The 521st CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the 100 players in the world who should earn the highest salaries according to a statistical model* taking into account sporting variables over the last year (playing time, sporting level of matches and rate of games in the starting 11), as well as the primary position played. Kylian Mbappé tops the list with an estimated deserved gross annual salary of €22.8 million (fixed part only).

This amount is 40% lower than that received, thanks to the fact that Real Madrid did not have to pay a transfer fee when he was signed in the summer of 2024, as well as the superstar effect allowing star players to monetise their status beyond their sporting performances. Mohamed Salah and Jude Bellingham complete the podium of the players deserving the highest salaries with respect to the variables included in our model.

Offensive players earning generally more than players in other positions, centre forwards and wingers are overrepresented at the top of the rankings. For other positions, Thibaut Courtois ranks first among goalkeepers, Virgil van Dijk among centre backs, Achraf Hakimi among full backs, João Neves among central or defensive midfielders, while Dominik Szoboszlai is second only to Jude Bellingham among attacking midfielders.

*Built on almost 2,000 salaries negotiated by players for permanent transfers or contract extensions, the CIES Football Observatory proprietary statistical model used in this study explains 83% of the differences in the amounts observed.

>>> Top 100

>>> New Prospect Sheet with Impect : Kader Meïté (Stade Rennais)

The 520th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the players who have not yet celebrated their 20th birthday with the highest transfer value according to our statistical model. In four cases, the estimate exceeds €100 million (with add-ons and for 100% of rights) : Lamine Yamal (€350 million), Estêvão Willian (€118 million), Pau Cubarsí (€113 million) and Franco Mastantuono (€102 million).

The top ten also includes Frenchman Warren Zaïre-Emery (Paris Saint-Germain), Arsenal’s Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly from England, Portugal’s Geovany Quenda (Sporting CP, already signed by Chelsea), another Brazilian, Endrick Felipe (Real Madrid), and Sweden’s Lucas Bergvall (Tottenham).

In total, 113 teenagers playing in 25 leagues and 80 clubs around the world are estimated to be worth at least €10 million. The English Premier League is the best represented (23 players), ahead of the German Bundesliga (16) and the French Ligue 1 (11). This exclusive tool presents the most valuable player per team in 67 leagues.

<<< full list

Issue number 519 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the 50 nations in the world whose clubs have generated the most revenue over the last ten years from the international transfer of players trained in the country (including add-ons and sell-ons). France is clearly in the lead with €3.98 billion, an average of almost €400 million per year.

Clubs in two other countries have generated more than €2 billion from the international transfer of locally trained players over the last decade : Brazil (€2.60 billion) and Spain (€2.24 billion). Revenues exceeded €1 billion in six other countries : five European (Portugal, the Netherlands, England, Germany and Italy) and Argentina.

Transfers of players aged 20 or under account for almost one third of total revenue. Among the top 20 nations, this percentage is particularly high for Serbia (64.7%), Brazil (50.1%), Denmark (48.4%), Sweden (47.9%) and Belgium (43.8%). These figures reflect the early international transfer of players trained in these countries.

>>> Full data

The CIES Football Observatory is also happy to disclose its 7th Prospect Sheet in collaboration with Impect highlighting the great KRC Genk’s talent Konstantinos Karetsas.

As every year, the CIES Football Observatory has identified the clubs having trained* the players currently active in 49 leagues around the world to establish a ranking of the clubs with the best academies. The 518th Weekly Post presents the top 100 according to a training index taking into account the number of players trained, the level of the clubs they played for last year and the official game minutes played over the same period.

As last year, Benfica ranks first with 93 players trained active in the 49 leagues analysed, an average level of employment clubs of 0.81 and 2,582 minutes played on average in official matches over the last year. Barcelona (76 players, average club level of 0.87 and 2,773 minutes) and River Plate (97 players, average level of 0.81 and 2,305 minutes) complete the podium of the clubs with the best academies.

The top 10 includes a further Portuguese team (Sporting CP), another Spanish one (Real Madrid), two other Argentine clubs (Boca Juniors and Vélez Sarsfield), as well as Ajax from the Netherlands, Dinamo Zagreb from Croatia, and Defensor from Uruguay. Thirty countries are represented by at least one team in the top 100, the most represented nations being Argentina (15 clubs) and Brazil (11 clubs).

*Training clubs are defined as the first teams in which footballers have played for at least three years between the seasons of their 15th and 21st birthdays (inclusive).

>>> Top 100

This video illustrates the main changes that have taken place since 2010 in the composition of teams in thirty European top divisions in terms of squad size (increase), player height (also increasing), the proportion of club-trained footballers (decrease), that of expatriates (increase), the average age of first international migration (decrease), and the presence of newly recruited players (increase).

Thanks to the collaboration with Impect, the CIES Football Observatory has developed performance indices on a 100 basis in eight areas of play. This Weekly Post presents the 50 outfield footballers with the highest values in each domain for the last six-month domestic league games, with each player appearing only in the ranking for the area in which they scored highest.

The following players head the tables in the different areas : Virgil van Dijk (air defence), Moisés Caicedo (ground defence), Rúben Dias (defensive build-up), Pedri González (orchestration), Michael Olise (take on), Lamine Yamal (chance creation), Kylian Mbappé (finishing) and Erling Haaland (air attack).

The youngest players in the top 50 of each category are as follows : Eivind Helland (air defence), Agustín Medina (ground defence), Pau Cubarsí (defensive build-up), Warren Zaïre-Emery (orchestration), Estêvão Willian (take on), Lamine Yamal (chance creation), Franco Mastantuono (finishing) and Thierno Barry (air attack).

>>> Top 50s for the eight domains

>>> More about Impect

>>> More about the indices

The 516th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post highlights the clubs whose estimated transfer value of players owned has changed the most, positively or negatively, over the past year. We present both the change in absolute terms (‘gross’ evolution) and the change considering the financial balance of transfer operations (with sell-ons, not including add-ons) completed during the last two transfer windows (‘net’ evolution).

In terms of net evolution, Chelsea tops the list (+€364 million) with player valuations up €372m and a balanced net spending for the last two transfer windows : -€8m. The reigning world champions are ahead of the European ones, Paris St-Germain (+€303 million). German side Eintracht Francfort (+€294m) rounds up the podium. Manchester United (-€377 million) and Manchester City (-€315m) are at the opposite end of the table.

The Post also presents the estimated transfer value of all players owned by clubs (not including any sell-on related sums). In this case, the top three are Chelsea (€1.81 billion spread across 50 players), Real Madrid (€1.68 billion, 32 players) and Manchester City (€1.47 billion,46 players). Five other clubs have a total estimated value in excess of one billion : Arsenal, Paris St-Germain, Liverpool, Barcelona and Tottenham.

>>> Full data

>>> Top valued players per club in this tool

>>> More information on the CIES Football Observatory’s statistical model for estimating transfer values in this scientific article