-figure signing on fee to go with his lofty weekly wages.

5 Phil Foden – £126m

Manchester City

Manchester City’s Phil Foden comes in fifth on the list with a value of £126million. The 24-year-old has already played more than 200 games for Manchester City and has won 17 trophies so far in his career, including a historic treble in the 2022/23 season, and his highest output campaign in the one just passed.

Considered one of the most technically gifted English players of this generation, Foden is one of the best dribblers in the game and still has time to develop further. His start to the 2024/25 campaign has been a little slow and he’s rarely featured for Pep Guardiola’s men so far, but the season is still young.

6 Bukayo Saka – £118m

Arsenal

Arsenal starboy Bukayo Saka follows very closely behind compatriot Foden. The Englishman signed a new four-year deal that will keep him at the club until 2027 – combine that with more stellar performances in 2023/24 for the Gunners, and you can understand why his value is so high right now.

Mikel Arteta’s team are one of the top sides in Europe currently, and Saka was the man at the forefront of the Gunners’ title charge, despite narrowly missing out on glory to Foden’s City. Saka is one of the best wingers in the Premier League and, unlike Foden, he is a dependable performer for his country, impressing at Euro 2024 and contributing in key moments.

7 Florian Wirtz – £110m

Bayer Leverkusen

Arguably the most important cog in Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen machine, Florian Wirtz was instrumental to his side’s Bundesliga title-winning campaign – which consisted of exactly zero defeats.

At 21 years old, he could be forgiven for showing fear and nervousness at times. However, Wirtz is wise beyond his years, and with a supreme natural ability to know exactly what to do with the ball in every scenario presented to him, the North Rhine-born orchestrator is ready for the big occasions. In turn, this might lead to him becoming the cynosure of a transfer tug-of-war this summer – but there also may not be a better club right now to keep developing than with Leverkusen.

8 Jamal Musiala – £110m

Bayern Munich

Believe it or not, Jamal Musiala was once a part of the Chelsea youth academy. The German went to school at Whitgift in Croydon before signing for Bayern Munich in 2019, and since moving, he has developed into one of football’s most admired youngsters who is now an integral part of Bayern’s side and the German national team – a story of what could have been for England after he rose through the Three Lions’ youth system with Jude Bellingham before taking advantage of his German passport.

Musiala is currently one of the best young players in the world, operating as a wriggling and ruthless menace for a member of Europe’s elite at such a young age. He had been linked with a move to Liverpool in October 2023, but any club wishing to secure his services will likely have to cough up at least the £110m he is valued at in today’s market.

9 Rodri – £110m

Manchester City

Few would argue that Rodri isn’t the best midfielder in the world right now. While he didn’t exactly struggle after joining Manchester City in 2019, he did take a little bit of time to find his best form. Over the last couple of years, though, he has been fantastic, playing a key role in City’s 2022-23 Treble win, including scoring the winning goal in the Champions League final against Inter Milan.

Rodri maintained his level during the following campaign as Pep Guardiola’s men got their hands on a fourth successive Premier League title, and in the summer of 2024 Rodri tasted success on the international stage for the first team as Spain beat England to win the European Championship. An ACL injury means Rodri will miss the remainder of the 2024/25 campaign, but that shouldn’t hurt his value.

10 Lamine Yamal – £101m

Barcelona

Another Spaniard, and a quite remarkable one at that. Lamine Yamal has emerged as one of the best wingers in world football at the age of just 17. Not even Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi had made an impression like Yamal has such a young age, which says a lot about just how impressive Yamal’s rise has been.

Yamal played over 50 times for Barcelona last season, with only Ilkay Gundogan making more appearances, and he was handed an important role for Spain at Euro 2024, starting in all but one of La Roja’s games on the route to glory in Germany. Yamal has a bright future ahead, and considering how impressive he’s been to start the 2024/25 campaign, it will be a surprise if he doesn’t one day become the most valuable footballer in the world.