Yamal leads most valuable players list 🌍, Vini out of top 30

Lamine Yamal, Barcelona’s jewel, tops the list of the world’s most valuable players, according to the latest study by the CIES Football Observatory, released this Thursday (8).

At just 18 years old, the Spaniard reached a record valuation of 343 million euros – about R$ 2.16 billion – surpassing stars like Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappé.

Highlights

Vinícius Júnior out of the Top 30: The big negative surprise for Brazil is the drop of Vini Jr. The Real Madrid star appears only in 38th position, valued at 90.3 million euros. The study suggests that recent performance and the lack of a contract renewal weighed on his devaluation.

Vitor Roque in the spotlight: Outside the five major European leagues, the Palmeiras striker is the absolute leader, valued at 85 million euros (surpassing prospects from Porto and Sporting).

Leaders in other positions:

Goalkeeper: Gianluigi Donnarumma (81 million).

Defender: Pau Cubarsí (110 million).

Full-back: Nico O’Reilly (90 million). The young Manchester City player, originally a midfielder, has established himself as the most valuable full-back in the world under Guardiola’s leadership.

What is CIES?

The CIES Football Observatory (Observatório do Futebol do Centro Internacional de Estudos Esportivos) is a research group based in Switzerland, founded in 2005 as a partnership between FIFA, the University of Neuchâtel, and the city of Neuchâtel.

They are considered the “scientific voice” of the football market, as they use complex mathematical models to analyze football.

This is a semiannual ranking of the 100 most valuable players in the world. It does not only reflect who plays best, but rather the estimated market value (transfer price) for each athlete if he were sold today.

How do they calculate these values?

Unlike sites like Transfermarkt, which rely heavily on market perception and expert opinions, CIES uses an econometric algorithm that analyzes variables such as:

Age: Younger players (like 18-year-old Lamine Yamal) are worth much more because they have years of career ahead.
Contract length: The longer the contract with the current club, the more expensive the player is (since the buying club needs to pay a higher release clause).
Technical performance: Goals, assists, minutes played, and the competitiveness level of the league.
International status: Participation and performance in national team call-ups.
Club’s economic power: The financial strength of the selling club and the likely profile of buying clubs.
Market inflation: The algorithm adjusts prices according to how heated the football market is.

Why is Lamine Yamal worth so much?

Yamal’s astronomical value in the 2026 ranking, 343 million euros, about R$ 2.16 billion, is due to a “perfect storm” of factors:

Youth: He is only 18 years old and already a global protagonist.
Decisiveness: The algorithm rewarded his consistency at Barcelona and his impact on the Spanish National Team.
Protected contract: Barcelona shields him with long contracts, which inflates his transfer value.
Resale potential: For the algorithm, buying Yamal today is an investment for the coming years.

What can you do with R$ 2.16 billion?

To give you an idea of the scale of Lamine Yamal’s market value:

Brazilian clubs: This value is higher than the combined market valuation of almost all Flamengo and Palmeiras players together (the most expensive squads in Brazil).
Prizes: It is equivalent to about 4 Mega da Virada lottery prizes (considering an average of R$ 500 million per prize).
Luxury fleet: You could buy about 700 units of the Ferrari SF90 Stradale (valued at R$ 3 million each).
Stadiums: It is almost double the construction cost of Arena MRV (Atlético-MG’s stadium), which cost about R$ 1.1 billion.