The 557th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the rankings of teams worldwide according to the appreciation or depreciation in value of non-academy players signed over the past five years. The calculation considers the balance between transfer fees paid and received for signings who have already been permanently released, and fees paid and current transfer values for those still owned by the club.

Germany’s Eintracht Frankfurt tops the rankings with an appreciation of €527 million: +€293m for players already transferred and +€234m for those still under contract. Real Madrid is right behind with +€526 million: +€27m in “actual” capital gains and +€499m in “virtual” ones, half of which linked to Kylian Mbappé (signed on a free transfer and whose current value exceeds €160 million) and Arda Güler (€30 million vs €125 million).

Three other clubs with sound sports policies and shrewd transfer market strategies round out the top 5: Paris Saint-Germain, SL Benfica and Manchester City. In contrast, Saudi clubs are overrepresented among those whose signings since 2022 have depreciated the most, with Al-Hilal SFC recording the worst balance (-€502 million). The largest depreciation among European clubs was recorded by Manchester United (-€405 million).

* Only clubs whose total transfer spending and income since 2022 exceeds €50 million are in the rankings. Add-ons are included regardless of whether they have been paid or received, as well as the incomes generated through sell-ons.