© EuroFootball.com
Argentinian national team and Barcelona club forward Lionel Messi is the most valuable football player on the planet. The Brazilian consulting company "Pluri" conducted a study and published the list of the top 100 most valuable players. L.Messi's value is 138.1 million euros.
According to this indicator, the Argentinian has held the first place for the third consecutive year.
However, in 2013, Messi was plagued by injuries and was not as productive as the previous year, causing a 1.4% drop in the player's value. Nevertheless, the forward continued to confidently lead the list of the most valuable players.
The second place went to Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid.
The Portuguese player had a successful and productive year last year, receiving the "Golden Ball" in January. His value increased by 11.4% and reached 107.3 million euros in 2013. C.Ronaldo has also held the second position for the third consecutive year.
Gareth Bale jumped to third place, after being acquired by Real Madrid for a record-breaking 100 million euros last summer. His market value is 71.3 million euros. Last year, the footballer was ranked 17th, and in 2011, he was 58th.
In fourth place is the Brazilian Neymar, who two years ago occupied the 6th position. Now playing for Barcelona, the Brazilian is valued at 67.4 million euros. The star of Santos, now with Barcelona, was worth 57 million euros.
In fifth place is Bayern Munich's Mario Gotze, valued at 60.3 million euros. In 2012, the German was ranked 37th in terms of market value, and in 2011, he was 33rd.
Also included in the list of the top 10 most valuable players are Edinson Cavani from Paris Saint-Germain, Radamel Falcao from Monaco, Mesut Ozil from Arsenal in London, Luis Suarez from Liverpool, and Juan Manuel Mata representing Chelsea in London.
The "Pluri" analysts, in determining the market value of the players, relied on 77 different criteria, divided into 18 separate areas.
The list takes into account not only the players' sporting achievements, statistical indicators, salaries, and club successes but also factors such as personal sponsorship contracts, the level of national competitions, the attractiveness of local markets, the general transfer market trends, player injuries, frequency and nature of injuries, tactical aspects, how often the player starts matches in the starting lineup, international match experience, discipline on the field, potential for improvement, and many other criteria.
The entire list of the most valuable players is worth more than 3.5 billion euros.
It includes players from 26 countries and 17 clubs.
Most players in the list are from Bayern Munich - 12, Real Madrid and Manchester City - 11 each, Barcelona - 9, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea - 7 each.
The majority of the most valuable players by market value play in the English leagues - 29. In Spain, there are 24 valuable players, 18 in the Bundesliga, 13 in the Italian championship, 10 in France, 3 in Russia, 2 in Portugal, and 1 in Ukraine.
Economist and sports marketing expert Fernando Ferreira, who led the study, noted that the cheapest player in the list was valued at 22 million euros last year. In 2012, the cheapest player was worth 21.2 million euros, and in 2011, 20.2 million euros.
Over the past year, the market value of Brazilian player Marquinhos increased the most - by a staggering 718.8%. "Paris Saint-Germain" did not hesitate to pay 35 million euros for this nineteen-year-old defender, even though the player had only played one season in Italy with Roma and it was his first year in Europe. Marquinhos, valued at 26.2 million in the market, is ranked 78th among the most valuable players.
Asier Illarramendi's market value increased by 502%, and Diego Costa's by 288%.
All the rated players are under 30 years old. The list does not include football stars like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Xavi Hernandez, Iker Casillas, Gianluigi Buffon, Victor Valdes, and Frank Lampard.
