The CIES Football Observatory regularly calculates transfer values for players from the five major European leagues. When creating an actual list of the most expensive footballers key parameters were taken into account, such as the age of the player, his role on the field, contract duration, performance, etc. Moreover, players from the Premier League make up exactly half of the top ten.
Here is the ranking of the athletes who have been awarded the title of "World's Most Expensive Football Players in 2018".
10. Paul Pogba - 147.5 million euros
Paul's transfer from Juventus in 2016 cost Manchester United € 105 million. At that time, the young athlete was the most expensive football player in the world.
The success of the current Manchester United side demonstrates a marked difference in how Jose Mourinho's side plays with and without their central midfielder. Able to dominate the midfield battle almost singlehandedly, Pogba justifies every euro that was invested in his acquisition.
Manchester United head coach Jose Mourinho says he is pleased with Paul Pogba, who has shown consistency and consistency in his performances.
9. Antoine Griezmann - 150.2 million euros
Atletico's leading forward may soon move to Real Madrid. According to the Spanish press, the president of Real Madrid, Florentino Perez, is ready to offer not only monetary compensation for the 27-year-old football player, but also his team's midfielder Dani Ceballosa.
To keep the promising player, Atletico may raise Griezmann's salary to twenty million euros a year.
8. Romelu Lukaku - € 164.8 million
Another Manchester United player in the top 10 most expensive football players in the world. In 2017, the English football club paid € 84.7 million to move Lukaku from Everton. This made Belgium's top scorer in history also the most expensive striker in England's history. Recently, however, Romelu has come under heavy criticism as his recent performances fell short of expectations.
However, 24-year-old Lukaku is still far from his peak. The cost of his transfer in the recent past and in subsequent years, will reflect the gaming potential.
7. Kevin De Bruyne - 167.8 million euros
One of the most complete midfielders in world football, is undoubtedly the crown jewel of Manchester City. Known for his impeccable technique, wide range of skills and ability to score goals from long range, this attacking midfielder has played a key role in Manchester City's successful performances in both the Premier League and the Champions League.
De Bruyne is one of the few players capable of breaking the Ballon d'Or duopoly that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have enjoyed since 2008.
6. Dele Alli - 171.3 million euros
Considering his age (he is 22 years old), Allie has made a fantastic career. He jumped straight from Ligue 1 to the Premier League as a teenager. And signed to Tottenham in February 2015 for a £ 5 million down payment.After an impressive start to his Premier League career, scoring five goals and making three assists in his first 18 league games, he was awarded a new long-term contract until January 2021.
While Dele is not yet the most expensive footballer in the world, he is one of the best midfielders in the CIES.
5. Paulo Dybala - 174.6 million euros
Juventus forward Paulo Dybala is Argentina's new superstar. He has already set a personal performance record with 25 goals in all competitions this season.
In the last match against Benevento, the Argentinean scored three goals (hat-trick), two of them from the penalty spot. This is Dybala's third hat-trick of the season.
4. Kylian Mbappe - 192.5 million euros
This is the youngest athlete in our ranking of the most expensive footballers in the world. The Paris Saint-Germain striker is 19 years old and has a successful participation in the French championship match for AS Monaco and a brilliant performance in the Champions League. And the title of the best young French player in Ligue 1 at the end of the 2016/17 season.
His transfer from Monaco to Paris Saint-Germain cost the French club 180 million euros.
3. Harry Kane - € 194.7 million
The Tottenham Hotspur player has established himself as the greatest striker since Alan Shearer. And perhaps he will reach even greater heights in the years to come if he can avoid the serious injuries that repeatedly threatened his predecessor's career.
Fully dedicated to the game, Kane revealed that he had to sacrifice a lot to compete with the likes of Ronaldo and Messi: "They have been such good players in the last ten years or so to dominate football and rightly so," said Kane. “I am proud that I competed with them on equal terms and won. I hope to win every year. Not only beat them once, but also win as many cups as they did, ”the athlete added.
2. Lionel Messi - $ 202.2 million
Five-time Ballon d'Or winner, author of one of best goals in football history and the Barcelona striker is one of only two players on the planet to cost more than € 200 million to transfer (based on CIES calculations).
The only thing that keeps Messi from getting the title of greatest player of all time is the lack of victory in the World Cup. Perhaps the situation will change when the Argentine national team takes part in the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. By the way here list of footballers who could not get to this World Cup.
1. Neymar - 213 million euros
Who could afford to buy the most expensive footballer for 222 million euros? The French giant Paris Saint-Germain is one of the few clubs in the world capable of this. In the summer of 2017, the Brazilian football star received an offer that she simply could not refuse. Neymar moved to Paris Saint-Germain to show his ambition and emerge from the shadow of Lionel Messi.
However, more recently, Don Balon reported that the most expensive footballer in the world in 2018 is considering the possibility of moving to Manchester United. And a preliminary agreement with the English club has allegedly been reached. And Neymar did not want to move to Real Madrid. He previously played for Barcelona and fears that Real Madrid fans will perceive his appearance at the club negatively.
Top 100 highest paid soccer players in 2018
From left to right, the table shows: place, player's club, league, age, expiration date, national team.
Portuguese 49 sorry for messi 2 (
what the hell? Where is Krish?
At the CIES observatory, they apparently had a good smoke making this miracle list.