Barcelona Star Lamine Yamal Leads The Way As The Most Valuable Player In World Football 464x5i

Our list of the top 10 most valuable players in world football is headlined by none other than Barcelona and Spain star Lamine Yamal, fresh off the back of a standout campaign.

Top 10 Most Valuable Players in the World 1nw1f

Note: All figures are according to the CIES Football Observatory.

10) Florian Wirtz – £103m 4o86h

Bayer Leverkusen youngster Florian Wirtz is rated as the 10th most valuable player on the planet.

The German attacking midfielder is being heavily linked with a big-money move to Liverpool this summer, having starred for Leverkusen with 16 goals and 15 assists throughout the 2024-25 campaign.

Valued at £103m, the Reds have reportedly lodged a £109m bid for the 22-year-old. Die Werkself, however, are believed to be holding out for around £120m to part ways with their prized possession.

His anticipated move to Anfield is expected to see him the ever-changing list of Premier League record gs.

9) Julian Alvarez – £106m 1s121s

Coming in at number nine, it’s Atletico Madrid and Argentina striker Julian Alvarez, valued at £106m.

A serial title-winner with Manchester City, including two Premier Leagues, a Champions League and an FA Cup, Alvarez ed LaLiga giants Atleti in 2024 on a six-year deal for a reported £81.8m fee.

The 25-year-old has shone since his move to Spain, ing 29 goals and seven assists in 54 appearances this term.

He is also a World Cup winner and a two-time Copa America winner with Argentina. Alvarez has a total of 44 senior international caps, along with 12 goals, three of which came during their World Cup-winning campaign in 2022.

8) Cole Palmer – £106.5m 3l4y63

Chelsea and England star Cole Palmer is rated as the eighth most valuable player in the world at £106.5m.

Palmer came through the ranks at Manchester City, and after breaking into the first team in 2022-23, he departed for Stamford Bridge the following season, where he’d enjoy his breakout campaign in 2023-24.

The 23-year-old finished the season with a total of 27 goals and 15 assists across all competitions, had the most goal involvements of any Premier League player, and won the Premier League Young Player of the Year award.

He also won the PFA Fans’ Player of the Year award and was named England Men’s Player of the Year.

Palmer wasn’t quite as prolific in 2024-25, ing 15 goals and 12 assists in 46 matches across all competitions. Regardless, he still played a vital role in Chelsea qualifying for the 2025-26 Champions League.

He also provided two assists in the final as Chelsea won the UEFA Conference League in Poland last month.

7) Vinicius Junior – £109.7m 375o1k

Considered by many as one of the best on the planet, Vinicius Junior is the seventh most valuable player in football.

The 24-year-old has won countless major honours since ing Real Madrid in 2018, including three LaLiga titles and two Champions League titles, and has developed into a truly world class left winger.

Vinicius finished this season with 21 goals and 18 assists in 52 matches across all competitions. He has now scored over 20 goals and provided more than 10 assists for Los Blancos in each of his last four seasons.

In 2024, Vinicius was named The Best FIFA Men’s Player for the year. He had also been tipped to win the Ballon d’Or.

6) Pedri – £121m 2d5m2a

Barcelona midfielder Pedri is sixth on our list of the most valuable players in the world, rated at £121m.

The 22-year-old has become a crucial cog in the middle of the park for La Blaugrana, having made 59 appearances for the club in all competitions this term. He scored a total of six goals and provided eight assists.

Pedri’s influence helped Barca to a 28th LaLiga title, while they also won the Copa del Rey and Supercopa de Espana.

Of course, the youngster is a European Championship winner with Spain too and has won a whole host of individual honours, including the Golden Boy and Kopa Trophy off the back of his breakthrough campaign in 2021.

5) Jamal Musiala – £130m 51e3

Recently crowned Bundesliga winner Jamal Musiala is rated as the fifth most valuable player on earth. The Bayern Munich and international midfielder is said to be worth £130m.

Born in Stuttgart, Musiala moved to England as a youngster and came through the ranks at Southampton and Chelsea. He then returned to his native , where he’d sign for Bayern and make his professional debut at 17.

He properly broke his way into the first team the following year, in 2020-21, and has since developed into a standout player in the Bavarians’ squad and one of the brightest talents in the Bundesliga.

Musiala’s most prolific campaign came in 2022-23, having ed 16 goals and 16 assists in 47 matches. His minutes have been slightly reduced over the last two seasons, mainly due to injury, however he still managed to score 18 goals and provide eight assists in all competitions this term.

4) Kylian Mbappe – £162m 5244m

It may come as a surprise that he isn’t higher on the list, but valued at £162m, Kylian Mbappe is rated at fourth.

Although he and his Real Madrid teammates failed to pick up any late-season silverware, Mbappe enjoyed an excellent goalscoring season in the Spanish capital. He ed a total of 43 goals in 56 matches across all competitions.

The Frenchman has now recorded 40 or more goals in four of his last five seasons for Los Blancos and PSG.

At just 26-years-old, he has already amassed 88 caps for the national team, whom he captains, and has a total of 48 senior international goals. That puts him just nine adrift of record goalscorer Olivier Giroud.

3) Jude Bellingham – £197m 1k342x

Another Real Madrid star, Jude Bellingham, is in third place on our list of the most valuable players on earth. The England international midfielder is rated at £197m off the back of his second season with Los Blancos.

His debut campaign in Spain saw him score a stunning 19 goals in LaLiga, but he failed to live up to that standard this year, netting just nine league goals in 2024-25.

Regardless, he is still considered to be one of the best midfielders on the planet.

Bellingham’s major honours include a DFB Pokal title, one LaLiga, a Supercopa de Espana, one Champions League title, a UEFA Super Cup and a FIFA Intercontinental Cup. He is also a two-time European Championship runner-up.

Like Pedri, he also won the Golden Boy and Kopa Trophy in the same year, picking up both accolades in 2023.

2) Erling Haaland – £200m 223t42

When he’s at his best, there’s simply no defender in the world that can stop this man. It’s the goalscoring machine, Erling Haaland. Valued at £200m, the Norwegian marksman comes in at second on our list.

The 24-year-old enjoyed incredible spells at RB Salzburg and Borussia Dortmund prior to his move to Manchester City, but his arrival in the Premier League would really start to cement his status as one of the world’s best.

During his debut campaign for the Cityzens in 2022-23, he scored 52 goals in 53 appearances. In said season, he broke the record for the most goals in a single Premier League season with 36 and won the treble.

Haaland won a second consecutive Golden Boot and league title the following season with 38 goals in 45 appearances but failed to do so this year as Mohamed Salah finished as top goalscorer and Liverpool won the English top-flight.

1) Lamine Yamal – £340m 4551r

Having enjoyed the best season of his career thus far, 17-year-old Lamine Yamal tops our list of the most valuable players in the world, rated at a whopping £340m. That’s £140m more than second place Haaland.

Yamal’s immaculate displays have dazzled television screens all over the globe for well over a year now, but he has truly become one of, if not the best player on the planet over the course of the 2024-25 season.

The youngster has been a standout performer for Barcelona as they clinched a domestic treble. He totalled 18 goals and 25 assists in 55 appearances in all competitions, scoring some crucial goals along the way.

Memorably, he netted in both the semi-final and final of the Supercopa de Espana, the latter of which came against bitter rivals Real Madrid, while he also scored against Los Blancos on two other occasions, in both LaLiga meetings.

His performances have put him among the favourites to win the 2025 Ballon d’Or. Despite this, back in December, Yamal revealed that the Ballon d’Or isn’t something that he obsesses over.