French star Kylian Mbappé is about to sign for Paris Saint-Germain in a £180million permanent deal this summer, and that rightly makes him the costliest under-23 player in the world.
According to the CIES Football Observatory, who have conducted a study to determine the true value of the best young players in the world, Mbappé, who spent the season on loan at PSG from Monaco, is the most expensive at €186.5millon.
Most expensive U23 players from a transfer value perspective, big-5 leagues: 1. @KMbappe (€186 M) 2. @dele_official (€171 M) 3. @LeroySane19 (€152 M), top 100 overall in last @CIES_Football Weekly Post at https://t.co/PstaW1FE2U pic.twitter.com/s1itkEYLDz
— CIES Football Obs (@CIES_Football) June 4, 2018
England and Tottenham man Dele Alli is not far behind him at €171million, while Manchester City pair Leroy Sane, who has just been left out of Germany’s squad for this summer’s World Cup, and Gabriel Jesus are priced at €152.2million and €140.3million respectively.
It shows just how much football has changed in recent years that near world-record fees are being commended for players with potential, rather than the finished article. Marcus Rashford is the highest valued eight-figure player at €97.5million, despite still struggling to get into Manchester United’s side under Jose Mourinho.
The same organisation did earlier research suggesting Harry Kane is the most valuable player in the world at €201.2million. Lionel Messi is fourth on that list at €184.2million, while his rival Cristiano Ronaldo has failed to make the top 20.
>80 goals scored in last 2 seasons, not yet 25 years old: @HKane (€201 M) overtakes @neymarjr (€195 M) as world most expensive footballer from a transfer value perspective; top 100 for big-5 league players in the latest @CIES_Football Weekly Post at https://t.co/PstaW1FE2U pic.twitter.com/393Bfx6TEo
— CIES Football Obs (@CIES_Football) June 4, 2018
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