Valued at €343 million, Lamine Yamal continues to be the most expensive player in the world according to the CIES Football Observatory’s statistical model. The young Spaniard is ahead of two centre forwards who, although older, keep scoring and performing well : Erling Haaland (€255m) and Kylian Mbappé (€201m).
At the top of the list in January last year, Jude Bellingham is now fourth (€153 million). The Englishman from Real Madrid is ahead of Bayern Munich's Frenchman Michael Olise (€137m) and Liverpool's new signing Florian Wirtz (€136m). The top 10 also includes two Paris St-Germain players, Désiré Doué and João Neves, another Real Madrid member, Arda Güler, and a further FC Barcelona’s footballer: Pedri González.
The highest value for a player outside Europe's big-5 leagues was recorded for Palmeiras' Brazilian Vitor Roque (€85 million), ahead of FC Porto's Spanish forward Samu Aghehowa (€76 million) and Sporting CP's Portuguese winger Geovany Quenda (€70 million), already signed by Chelsea. Gianluigi Donnarumma (€81m) tops the table for goalkeepers, Pau Cubarsí (€110m) for centre backs and Nico O'Reilly (€90m) for wide backs.
Estimated transfer values (€ million)
Date: 06/01/2026.
Positions: [gk] goalkeeper, [fb] full/wing back, [cb] centre back, [dm] defensive midfield, [am] attacking midfield, [wi] winger, [cf] centre forward.