Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo may be the two best footballers on the planet, but neither of them can lay claim to being the most valuable, according to the CIES Football Observatory.
A list of footballers ranked according to estimated transfer values places Messi at 4th and Ronaldo at 11th. Neymar, Dele Alli, and Harry Kane are the three players who place ahead of Messi.
The top 20 is dominated by Premier League players (9), while Barcelona is unsurprisingly the most-represented club, with its famed strike force trio of Messi, Luis Suarez, and Neymar all in the top six.
No defender makes it in to the top 20, underlining the premium placed on high-end attacking talent.
Estimated transfer values are determined according to the player’s age, contract, position, international status, and performance for their club, as well as the club’s performance itself.