Premier League market values: Díaz closes in on Mané - Lukaku drops €43m below Chelsea fee

After the Bundesliga, LaLiga, Serie A, and Ligue 1, Transfermarkt has also updated all market values in Europe’s fifth top league, the Premier League, after the end of the season. As such, the number of footballers with a market value of €100 million or more dropped from five to three worldwide. The biggest winner among the players is Liverpool’s January signing Luis Díaz, while Chelsea and record signing Romelu Lukaku again loses value. In addition to the Belgian striker, many other stars in the top flight have to accept devaluations – especially at Manchester United.

In January, Champions League finalists and league runners-up Liverpool paid €47 million to Porto for the services of exciting winger Díaz. After his second upgrade in the Reds’ shirt, this time by €20 million, the Colombian now stands at a career-high €65 million, pushing him into the top 20 of the most valuable Premier League players.

“Although he still speaks little English, Díaz very quickly found his feet and settled in at Liverpool after his January transfer. Due to his enormous ambition, he directly became a recurring feature in Klopp’s starting eleven and was able to regularly show his pace, technique and scoring threat at a higher level,” explains Daniel Busch, Transfermarkt Area Manager UK. “Diáz has also had few problems adaprting physically and mentally. His development earns him the biggest plus of the update and could make Sadio Mané’s imminent departure a little less painful.”

Devaluations of top players: Mané, Lukaku & Co. downgraded

Meanwhile, Mané, wanted by Bayern Munich, is one of a number of high-profile players receiving an age-related devaluation in England’s top division. The Africa Cup of Nations winner loses €10 million and is now worth €70 million. Teammate Mohamed Salah, now valued at €90 million, goes down by the same amount. The Egyptian drops out of the group of players with triple-digit million market values, just like Tottenham captain Harry Kane – only PSG star Kylian Mbappé (market value: €180 million), City signing Erling Haaland (€150 million) and Real Madrid winger Vinicius Junior remain at the top. After already losing €20 million in the winter, Kane now stands at €90 million as well. As a result, the two former leaders now share the top position in the Premier League market value rankings with Manchester City’s Phil Foden.

Among others, Lukaku (-€15 million), who has mostly disappointed at Chelsea, and City forwards Raheem Sterling (-€15 million) and Jack Grealish (-€10 million) are also downgraded significantly. All are valued at €70 million now.

Lukaku 2nd & 6th The most expensive signings in Premier League history Click here for overview Having returned to London from Inter Milan for a record fee last summer, Lukaku failed to make the anticipated impact at the Blues and is now worth €43 million less than the €113 million paid for him ten months ago. Not taking into account the global coronavirus-related market value cut in April 2020, the Belgian is down to his lowest point since 2017, when he joined Man United from Everton. Rumours about a possible return to Inter on an initial loan deal are doing the rounds, with Chelsea unlikely to avoid a significant loss in case of a permanent transfer in the future.

Market values: Man United downgraded - Brentford biggest winners

With the exception of Arsenal (+€12.5 million) and Tottenham (+€0.6 million), all of England’s top teams are losing squad value, with Man United leading the way, devalued by a whopping €60.7 million to €713.6 million after missing out on the Champions League spots. In the ranking of the most valuable squads in the world, the Red Devils thus fall behind Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.

Man United in top 4 All Premier League clubs sorted by squad value Click here for overview “After a very disappointing season, United are facing several devaluations at once. While attacking players such as Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho are struggling to find their form from better times or have not yet found it in England, the defence is also under criticism after conceding 57 goals, which also does not leave the market values of Harry Maguire, Raphaël Varane and Co. untouched. A goal difference of zero is miles away from the numbers of top teams Liverpool, +68, and Manchester City, +73,” England expert Busch says.

The biggest winners in terms of squad value after impressively securing their Premier League status for another season are Brentford, for whom it goes up by €30.6 million to €262.6 million. Among others, Bryan Mbeumo (+€6 million to €22 million) and Christian Eriksen, who is back in top form after his recovery, rising by €5 million to €20 million, are responsible for this. The Danish playmaker has recently been linked with moves to bigger clubs like United and Tottenham.

Premier League update: Liverpool’s Konaté and City’s Rodri on the up

Besides Díaz, Liverpool’s Ibrahima Konaté (+€10 million to €40 million), Newcastle’s winter signing Bruno Guimarães (+€10 million to €40 million) and Rodri (+€10 million to €80 million) of Manchester City also receive market value upgrades in the double-digit million range. Konaté had an impressive spell at the end of the season after overcoming injury, while Guimarães justified the €42.1 million paid to Olympique Lyon in January. Reliable as ever, Rodri was a cornerstone of City’s title-winning squad and further established himself among the best defensive midfielders in the world.

How Transfermarkt market values work

The Transfermarkt market values are calculated, taking into account various pricing models. A major factor is the Transfermarkt community, whose members discuss and evaluate player market values in detail. In general, the Transfermarkt market values are not to be equated with transfer fees. 

The goal is not to predict a price but an expected value of a player in a free market. Both individual transfer modalities and situational conditions are relevant in determining market values. Examples of this are listed below. Transfermarkt does not use an algorithm (you can find the detailed market value definition here).